Tennessee from east to west would include Great Smokey Mountain NP (east of Knoxville), Nashville for country music, Jack Daniels Distillery in middle Tennessee, Memphis for Graceland / Elvis and blues music (Beale Street) and BBQ.

Kentucky to include Land between the Lakes, Louisville (Churchill Downs), Lexington (horse farms and Keenland Racetrack, the Bourbon Trail. Beautiful scenery thoughout.

Just some initial thoughts. Two beautiful states. Can provide more details if needed.

We spent 16 days in Tennessee last year--approx 4 in Memphis, 4 in Nashville, 1 between the two, 4 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and 2 in Chattanooga. That timing felt right to us.

Given your interests, I do think spending more time in Tennessee vs. Kentucky makes a lot more sense.

One other option would be to fly into Asheville, NC rather than Knoxville and drive through the mountains to Chattanooga from there, skipping Gatlinburg altogether. Some people love Gatlinburg, but many find it to be a giant tourist trap. I fall into the latter group, but if you've done research and think you'd love it, then great!

I'd agree that about four days in Nashville sounds about right. The Jack Daniels distillery is an easy day trip. I recently took the Ryman backstage tour for the first time, and it was really fun; the Country Music Hall of Fame is excellent as well.

If you do go to Jack Daniels in Lynchburg TN be sure to go to Miss Bobo's for lunch-call ahead for reservations. It is an old boarding house and serves a wonderful southern lunch.

If you like music, you should definitely include a few days in Memphis--Sun Studios, Beale Street, and of course, Graceland.

Kentucky has wonderful state parks. You can look at them on Google, but for hiking I suggest Natural Bridge and Red River Gorge. Cumberland Falls is one of only two places worldwide that you can see a moonbow if you are there at the right time, and that park is near Corbin where you can visit the original KFC restaurant where the Colonel invented his famous recipe.

If your husband is interested in cars, the Corvette Museum is near Bowling Green, and on up I-65 north is Mammoth Cave National Park.

Breaks of the Interstate Park is on the Virginia line. It has a deep canyon and good scenery, but you really have to want to go there to see it. It's off the beaten track.

Kentucky is a beautiful state with quite varied scenery (e.g. the horse farms, a restored Shaker Village, and Fort Harrod, all near Lexington). Louisville is the largest city and has some good museums such as Churchill Downs and the Slugger baseball factory and museum, as well as a river boat to ride up the Ohio River.

Maybe you can get hold of a AAA Tour Book for KY and TN. It would be helpful.

And, BTW, we can hold our own against Tennessee any day!

Thanks all for your comments ...

My plans have evolved quite a bit today : ideas from some colleagues (one of which from Washington DC) and from another forum have given me some ideas

I think we'll start in New Orleans, then go to Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, Cherokee(NC), then Washington (while stopping somewhere in between)

Probably 2 nights in each largest cities ... (I know it's not enough, but it'll do to allow for a large spectrum of experiences in a short time)

I live in Cleveland, Tn and love this area. I'm curious as to why your tentative trip from Nashville includes Tullahoma (Tn). The drive from Chattanooga, through Cleveland, and on Route 411 to Tellico Plains is nice but consider taking Hwy 64 around the Ocoee River (kayak Olympics held there some years back)and through Murphy, NC. Beautiful drive! Cherokee, NC, IMO is a gambling tourist trap!

As I sais, this is a firs draft looking to be changed ... ;o) thanks for these remarks, though

Why Tullahoma? To avoid Hwy 24 and take lesser roads ... Also I read there are distilleries in that area and they could provide for an interesting stop ...

I planned on going through Tellico Plains to take the Cherohala Skyway ...

Cherokee was there bacause it looks central, and I'm interested in Native American Heritage. Since my first post, I realized that other locations might be more interesting (like Robbinsville) ... But I still haven't found in which town to stay while in the mountains ...

I will look at Murphy, NC, but it looks a bit too far south since our heading is North-East towards Washington, DC ...

Here's an update of my plans ...

http://bit.ly/q79TVe

If you are looking for distilleries, do the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky.

The Jack Daniels distillery is near-ish to Tullahoma. As far as I know that's the only one. If this is a major interest for you, I agree with carolyn that the Bourbon Trail might be more exciting, but if you've firmly decided not to include Kentucky in your plans, you could easily tour Jack Daniels on your way between Nashville and Chattanooga.