Top Things to do in Tennessee
Top Hotels in Tennessee
- 1. Drury Plaza Hotel Nashville Downtown
- 2. Holiday Inn Nashville-Vanderbilt (Dwtn), an IHG Hotel
- 3. La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Nashville Downtown Stadium
- 4. The Peabody Memphis
- 5. Hutton Hotel
- 6. Cambria Hotel Nashville Downtown
- 7. Margaritaville Island Inn
- 8. Margaritaville Resort Gatlinburg
- 9. Arbors at Island Landing Hotel & Suites
- 10. Best Western Plaza Inn
Countries
Things to do in Tennessee, United States: The Best Natural History Museums
Discover the best top things to do in Tennessee, United States including Sharpe Planetarium, Gray Fossil Site, Ducks Unlimited Waterfowling Heritage Center, Native Stone Museum/Steve Norris Weather, Earth Experience - Middle Tennessee Museum of Natural History, Pink Palace Museum, Hands On! Discovery Center at Gray Fossil Site, Boro Art Crawl.
Restaurants in Tennessee
1. Sharpe Planetarium
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 6 reviews
The Sharpe Planetarium is temporarily closed.
2. Gray Fossil Site
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 118 reviews
The Gray Fossil Site is a place where visitors can view and learn about an active prehistoric dig site. Scientists believe the site was formed by an underground limestone cave that collapsed and created a sinkhole. This left a vast fossil deposit that dates back approximately 5 million years ago. Animals that have been unearthed so far include saber-tooth cat, alligator, tapir, rhinoceros, short-faced bear, and a mastodon as well as hundreds of plants and other animals. Admission to the Gray Fossil Site is now part of your admission to Hands On! Discovery Center. Please see the listing for Hands On! Discovery Center for prices, hours, and other visitor information.
Reviewed By NormaJeanCary - Knoxville, United States
Had heard about this museum 10 years ago and finally made the drive to Gray, TN to visit. My husband and I loved it. The fossil site was discovered in 2000 by a road crew excavation. Luckily they realized what they had found and quit digging. Fossils on exhibit include a saber-toothed cat, short-faced bear, ground sloth, rhinoceros, alligator, camel, shovel-tusked elephant, Eurasian badger, tapirs, and a red panda. This is a working facility for students of East Tennessee State University. If you and your kids love dinosaurs, you will love this place. $5.00 general admission, $8.00 with a guide.
3. Ducks Unlimited Waterfowling Heritage Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 15 reviews
Reviewed By JohnL650 - Texarkana, United States
Very cool place. Even has a nice hotel inside. Only negative was the $7 per person charge to ride elevator to the top. Displays were awesome. Prices are a little high but that's because of the quality.
4. Native Stone Museum/Steve Norris Weather
5. Earth Experience - Middle Tennessee Museum of Natural History
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 37 reviews
The Earth Experience, the Middle Tennessee Museum of Natural History, is the first natural history museum in Middle Tennessee. The museum has displays from all over the world but has a very large number of items from Tennessee. Come see our dinosaurs, fossils, gems, minerals, rocks and archeological relics. This is not your typical natural history museum! We have an interactive, dynamic museum where visitors will not only see ongoing research and activities they will be offered chances to participate. Visitors will see a working paleontology laboratory where they will see real dinosaur bones cleaned and repaired. A molding and casting operation will be making dinosaur displays as well as the souvenirs for sale in the gift shop. The Mid Tennessee Gem and Mineral Society offers workshops on jewelry making in the museum. The current location for the museum is just the first step to creating one of the top Natural History Museums in the country.
Reviewed By scottharbison - Murfreesboro, United States
Awesome! This is a small but mighty museum. The collection of rocks, minerals and gem stones in incredible. But for me, the paleontology displays put this over the top for 5 stars. How many large cities in the US have a T-Rex skeleton? What about cities the size of Murfreesboro? The answer is not very many! And right here we have a magnificent example of an entire T-Rex skeleton. This is worth the price of admission on its own. In addition to the T-Rex, there are additional dinosaur, mammal and sea creature fossils to enjoy. Granted, the museum is small, but it’s packed with terrific items. There’s also a working paleo lab where you can observe the staff cleaning and preparing fossils. At the gift shop, you can purchase hand poured casts of some of the museum’s real fossils to take home. On our visit, we got to talk with geology, paleontologist and museum director Alan Brown. He was a great host and answered all of our questions about what we were seeing and the history behind some of the finds. The other staff were nice and courteous as well. All in all, a great experience. We will be back!
6. Pink Palace Museum
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 581 reviews
The Pink Palace Museum is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the Southeast. You can walk through a replica of the first self-service grocery store in the country, Clarence Saunders' Piggly Wiggly. Explore the cultural and natural history of the Mid-South through exciting exhibits, dioramas, and audio-visuals. Trace Memphis' development from the time of Spanish explorers through the Civil War and the yellow fever epidemics. Learn from the award-winning medical exhibit how health care grew to be Memphis' largest industry.
Reviewed By planeswalker2020 - Columbus, United States
I really enjoyed this museum, there is alot of effort in the preservation the the items on display. The only thing that was a bummer was there were a few exhibits being worked on( for future exhibits) that I would have liked to see while I am in town but that did not ruin the experience.
7. Hands On! Discovery Center at Gray Fossil Site
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 22 reviews
This all-ages science center offers fun interactive exhibits that include immersive augmented reality experiences, a bi-polar musical Tesla coil, giant building blocks, a 3-story Paleo tower, a maker space, an art studio, and much more! Guests are invited to engineer a rocket, build a wind-powered car, create an artistic masterpiece, and discover something new. Visit an active fossil dig site dating back 5 million years and enjoy exhibits and programs featuring the plant and animal fossils that have been unearthed at the site, including tapir, rhinoceros, saber-tooth cat, alligator, short-faced bear, red panda, and a 10-ton mastodon! Additional exhibits will open later this year, including an outdoor garden opening in summer 2021!
8. Boro Art Crawl
The Boro Art Crawl was founded in 2015 by a group of local artists who wanted to help foster the artistic community in their hometown. We hope to unite local artists with local businesses to showcase the best that Murfreesboro has to offer. How does a crawl work? View the map for the upcoming art crawl. On it you will find highlighted a list of businesses participating in the crawl. Feel free t
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