We experienced another rainy weekend in Knoxville. That meant no trip with the family to our favorite park, no walking through Ijams, no hanging out at World’s Fair Park and no making jokes about the Sunsphere.
What is a family on a budget to do?
The Knoxville Zoo. For the past few years we have used money we receive at Christmas to buy a season pass.
If the weather is decent, then we pack a lunch, load up the van, and head out to the Zoo. The boys love it. There is a great childrens area, and any amount of time there helps them run off a lot of energy.
Since it was raining this past Saturday, we packed a lunch and headed to the indoor exhibit, Wee Play Zoo.
This part of the Zoo is awesome (even on a sunny day). It is full of fun, interactive exhibits, a few animals, and a tunnel to crawl through. And since we have a family membership…all this fun was had at no additional cost to us.
If you’re not up for the Zoo, try The East Tennessee Discovery Center. It is a science center near the zoo and is great for rainy days. The membership is relatively inexpensive ($50).There are some great perks to membership. You get one free birthday party- which was great for a bug birthday last year! You also get free admission to the Adventure Science Center in Nashville- which we LOVE, and the Hands On! Regional Museum in Johnson City.
There is also the Knoxville Museum of Art, which has extended their free admission. Frank H McClung Museum on UT’s campus has always been free, and of course, Knox County has several great libraries to visit. Check out a book or a rainy day DVD.
Who said family entertainment couldn’t fit into a tight budget?
Photo by: pshutterbug
You forgot the best science museum in East Tennessee, the American Museum of Science and Energy http://www.amse.org
@bcknoxify: Let those Oak Ridger’s fend for themselves. Haha, kidding. I like me some AMSE.
I think you get free admission to ETDC with an AMSE membership, which was only about $35 for our family last year. You also gain entry to a lot of other science museums around the country.