Things to Do in Cleveland

At Wheat Union Station, volunteers restore and maintain the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum's four diesel engines. Authentically outfitted conductors and staff keep one shiny shoe firmly in the past as air-conditioned coach cars and an open-air baggage car rumble past Poplar Creek, Watts Bar Lake, and Highway 327. The museum conducts seasonal rides and theme rides, including dinner trains and murder mysteries. Secret City Scenic Excursion train rides chug along rail lines that stretch out from K-25, a site of World War II's Manhattan Project.

Thirty-two lanes with electronic scoring conduct a thunderous symphony of crashing pins and cheers of victory at Oak Ridge Bowling Center. After completing frames, bowlers mingle in Spare Time Lounge to toss darts or watch sports on one of three LCD TVs. Hungry guests can grab a table and a burger at Ten Pin Grille, while gamers test hand-eye-coordination at billiards, skee ball, and air hockey tables in the arcade. Organized league play and private parties are offered as well.

Knoxville Food Tours' squadron of knowledgeable guides pilots pedestrians through downtown Knoxville's eclectic cache of local eateries, introducing locals and visitors alike to a smattering of tasty cuisine during tours that have garnered press from outlets such as the Knoxville News Sentinel. Each two-hour walking tour leads participants to a rotating lineup of local haunts, where they'll enjoy drinks and sample local fare such as pastries, pizza, sushi, vegetarian cuisine, and produce from nearby farmers. At each stop on the excursion, chefs and restaurateurs proffer friendly, insightful culinary conversation to bolster the enlightening nuggets of historical information dispensed by the well-informed guides or their sentient atlases.

Back in 1995, fresh out of college, Shannon Skidmore and his fiancée, Shannan, leased a small 20'x20' building, an old Chevrolet van, and 50 tubes, and took over Smoky Mountain River Rat from its previous owner. Over the next five years, the “Shannons” gradually made the business their own by buying their own property, with Shannon using his contractor license and expertise to erect a new, larger building in just six weeks. Smoky Mountain River Rat has expanded to 500 tubes, two vans, and 20 kayaks, and the business now also offers whitewater rafting on the nearby Pigeon River. Meanwhile, its shuttles transport families up and down the Little River for unlimited daily rides, with customers as young as 2 years old floating down 1.5 miles of tubing-friendly, meandering waters as they trade off verses of old sea chanteys.

Built in 1786, James White's Fort affords glimpses into the frontier lifestyles of America's forefathers while providing education on Knoxville founder and the fort's creator, James White. Each year, more than 10,000 visitors explore the residence, which was restored and opened to the public in 1970. Six cabins and a stockade wall surround the main two-story log house, where guests can experience hands-on interpretations of life as a pioneer by cooking on an open hearth or spinning retro cell-phone-charger cords on an antique loom. Special events held throughout the year keep a continuous line of visitors waltzing across the land of Tennessee's first capital, including an annual celebration of Cherokee heritage.