'Fresh Ideas For Traveling With Kids' - Kids Love Tennessee

Area Sites Featured in a New Guide for Exploring Tennessee With Children! Planning trips can be so frustrating ... especially when your kids seem bored and are begging for new ideas on something fun to do. Or, maybe you have young relatives or friends coming to town and you don't know where to begin planning fun adventures that are guaranteed to please kids.

Over the last few years, many parents have expressed they want to focus on easy, inexpensive day trips or weekends. But how can you decide which places are "kid-friendly" and a good value?

"Entertaining children shouldn't be so hard. We wanted to make family time easy so, we researched and wrote this book" say parents/authors George and Michele Zavatsky. After 1000 hours of research and publishing, the result is their book, KIDS LOVE TENNESSEE. This book is part of series of best-selling regional travel guides for eight states in the South and Midwest.

KIDS LOVE TENNESSEE has been kid-tested and the descriptions include great hints on what kids like best. This informative guide contains 234 pages packed full of over 500 places and events specifically designed for children between the ages of 2 – 15.

Explore places where you can "discover" pearls, meet three Kings (of Rights, Rock and Soul) and be inspired to sing listening to the rich traditions of Country music fame. We'll tell you how Appalachian, Cherokee, and Pioneer folks lived and even how to take cover from Confederate/Union crossfire or cook with an open fire.

You'll know where to go to stand side-by-side a baker or a basketball player, watch a carousel animal carved before your eyes or learn the secrets of making guitars and cars. Work a corn Sheller or go back to one-room schoolhouse (mind your manners!). Now, observe the simplicity of the Amish or view original Presidential belongings (White House china, a tailor's scissors, or a sword). Another weekend you'll have all the travel details you need to go behind the scenes of famous recording studios or the decorating warehouse of a country restaurant chain. Of course, there's plenty of kid-friendly details on nationally known sites like Opryland, Graceland, the Grand Ole Opry, Dollywood, Davy Crockett's Birthplace, Christus Gardens (God is watching!), or places where war hurt (Sam Davis and Carter House).

Want Action? Trolley, cruise or walk past famous landmarks. Like Water? Boardwalk through a wetland habitat (look for beaver dams), raft the whitewaters, or hop, skip and jump along the Mississippi. Touch a stingray, or catch a chilling stare from a shark (up-close!). Pack your knapsack as you hike to find hidden waterfalls, caves and gorges. Or, ride the rails past old bridges and country sides near old battlefields.

If you're hungry, KIDS LOVE TENNESSEE knows where to sample shortbread or beaten biscuits (kids can beat it 500 times), be an Old World homemade bread taste-tester, or make ice cream and Tennessee cheddar. The book will tell you how to eat your way through fish fry, cornbread, strawberry and RC and Moon Pie festivals. Unusual theme restaurants include a Rainforest, Elvis' (try a PB and banana sandwich), a train station serving yummy crackling cornbread, or line-dancing at a saloon. Eat on top of a rock or enjoy a rousing chorus on a Showboat or at the Stampede.

The book is formatted in 6 geographical zones providing maps, descriptions, websites, prices, etc. to save you lots of time. It's a wonderful resource to make short vacation plans or to get to know your hometown area better. You will probably find there are at least 50-100 things to do within an hour of your home! Best of all, if you have a limited budget, don't worry – the book lists lots of places to visit for little or no charge!

Birdsong Resort, Marina and Campground will partner with the Benton County Library on Tuesday, June 8 from 10:00 a.m. until 12 noon for a book signing party with George and Michele Zvatsky. Story time at the Benton County Library from 10 to 10:30 then on to Birdsong for crafts, book signing, and fun. The event is open to the public at no charge, and offers free popcorn, hotdogs, lemonade, and balloons. The swimming pool area will be no charge during these same hours.

Meet the authors, purchase your book and have it signed all on site (at the Benton County Library or Birdsong Resort). To reserve your copy, or more information call the Benton Co. Library at 731-584-4772 or Birdsong Resort at 731-584-7880.

Located at the Benton County Library on Hwy. 70 East and at the swimming pool/pavilion area of Birdsong Resort, Marina and Campground, 255 Marina Road, Exit 133 off I-40, Camden Kentucky Lake, Tennessee. www.BirdsongResort.com.