lincasanova

I am trying to help a young friend of my daughter to best employ this nice amount of time she and a friend will have in the USA this summer. She does not speak fluent English, so her goolge searches are quite an effort for her.

They will get a car and have about 10 days to do a scenic loop from Knoxville and back to same place before they fly back to D.C.

They are avid horse lovers. The Smokey mountains and Kentucky Horse park are on their idea list. I would like to suggest other towns for them to visit.. either for beauty (parks/waterfalls) or monuments. I have been to Nashville ( liked it) and Memphis.. but am unsure of what else for them NOT to miss in the area.

Interesting local restaurants ( think student budget) or dishes, please advise.

Any help will be appreciated.

I am thinking:

Cumberland falls
Lexington
Berea
Cincinnati?
Nashville?
Memphis?

tomfuller

Are they flying from DC to Knoxville at the start?
Why not rent the car in DC and take the Interstate to Front Royal Virginia and drive the Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway as far as Roanoke. Spend a night in Roanoke and take I-81 and I-40 to Knoxville. Return the car to Washington DC at the end.
Plenty of horses in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to see if you are driving. Not so much if you are flying over it.

lincasanova

Thanks, but they already have their flights/ megabus figured out and bought and only need to complete this route I mentioned. I have gotten involved( been asked for a little help) here at the tail end, perhaps I would have suggested something else, but this is what we are working with now.

SAnParis2

Perhaps Knoxville - Frankfort - Louisville - Nashville - Knoxville w/a side trip to Asheville if time allows. The first part (sans Asheville) is about 600 miles.

kvick

Kentucky is whiskey country as well as horse country. A portion of the Bourbon trail might be fun, even if they don't get to sample. Or there's Lynchburg, TN, home of Jack Daniels.
Lincoln is admired wordwide, and his birthplace is near Hodginville, Ky. There is a shrine there which surrounds an early log cabin similar to Tom Lincoln's.
Do you think they might enjoy Mammoth Cave?

lincasanova

thanks.. san paris and kvick.

will mention these places to them. I had forgotten about mammoth cave.
She's coming over tomorrow with a map so we can at least geographically mark it all out and they can decide which directions they go.

SAnParis2

That will also run you by Land Between the Lakes, The Corvette factory in Bowling Green, the heart of horse country, The Louisville Slugger factory as well as Churchill Downs.
Horses will be running at one of the tracks as they tend to rotate between, Churchill, Keeneland & Turfway. All are excellent venues.
Louisville also has an excellent uptown area. The Bourbon Trail starts in Bardstown. If doing bourbon tours I highly recommend Makers Mark & Jim Beam. Makers Mark does everything by hand (still) while Jim Beam is the exact opposite being very automated. It is an interesting contrast.

willowjane

Louisville and Lexington will give them lots of horse country and both are fun towns for college age kids (or anyone). The museum at Churchill Downs is really quite nice and I would recommend that as part of the trip. We stopped for lunch in Berea on our way to Churchill Downs last month - it was a pretty little "artsy" town.
I love Asheville NC! Lots and lots to do and see there. I think Nashville and Chattanooga would be great stops in TN, but that would probably be too much driving for the 10 days. I am not sure how to work out the trip. Chattanooga has a great downtown district and a really good aquarium.

lincasanova

Thank you so much. I love all the ideas and am sure this will help them have a special holiday..thank you so much! I already found them two rodeos in TN.. so they will have a lot to choose from.