If you've traveled I-75 south from Cincinnati to Knoxville, you’ve passed it. Maybe you’ve passed it many times. It is less than twenty miles north of Knoxville, and it is one of the most affordable and rewarding destinations you can include in any travel itinerary: The Museum of Appalachia.
Billboards advertise it, but they don't do it justice. It is a sixty-acre village of buildings, animals, displays, etc., containing jail cells, leather shop, blacksmith and wheelwright shops, smokehouse, corn mill, broom and rope house, schoolhouse, loom house, privy, granary, sawmill, and more.
Plan to spend at least a full day enjoying what the Museum of Appalachia has to offer (a visit of a few hours is possible, but will require the visitor to skip many of the sights, which are best absorbed at a leisurely pace). Eat lunch in the restaurant (ask for sourdough bread), and allow plenty of time to browse in the gift shop.
Among the highlights: Dr. Andy Osborne's Medicine House, in the Appalachian Hall of Fame; the many peacocks on the grounds; the Arnwine cabin, built in Eastern Tennessee sometime around 1800 on Clinch River; Irwin's Chapel, a one-room log church built around 1840 in Madison County, North Carolina; the Big Tater Valley Schoolhouse, moved to the museum from nearby Big Tater Valley on Bull Run Creek; musicians and craftsmen who entertain and educate throughout the expansive museum grounds; and more.
The museum is open seven days a week from March through December, and Friday through Monday in January and February. Admission for adults is $14.95, and $5.00 for children ages 6-12. Group rates and discounts are also available. Call (865) 494-7680 or check the website for more information.
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