Supposedly, wherever you are in Tennessee, there's a State Park within an hour's drive.

Hmmm... ok.

Well the good news to report is that all of Tennessee's state parks are now FREE!

Most used to charge anywhere $3 or so (per vehicle) just to enter the park and enjoy nature at its finest... plus a few cool amenities provided by the state.

So, if you haven't been to one of Tennessee's state parks in awhile, this might be something you want to add to your Summer "To Do" list.

Tennessee's state park system was recently ranked by the National Recreation and Parks Association as one of the top four state park systems in the country. Florida was No. 1, and Tennessee was tied with North Carolina and Missouri for second place. Source

We love exploring all there is to see & do in the Gatlinburg area.

Actually, I'm referring to those areas surrounding Gatlinburg more than the actual town of Gatlinburg itself.

Why? Because the town itself is so touristy -- with all the souvenir shops and fun things to do downtown -- that it gets pretty hectic and congested.

That's why we typically hang out somewhere between Townsend (to the west), Cosby (to the east) and Bryson City (to the south).

Here's a funny little story about how TheFunTimesGuide.com led us (from Tennessee) to spend an evening with a really fun couple (from California).

It all started when Beth posted this comment on our site:

"I love your site and all the great information. You and Jim sound a lot like my hubby and me. Hubby plays softball and we are Jeepers too! I am the writer in the family. We are coming to Nashville this summer to scout areas for relocation in two years and your site has really helped a lot. Thank you so much!"

Since both the guys just happen to be wearing Hawaiian shirts (no Cowboy garb for these two!), I just had to share Bud Light's Real American Heroes, "Mr. Hawaiian Shirt Pattern Designer":

Well, it looks like they're going ahead with Phase 2 now...

Thanks to some outspoken skateboarders and local citizens, the builders have been given the go-ahead to add a 16-foot kidney shaped skate bowl.

We've lived here 5 years and have never watched Nashville's famous fireworks display... until this year.

Usually, we travel somewhere fun over the Fourth. Though, a couple of times we've watched the fireworks here in Franklin, TN. (For the record, they're usually pretty good.)

But this year, we decided to venture toward downtown Nashville to watch the Fourth of July fireworks display for the first time.