Tellus Science Museum

On I-75 70 miles outside of Chattanooga, in the middle of seemingly no where, there is an interesting building off to the right that for many years I either wondered about or just ignored. Finally our family checked it out, and it is amazing! We've been many times since then and have been members of it or a reciprocal museum for 5 years now.

PICNIC? yes! 

SWIMSUIT? no

COST? 

Adults: $14 + tax

Children (3 – 17): $10 + tax

PLAYGROUND? not really, 

but the "My Big Back Yard" room is very play ground like

AUTHOR'S RATING? five out of five stars!

HOURS? 10am-5pm

Closed Major Holidays

We love that the scale of the exhibits when you are in the parking lot and when you first walk in is

BIG.

We love the dinosaurs (although we often remind ourselves that, even though the information on the dinosaurs speaks as if the scientists are absolutely sure of their dates and facts, all they can do is make some educated guesses.)

Don't miss the panning for gems room that is located on a hallway branching off the transportation room. We didn't visit this our first time and really missed out! You get to keep a little bag of the real gems that you find! Behind the gems room is a dinosaur dig room where you can keep one fossil that you find. 

The transportation room goes from bicycles and buggies to space and aeronautics. We love it!

There are great picnic tables (under a huge pavilion) outside for picnics, and we often end our morning at Tellus enjoying food brought from home out there. 

{map for Tellus Science Museum}

ASTC: Science Centers' Best Kept Secret

I have been meaning to write about this amazing deal for a long time. There is an association of science and technology centers that allows reciprocal benefits for any museum on their list. Here's the way it works:
1. Go to the ASTC website. Read a little about this organization.

2. Scroll down and find where it says  Travel Passport Program page.
3. Click on that link and read all the rules for this program. (The gist is that they want you to visit science centers outside a 90 mile radius of your normal stomping grounds. *When I first used this program, I understood that I could go to any museums outside of a 90 mile radius around the museum I was a member of; now they also include the caveat that it needs to be 90 miles away from your home as well. I have never been asked to show my license, but that may have changed. To remedy this puzzle, CALL THE MUSEUM YOU WANT TO VISIT AND ASK!)
4. Check out the Participant list, May 1, 2017–October 31, 2017 and choose a museum to become a member of. Since I have a big family, I am always looking for a museum that says "parents and all children living in the household." Visit the website for that museum and order and pay for that membership. The last time I did it, our membership cost $70 for TWO YEARS. This time that museum was not available, so I bought a year membership for $60.
5. Visit any museum outside a 90 mile radius for free. With our $70 membership of two years, we visited Huntsville Space and Rocket and Tellus (twice) and got into the Planetarium at the Science Museum in St. Louis for a reduced rate. Just one visit to Tellus would have cost our family $78, and it has before too because we love it and have visited many times. One trip to Huntsville Space and Rocket Center would have cost us $124. So all in all, we saved $228 with the reciprocal deals!

Interested in visiting these museums that are near Chattanooga? Check out these posts:
Huntsville Space and Rocket
Tellus Science Museum

50 Must-Do Adventures in Chattanooga

Great post on Roots Rated--

50 Must-Do Adventures in Chattanooga

Play Chattanooga ratings and write-ups soon on some of these outdoor adventures!

Foster Falls

PICNIC? yes! 

SWIMSUIT? yes!

COST? none

PLAYGROUND? no

AUTHOR'S RATING? five out of five stars!

HOURS? sunrise to sunset

Last summer we took family to Foster Falls to hike and see the falls. 

Here's the map of the trails around the pool where the falls are. The big loop is a really long trail. We hiked from the parking lot to the right around the pool and made it to where the two trails get very near. (That was about a mile away from the parking lot.) There is a way to get from one side to the other there, but you have to do some pretty advanced climbing/scrambling. We hiked to the right of the circle first,

and found a great stream to start our wading in and to eat our picnic by.

The kids caught crawdads.

We hiked more around the rim and then backtracked around to the falls.

The hike down to the falls is a rocky staircase,

and a cool swinging bridge.

The falls are amazing! I wasn't planning to swim, but got in the water anyway. All of us swam under the falls, which is extremely exhilarating. The kids swam across and under the falls using swim rings. The water is COLD, but refreshing, and being out in the middle of the pool with the cliffs going up around you is am awe-inspiring experience. 

{map for Foster Falls}

The Pumpkin Patch

PICNIC? yes! 

SWIMSUIT? no

COST? none

PLAYGROUND? yes

AUTHOR'S RATING? five out of five stars!

HOURS? sunrise to sunset

When it comes to creative, exciting, fun-for-everyone kinds of playgrounds, you can't beat the Pumpkin Patch on Signal Mountain.

From the winding woodsy trails, to the tire dragons to the hillside slide, everything is a fun discovery and adventure for many different ages of kids. And you have to love a playground that has "Be kind" as its first rule!

This playground is always in the shade and with the elevation, pretty cool for most of the summer. The trees do bring in the bugs, so be sure to wear some spray!

I love the picnic area at this playground. It is close to the action, but very picturesque.

Put the Pumpkin Patch on your summer bucket list!

{map for the Pumpkin Patch}

Camp Jordan Park and Arena

The kids and I were at Camp Jordan for a 5k Color Run and festival on Saturday and we were surprised to see some big changes. There is one of the most interesting play structures I've seen on the far side of the park right next to a new restroom. (Hooray for lots of restrooms in large parks!)

When you add that play structure to big open fields, a 2 mile hiking path, a huge event arena, a picnic pavilion, a fishing/duck pond, and a disc golf course (coming soon) you get what I would say is a major force in the Play Chattanooga world!

PICNIC? yes! 

SWIMSUIT? maybe, when the weather is right and you don't mind your kids wading in a muddy creek

COST? none

PLAYGROUND? yes

AUTHOR'S RATING? five out of five stars!

HOURS? n/a

For information about hosting events at Camp Jordan, go to

East Ridge Parks and Recreations.

{MAP FOR CAMP JORDAN}

The Jump Park

If you're looking for a special place to have a party or just a rainy day way to get all those sillies out of your kids, The Jump Park is a winner! There are two foam block pits, a fun slide, rock walls, and the floors are covered with trampolines!

 PICNIC? no

SWIMSUIT? no

COST? One Hour: $8/6 and under; $12/ages 7 and up

$5 for parents 

(kids 6 and under must be accompanied by an adult.)

Two Hours: $15/6 and under; $20/ages 7 and up

$10 for parents

{Special Deal: Week days from 9-10am adults do not have to 

pay to go in with their younger ones.}

PLAYGROUND? YES!

AUTHOR'S RATING? four out of five stars

HOURS? Mon-Thurs 9am-9pm

Fri and Sat. 9am-12am

Sunday 11am-9pm

{Map for The Jump Park}