Belle Meade Plantation and Winery
If you’re fond of stately historic homes, horses and wine, then an afternoon spent at Belle Meade will serve you well. Tour guides decked out in period costumes are sure to get you in the mood for a trip back in time. Along with the interior of the Greek Revival home, you’ll also get to visit several outbuildings, the antique carriage collection and the stables, where you’ll learn about America’s — and Belle Meade’s — thoroughbred horse breeding legacy. If all of that horse talk makes you thirsty, you’ll want to check out the Winery at Belle Meade, and enjoy a tasting that might include a sip of muscadine wine.
5025 Harding Pike, Nashville. 615-356-0501, bellemeadeplantation.com, @BelleMeadePlant.
Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park
Boasting 88 campsites hugging the scenic Nolichucky River in Limestone, the 105-acre historic park stands as a monument to the birthplace of folk hero and Tennessee son Davy Crockett. Visitors will find plenty to do at the park. The nearby Cherokee National Forest is home to a replica of the cabin in which Crockett was born, and there’s a visitor center and a museum re-creating Crockett’s father’s tavern. The river makes for good fishing, and you’ll find several picnic pavilions equipped with grills so that you can enjoy your catch for lunch or supper.
1245 Davy Crockett Park Road, Limestone, Tenn. 423-257-2167, tnstateparks.com/parks/about/davy-crockett-birthplace, @TennStateParks.
Slave Haven Museum
This small, unassuming house, steps from the Mississippi River, serves as a museum of slave history and offers visitors insight into the Underground Railroad and the abolitionists who kept it going. Once the home of German immigrant Jacob Burkle, the Burkle Estate now houses slavery-related exhibits and artifacts, but more than that, it’s filled with hidden passageways and trap doors. Slave Haven offers an emotional history lesson for adults as well as children.
826 N. 2nd St., Memphis. 901-527-3427, slavehavenmemphis.com.
