Chattanooga, Tennessee

Why: Because when you've exhausted all the kid-friendly activities here, you'll still have money left in your wallet.

Tasty treat: To-die-for hush puppies at Nikki's Drive Inn, a local institution.

Top outing: Putting on your knee pads, grabbing a miner's lamp, and walking, climbing, and crawling through the chambers, canyons, and tunnels of Raccoon Mountain Caverns.

Where to stay: In an authentic parlor car at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo railway terminal.

Don't leave without: Going for a spine-tingling ride in a glass-topped car on the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway.

Don't miss: The Gila monsters and gators at the Tennessee Aquarium, the world's largest freshwater aquarium.