Manchester, Tenn.: It may be even nicer without the music

Rock fans know Manchester, Tenn., as the site of the annual Bonnaroo Music Festival, which draws almost 100,000 people to the area for a weekend in June.

If you love music, but hate crowds, you’ll want to stop by this city of fewer than 10,000 people another time. You won’t find Pearl Jam then, but you may discover a taste for Tennessee sippin’ whisky (spelled without the “e”), a world-renowned aircraft testing center, an archaeological park and more.

Enlarge this image

ANDY DETWILER PHOTOGRAPHY / www.stateparks.com

It’s Tennessee’s version of Stonehenge. The hilltop enclosure that gave Old Stone Fort State Park its name has inspired a legion of legends – all of them colorful and most of them untrue. Archaeologists say ancient tribes built it, and it probably was not a fort.

Enlarge this image

DAVID HOUSCH / U.S. Air Force

Tim Wright works at the world-renowned flight simulation testing center at Arnold Air Force Base next to Manchester.

Enlarge this image

DAVID HOUSCH / U.S. Air Force

This F-15 display at Arnold Air Force Base honors Maj. Jim Duricy, killed in the line of duty while flying one of the planes.

• Chattanooga travel guide

• Fun on the Chattanooga waterfront

Don’t miss

• Arnold Engineering Development Center at Arnold Air Force Base is the largest complex of flight simulation test facilities in the world. Tests here determine how aircraft will perform, from the space shuttle to Boeing 747 airplanes to military jet fighters, including the F-22 Raptor built by Lockheed Martin. On the guided tour, you’ll see a testing model of the F-22 that cost more than $1 million to build. You’ll also see the wind tunnels where some tests are conducted and a 10-story aerospace simulation chamber, where engineers can get the temperature down to -340? F to mimic the unearthly cold that spacecraft can encounter.

The center conducts free group tours on weekdays, with a minimum of 12 people. Individuals can get on a waiting list to join a group tour. Reservations required. Arnold Engineering Development Center Public Affairs, 100 Kindel Drive, Arnold AFB (Exit 117 off I-24), 931-454-4204; www.arnold.af.mil.

• Foothills Crafts Gift Shop is a nonprofit organization of more than 125 artists and craftspeople who sell handmade gifts, including needlework, weaving, basketry, pottery, woodworking, jewelry and paintings. Check out the many patterns available from quilters. All the items for sale in the shop are juried, so you won’t find much kitsch. Downstairs, the Coffee County Craft Association conducts seminars and classes. 418 Woodbury Highway (Exit 110 off I-24); 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 1-5 p.m. Sundays. 931-728-9236.

• Old Stone Fort State Park is the site of Cherokee Indian ceremonial grounds, featuring Indian mounds and stone walls that date perhaps thousands of years. The 876-acre park also offers camping, river and lake fishing, hiking, and golf on a nine-hole course that hugs the river. Facilities include 51 campsites with water and gas hookups, showers and restrooms. 732 Stone Fort Drive (Exit 110 off I-24). 931-723-5073; www.tennessee.gov/environment/parks/OldStoneFort/

• George A. Dickel & Co., founded in 1870 in Cascade Hollow, is a small distillery still in operation that offers public tours. Visitors sit in rocking chairs to view a short video about the distillery’s founder, its history and the process that turns corn, rye and malt barley into the Dickel blend. That’s followed by a tour of the distillery to see and smell the whiskey-making up close. You don’t get a taste of the liquor at the end of the tour, but you can buy a bottle in the gift shop. Cascade Hollow Road, Tullahoma. (The distillery is a little difficult to find, so get directions from its Web site. Don’t rely on road signs; vandals frequently remove them, and that can make you miss a turn.) 931-857-3124, Ext. 230; www.dickel.com.

GETTING THERE

Manchester, Tenn., is 185 miles from Atlanta, about a three-hour drive. Take I-75 North, then 1-24 West.

Amanda Miller Allen is a former travel editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.