It’s summer and that means vacations! I love to go to the beach, hike in the mountains, go camping, jump in a lake, float down a river or soak in hot tubs whenever I can go on a vacation, but sometimes I stay right here at home. Fortunately, I live in one of the most beautiful and exciting parts of America and I can enjoy most of those activities without even spending a tank of gas.

In Mount Juliet, we’re one short (though admittedly congested) trip down I-40 to one of the top five most popular vacation destinations in America according to most published polls. This usually means that our visiting family and friends inevitably want to go to “all the best places” while they’re in town and those of us who live here end up having to regularly act as tour guides.

If you’re racking your brains trying to figure out what to show your niece during her summer visit, never fear! I have compiled a honky-tonk-free list of Nashville adventures.
First, there are the obvious ones: the Centennial, the Frist, the Hall of Fame, the Tennessee History Museum and the farmer’s market next door, the Johnny Cash / Patsy Cline / George Jones Museums…things everyone thinks of when they think of family-friendly Nashville fun.

One option for offbeat family fun in downtown Nashville is the Music City Rollin’ Jamboree tour, which surprised Krys and I with it’s mix of Country Music history, jokes and even live music. We both learned new historic stories, too, which is saying a lot since I have been in the music business in Nashville for over 13 years and Krys (a native-born Nashvillian) has been writing about it for nearly that long. We don’t often hear fresh new stories about our favorite musicians.

On top of the stellar information provided, the jocular atmosphere the tour guides bring to the bus makes for a very fun bonding experience. We coincidentally ended up onboard our tour with a soap opera star and the girls teased him the entire time. I ended up looking him up on IMDb and, in typical Nashville fashion, it turned out he really was a bonafide celebrity cutting loose on vacation with his friends. Anyone’s niece can appreciate that type of adventure.

Not into the Country Music scene or the downtown madness? No worries! There are tons of other fun things to do in our little corner of the world that don’t involve celebrity selfies or googling anyone. In fact, we recommend you leave your phones somewhere dry while you’re at Nashville Shores. The water park is located just off of exit 221a on I-40 and is nestled on the edge of Percy Priest Lake. Nashville Shores has water slides and a lazy river and is the perfect place to play in the sun on a hot day. It’s not even very expensive! They have excellent deals on season passes, too, if you’re looking for a way to staycation regularly.

Other places to splash and slide include the Wave Country at Two Rivers and Gaylord Opryland’s new Soundwaves indoor outdoor water park. Opryland has excellent package deals including hotel room rates for when you don’t have a spare room available. Wave Country, while having the least amenities of the three parks, has the most affordable entrance rates among all water park options, and it truly is a very fun place to swim and play. After 3pm, children get in at half the price, which makes it the best option for large families on a budget.

If you love the water, but aren’t keen on splashing around in public, or if you just have a need for speed, Cedar Creek Marina offers a public swimming area as well as boat and jet ski rentals. Several other locations offer boat rentals including Nashville Shores, Elm Hill Marina, Blue Turtle Bay Marina & Blue Heron Cruises. If you enjoy the wind in your face and repeat staycations on the water, Nashville Boat Club has membership options which allow repeat rentals as an alternative to boat ownership. If you’ve been thinking about buying a boat, membership may be for you. There is a convenient price breakdown on the club’s website for your budgeting purposes.

For those of us that enjoy that rush of adrenaline from playing with heights, Nashville Shores also has a very fun treetop park for climbing and zipping around near the lake. The park features kids, juniors and adult courses with varying difficulty levels for adventurers at all experience levels. All of them come with a great view of the water of Percy Priest Lake, so they look great on your instagram feed. I highly recommend this as a thrilling way to spend the day and a refreshing change of pace from all of the more obvious vacation activities.

Hiking is also a great way to get out of the house, work up a sweat and take in our beautiful surroundings. Sweating out the toxins is also a great way to get a day of honky-tonking out of your system.

Long Hunter State Park has some excellent hiking trails like the Volunteer Loop which takes you along the lake for some wonderful waterfront views.

Biking is also a fun way to enjoy these trails or the greenway which runs from the Stones River Greenway Trail Head to Shelby Bottoms, where you will also a find a lovely nature center and many more hiking trails.

My favorite stretch of the greenway is between the Kohl’s parking lot and Two Rivers Park, where the trail is frequently elevated like a bridge over the river.

Tennessee is a gorgeous state for natural wonders and other great adventures.

We’re going to start featuring staycation and day trips as a regular part of our magazine. Follow us on instagram and FB to join us in a fun new competition for gift cards.

We’ll post a picture from nearby iconic locations coinciding with each issue of our magazine.
We’ll use #funbetweenthelakes, then we’ll watch for the best replies and hash-tagged posts of the same location. The winner will get a gift card from one of our advertisers.
So, join us in exploring and enjoying our home between the lakes.