School is out and summer vacation is here! Whether by river, rail, or road, Chattanooga has always been a transportation hub. It’s helped the city grow for centuries, and it makes the Scenic City an easy starting point for road trips to lots of interesting places.

Here are three fun options if you’re planning to hit the highway this summer that you may not have heard of yet!

St. Augustine, Florida

Established in 1565 by Spanish explorers, St. Augustine is America’s oldest city. Explore the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, which is a 17th century fort, then visit the Colonial Quarter, where you can get a taste for Florida life in the 1740s. You can tour Ponce de Leon’s landing site at the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park or try your hand — er, hook — at swashbuckling at the Pirate and Treasure Museum. To break up the eight-hour drive, plan a stop along the way at Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park in Macon, Georgia. These incredibly well-preserved Native American ceremonial mounds are in the running to become America’s next full-fledged national park.

Mammoth Cave, Kentucky

Wanting to delve underground for spring break? Head to the world’s longest cave system. Located in south central Kentucky, Mammoth Cave National Park features hiking, biking, horseback riding, canoeing, camping, stargazing, and exploring on 52,000 acres of land. Its thousands of years of human history and rich array of flora and fauna have earned the park status as both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve. Mammoth Cave is just a three-and-a-half hour drive from Chattanooga, so it makes a great weekend getaway, too.

Hot Springs, Arkansas

While Native Americans have known of the healing powers of the thermal waters of Hot Springs for centuries, the Arkansas town didn’t transform into a European-style spa destination until the 1800s. The famous “Bathhouse Row” sprung up next to the springs in the early 1870s, when six bathhouses and two dozen hotels and boarding houses were built following the Civil War. You can now visit some of these historic structures as part of Hot Springs National Park and even soak your cares away with traditional thermal spa treatments. The park also has 26 miles of hiking trails and a spring-side promenade that’s turn-of-the-century — the 19th century, that is. Break up the eight-hour drive with a stop in Memphis for some mouth-watering barbecue and a visit with the Peabody Hotel’s world-famous ducks.

Looking for more inspiration for your next road trip or around-the-world adventure? Visit wemarriedadventure.com.

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Mike and Angela Ballard are passionate about travel. They’ve visited over 150 countries and territories on all seven continents, and they are travel correspondents for The Daily Refresh on ABC television (NewsChannel 9). In addition to their work in TV, the Ballards are contributors to Lonely Planet, Atlas

Categorised in: Things To Do

This post was written by Brittany Shaw