I'm going to be visiting Harrah's Cherokee (North Carolina) next year, which is located in in western NC, very close to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Coincidentally, it is very close to Asheville, the town we talked about a lot on radio. I will actually be going to Asheville because there are some interesting things to see in the area.

I've been doing research on the internet, and trying to find the most interesting things to see within approximately a 500 mile radius. I will have a car, and plan to fly back from a different airport from where I arrive.

I have no experience in the area, and have never been there before.

Benjamin will be with us, but as I've said many times before, he can find fun in almost anything, and does not need "kiddie" attractions to enjoy himself. In fact, I would prefer NOT to do kiddie stuff, as it will be boring for the adults.

Here's what I found so far:

Near Harrah's Cherokee:
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- Blue Ridge Parkway (Asheville)
- Chimney Rock State Park (a little east of Asheville)

Other places of interest:
- Atlanta (will probably fly in here, never been before)
- Blue Ridge, GA (located between Atlanta and Harrah's, pretty much a no-brainer stop)
- Chattanooga, TN (150 miles from Harrah's)
- Nashville, TN (132 from Chattanooga)
- Mammoth Caves National Park, Kentucky (92 miles from Nashville)
- Memphis, TN (212 from Nashville)

Of course, most of this is west of Harrah's Cherokee.

I tried to look at the other directions (South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia), but I'm not seeing much to see/do as a tourist in these places. Would be interested to see how people live in these places, but doesn't seem worth driving hundreds of miles just for that.

But my mind is open to suggestions.

Again, don't focus on kid stuff, because I don't want that.

Don't need beach-type stuff because the water won't be warm, and we already have that in Los Angeles.

Would prefer more unique things that we won't see in the western US. Anything we could duplicate in California or Nevada won't be too interesting.

Thanks for any suggestions you guys can make.

Also, please do not shitpost or troll in this thread. I will delete any of that stuff from this thread, and will kick anyone out of this thread who keeps doing it (I have a new mod that allows me to do that.)