As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, AARP of Tennessee asked its volunteers to vote on their 50 favorite places to visit in the state. More than 300 volunteers — all age 50 or older — nominated their favorite getaways and tourist attractions. Those lists were submitted to regional AARP offices, where they were compiled and top choices forwarded to the 50th anniversary committee for final selection. “Our favorite spots are listed alphabeticallly not in order of preference, because it would be just too hard to narrow it down that far,” said Sandra Hunter in a news release, co-chairwoman of the anniversary committee with AARP Tennessee President Mary Stockley.

AARP 50 FAVORITE PLACES

1. Alex Haley Home and Museum (Henning) 2. American Museum of Science and Energy (Oak Ridge) 3. Beale Street (Memphis) 4. Blount Mansion (Knoxville) 5. Bristol Caverns (Bristol) 6. Bristol Motor Speedway (Bristol) 7. Burgess Falls State Natural Area (Sparta) 8. Casey Jones Home & Railroad Museum (Jackson) 9. Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge (Oak Ridge) 10. Dixon Gallery and Gardens (Memphis) 11. Dollywood (Pigeon Forge) 12. ETSU Natural History Museum and Gray Fossil Site (Gray) 13. Fall Creek Falls State Park (Pikeville) 14. Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center (Nashville) 15. Graceland, home of Elvis Presley (Memphis) 16. Great Smoky Mountains (Gatlinburg) 17. The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson (Nashville) 18. Historic Rugby (Rugby) 19. Jack Daniel Distillery (Lynchburg) 20. Jonesborough, the state’s oldest town 21. Land Between the Lakes (Dover) 22. Lookout Mountain Incline Railway (Chattanooga) 23. Lost Sea (Sweetwater) 24. Mayfield Dairy Visitor Center (Athens) 25. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (Memphis) 26. Memphis Zoo 27. Museum of Appalachia (Clinton) 28. Natchez Trace Parkway (Davidson, Williamson, Hickman, Maury, Lewis and Wayne counties) 29. National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis) 30. Ocoee Whitewater Center (Copperhill) 31. Paris Landing State Park (Buchanan) 32. Parthenon (Nashville) 33. Peabody Memphis Hotel (Memphis) 34. Pink Palace Museum (Memphis) 35. Point Park (Chattanooga) 36. Reelfoot Lake State Park (Tiptonville) 37. Roan Mountain State Park (Carter County) 38. Rock City (Chattanooga) 39. Rocky Mount Museum (Piney Flats) 40. Ryman Auditorium (Nashville) 41. Ruby Falls (Chattanooga) 42. Shiloh National Military Park and Battlefield (Shiloh) 43. Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum (Memphis) 44. Stax Museum of American Soul Music (Memphis) 45. Sun Studio (Memphis) 46. Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area (Elizabethton) 47. Teapot Museum (Trenton) 48. Tennessee Aquarium (Chattanooga) 49. Tennessee State Capitol (Nashville) 50. Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (Chattanooga)

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