Celebrate AARP's 50th Anniversary at Fifty Favorite Places in Tennessee

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It’s travel time in Tennessee, but with gas prices so high, you don’t want to go far. No worries. You can stay in the state and visit some of the best parks, museums and other attractions that Tennessee has to offer. Just thank AARP volunteers from across the state, who voted on their “fifty favorite” places to visit in Tennessee. Why 50? Because 2008 is AARP’s 50th anniversary and this list was crafted to help us—and you—join in the celebration! Our favorite spots are listed alphabetically, not in order of preference, because it would be just too hard to narrow it down that far.

Many of the places you’d expect to see—like Graceland, Rock City and the Jack Daniel Distillery—are on the list. But there are others that you might be surprised to find, like the Gray Fossil Site in northeast Tennessee or the Teapot Museum in the West Tennessee town of Trenton. There are scads of state and federal parks on this list, including the Natchez Trace Parkway and Land Between the Lakes. And there are a couple of interesting towns like Jonesborough (the state’s oldest) and Rugby (a restored Victorian settlement founded by a British author and social reformer). The state’s rich musical heritage is recognized throughout, from Sun Studios and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and on to Dolly Parton’s Dollywood in East Tennessee. Some of our favorites didn’t make the list, because they’re not actually in Tennessee—like Gap Cave/Cudjo’s Cave, which is in the Kentucky portion of the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Other favorites like Point Park, a famous Civil War Battlefield, are on the Tennessee side of Lookout Mountain, despite the Georgia address of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. We hope you like viewing this list and visiting these places as much as we’ve enjoyed compiling the “fifty favorites.” Safe traveling! 

Other Resources
AARP 50th Anniversary

List of AARP Tennessee's 50 Favorite Places

Map of AARP Tennessee's 50 Favorite Places