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Help with first road trip - southeast us in January?

Help with first road trip - southeast us in January?

Old Jul 20th, 2016, 07:46 PM
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Help with first road trip - southeast us in January?

We are planning our first "mini" road trip to see how we like it, how our kids enjoy,etc. as a surprise Christmas present - we will be going in January. We live in west TN near Memphis so what I have come up with so far - driving towards smoky mountains and possibly staying there a night and the next day taking the kids snow tubing at ober gatlinburg (the other option I thought of was stopping in Atlanta because it's offered there as well), then driving on to Charleston and staying a day or two, making our way down to Savannah GA and staying a day or two there and then back up towards west tn. We'd like to stop at the beach somewhere not sure if we want to do closer to Charleston, Hilton head, tybee, etc.
any suggestions would be so great as I said we are totally new to this. We enjoy nature, history, Etc.
thanks!
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 08:51 PM
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The other route I had considered was just leaving and heading towards Charleston through Atlanta, then down the coast to Savannah Etc. we have been to the smoky mountain area many times so that's not a must.
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Old Jul 21st, 2016, 02:33 AM
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How old are the kids? Old enough to do some museums or aquariums, etc.
You might go to Chattanooga for a couple of days and do the aquarium (at least--even little folk like them).
You could slso think about Biltmore House in Asheville.

The beach in January is going to be iffy at best and certainly no more than walking on it.
I think you need to think about what the kids will find interesting and at least some of that may be mini-golf and such.
There is an island with great bird watching--Bulls Island-- and that might do for your beach visit also. It also involves a ferry ride which is always fun for kids.
Around charleston there is a LOT to do--the plantations, etc.
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Old Jul 21st, 2016, 05:49 AM
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Thanks for the info! Our kids are 13, 9, and 6.
We mainly just wanted to visit the beach because we go to gulf shores area all the time but they've never seen the ocean so wanted to just like you say, walk around a bit.
We have done Chattanooga a few times, the ferry ride and bird watching sounds like something they would enjoy I will definitely look into that!
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Old Jul 21st, 2016, 06:29 AM
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Oh and meant to add my kids love stuff like history related things, nature, things like that. They like museums, aquariums, etc (like any kid!) but also really enjoy just exploring the outdoors etc.
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Old Jul 22nd, 2016, 08:02 AM
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Edisto Beach State Park, just south of Charleston, is a really nice beach. Atlanta History Museum has a lot of Civil War history, and of course the other museums around the Centennial Olympic Park as well as the Georgia Aquarium.
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Old Jul 22nd, 2016, 06:47 PM
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Thanks!
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Old Jul 23rd, 2016, 07:58 AM
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There are a ton of things to do in Atlanta with kids. I think all three would like the Coca Cola Museum, CNN, museum, Atlanta History Center and Atlanta Food Walks Tour (the 6 year old might not care about the history, but the food is pretty darn good!)...the Aquarium is OK (I prefer the Chattanooga Aquarium personally), Botanical Gardens are beautiful...the Sky View Ferris Wheel is cool too...my 11 year old son loved the Football Hall of Fame...the Varsity for lunch is a landmark, though I don't think the food is all that good. The 6 year old would probably like the Children's Museum as well....

Have a great trip!
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Old Jul 23rd, 2016, 10:49 AM
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Thank you for the suggestions!
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Old Jul 23rd, 2016, 12:57 PM
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I might suggest Atlanta for a lon weekend/school holiday trip and go further afield if this is a "Christmas gift" trip.
Choose something to focus on like Bull Island or Edisto or Georgetown (and it's on the ocean) and make a "theme" maybe.
Maybe have little gifts that will be like a scavenger hunt to open and lead them to it--internet links, beach towels, guide books, etc.
I will mention that just north of Georgetown is Hobcaw Barony, a nature preserve that is a hidden gem. It was Bernard Baruch's duck hunting preserve and is now an ecology outpost of Clemson University. There is a LOT of history (Baruch was Roosevelt's secretary of state (?) so there is that also. The Barony dates from King George II. He never came!!
Other folks have mentioned being able to go on a shrimp boat (for real) out of Charleston. There is the Hunley in Charleston--the Civil War submarine that has been found and on display--NOT to be missed.
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Old Jul 23rd, 2016, 05:01 PM
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Will definitely look into all these as well. Thanks!
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Old Jul 23rd, 2016, 08:37 PM
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@gretchen - thank you for those ideas too and I love the idea of gifts etc. that's exactly what I was thinking about doing!
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