Take a staycation this summer

By Clara Bosonetto Maerz

For ajc.com

We enjoyed trips close to home last year and the summer of 2010 could be shaping up into another 'staycation' season for many families. How lucky Atlantans are to have so much to see and do in just a few hours from home! Here's a couple of fun ideas.

Rock City's 2nd Annual Southern Blooms Festival will be held May 7-9. This weekend garden event includes garden tours, workshops, demonstrations, special vendors, book signings, music and a premiere lecture series honoring Rock City's original gardener, Frieda Utermoehlen Carter.

Workshops include Rain Gardens, Landscape Design and Make-and-Take Hypertufa Pots. Also onsite are children's activities such as make-and-take recycled newspaper pots, a rock climbing wall, panning for gems and Fairyland Forest Makeovers.

Admission is $17.95 for adults; $9.95 for children ages 3-12.

Just six miles from downtown Chattanooga, Rock City is an enchanted, 4,100-foot walking trail showcasing lush gardens, caves and soaring rock formations.

For more information, visit http://www.seerockcity.com/southernblooms .

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A new adventure opens on Saturday, May 1 at Ruby Falls on Lookout Mountain, one of the top attractions in Chattanooga.

The Ruby Falls ZIPstream Aerial Adventure is a natural attraction built in the tree tops that offers never-before-seen views of the Scenic City along a course of ladders, nets, walkways, bridges, tunnels and zip lines.

ZIPstream's self-directed courses feature 20 high wire challenge elements on three distinct courses. The Green and Blue Diamond courses are suitable for ages 11 and older (at least 70" in height; maximum weight of 275).

Coming soon is an Orange Diamond course just for children ages 6-10.

All participants are trained in advance by qualified staff and the staff oversees all courses.

Admission to the Ruby Falls ZIPstream Aerial Adventure is $30.95 for ages 11 and up; $16.95 for children's course suitable for ages 3-11.

Ruby Falls is home to the tallest and deepest underground waterfall accessible to the public in the United States.

For more information, visit http://www.rubyfallszip.com.