safe tennessean home?

March 1, 2007 4:18 PM

Help make spring break something besides a boring hell! Cool, cheap places to go, people to see, or things to do within a day or two's drive of Clarksville, Tennessee?

My gang of college friends' excellent plan of beaching it up for a few days over spring break has been sadly crushed by the weather forecasts. So, we're looking for an alternative that will meet these criteria:

-No more than five or six hours away
-Somewhere cheap to stay, if it's something we'd want to do over multiple days
-And, obviously, something cool to do or look at or something (we're Austin Peay students... all we see is highway, cows, and frat boys, so we're an excitable bunch.)

We've got a pretty broad range of interests and are up for almost anything adventure-wise, as long as it doesn't involve exorbitant amounts of money. We're also already pretty familiar with Nashville and its dubious attractions, so unless you've got something super-ultra-awesome and obscure there to recommend, we've probably done it. Bear in mind, the fun doesn't necessarily have to involve travel... I kind of assume it would, but if you want to suggest we hold a week-long Jell-o wrestling competition instead I'm cool with that.

Thanking you, kind hivemind, in advance!

posted by WidgetAlley to travel & transportation (15 comments total)

Mammoth Cave?
posted by dilettante at 4:25 PM on March 1, 2007

Land between the lakes and loads of beer/firewood/fishing gear (always worked for me whilst at Ft. Campbell, ymmv).
posted by IronLizard at 4:35 PM on March 1, 2007

Also: Dolly Parton Land is about 3 hrs away (Don't ask me, the wife suggested these), and Amish farm somewhere nearby. Mostly she says, and she's a native, you're going to be disappointed. There's also the Jack Daniel's Distillery a couple of hours towards Alabama, if you're into that.
posted by IronLizard at 4:47 PM on March 1, 2007

If you like kind of quirky stuff, look around roadsideamerica.com.
posted by eunoia at 4:48 PM on March 1, 2007

I'm going backpacking in the Tennessee portion of Great Smoky Mountain National Park over my spring break. If you already own the requisite gear, it's a pretty cheap getaway. I'm sure there are ways to explore the park w/o hiking for days in the wilderness as well.
posted by PhatLobley at 4:48 PM on March 1, 2007

Oh, and if you go as far as Huntsville, there's always the space museum there.
posted by IronLizard at 4:55 PM on March 1, 2007

do-lly-wood! do-lly-wood!

that said, the rest of pigeon forge is awful, awful, awful.
posted by wreckingball at 5:30 PM on March 1, 2007

5-6 hrs away is quite a clip - according to Google Maps, you can hit the following:

- Indianapolis
- Cincinnati
- St. Louis
- Memphis
- Louisville
- Atlanta

And, if you're willing to go 1 1/2 hrs more on the drive, you can hit Chicago (although this map puts you on a US Route, not an Interstate).

While I'm not answering your other two questions, almost all of these have cool stuff to do and/or college bar scenes, and with stuff like Priceline, you should be able to make it this trip as cheap as possible.

Lastly, I've taken more of these road trips than I can count, and each time I go, I usually don't have a good time based on where we end up, its the trip and the people I go with that make the memories. If you can't decide, flip a coin and hit the road. Have fun!
posted by plaidrabbit at 6:04 PM on March 1, 2007

Reenact the Simpsons episode where Bart and the other boys go to Knoxville for the World's Fair?
posted by MsMolly at 6:50 PM on March 1, 2007

There is a Nashville MetaMeet in the works. Kills a night at least.
posted by Duncan at 7:14 PM on March 1, 2007

The biggest, deepest canyon east of the Mississippi starts about 7 miles outside Ft. Payne, Alabama, in the very northeast corner of Alabama. 13 miles long, 800 feet deep at the mouth. Alabama Highway 176 runs along the south rim of the canyon, affording many views and overlooks. You can swim in the Little River easily at the day use area at the mouth, or, if you are brave and skilled, at various informal descents down the canyon wall, which you'd really need an experienced person to help you fine :-) About 6 miles further, at a related part of the Ft. Payne park area, Desoto Falls provides a unique look at a major "overshoot" natural falls.

On the way down, north of Chattanooga, don't miss Savage Gulf and the Stone Door. If you then swing east into Georgia on the way back home (not really the shortest way back) you can hit Amicolola Falls in Georgia, too.

Spring comes earlier around waterfalls, dontcha know?
posted by paulsc at 9:11 PM on March 1, 2007

Hey, is that big pink elephant with the eyeglasses still in Clarksville?

I vote for camping. The money you'll save on hotels can be spent on camping gear that you can use again and again. If you don't have a tent and don't want to buy one, you can usually borrow or rent them for a nominal fee at your university (check before you go to make sure all the poles and whatnots are included). Some places I love that aren't too far away are the Current River in Missouri, Land Between the Lakes in West TN and Ky (less than an hour away from you), and Beaver Lake in Arkansas. You could also specifically look for state parks and camping areas near a big city like St. Louis or Atlanta and then you can do wilderness stuff and city stuff all in the same trip.
posted by cilantro at 2:04 AM on March 2, 2007

Since you had plans to go to the beach, why not go to an indoor water park instead? There'll be beer.
posted by Otis at 6:06 AM on March 2, 2007

Hey, is that big pink elephant with the eyeglasses still in Clarksville?

He, he. That damn car lot. I kept cooking up drunken schemes to tow it off with a variety of amusing places to leave it.
posted by IronLizard at 12:56 PM on March 2, 2007

Find a Habitat for Humanity affiliate nearby and go spend a couple days on-site. You'll be glad you did.
posted by TomMelee at 1:26 PM on March 2, 2007