Discovery Park of America

Ah Spring Break!  The well deserved and much needed respite that teachers and students get between the 3rd and 4th quarters of the school year.

There is a dark cloud, however, a trouble that plagues those with kids: no school!

Kids get a little crazy when they are home for a week with not much to do.  As such I try to plan ahead and have a lot of things of various sorts ready to go beforehand.  This past Spring Break I had scheduled a couple hikes, a movie or two, some fun lunches, a visit to the library, and a trip to the Discovery Park of America.

Discovery Park of America, or DPA for short, is a wondrous place located in Union City, Tennessee (Northwest Tennessee).  It's not a super huge facility, but it is jam packed with fun and adventure.

We were a bit unlucky in that the day we picked for this trip was during the one rainy day of the week.  However, the mix of outdoor and indoor activities provided an amazing time for my two kids.  Both boys like different things.  The older one likes cars, science, space and stuff like that whereas the younger boy likes dinosaurs, machines and rough and tumble antics.  Both were satisfied with the DPA.

Upon entering you are greeted by a stuffed or heavily tranquilized Grizzly Bear.  From there they have natural history displays, military vehicles from history including replicas of the atomic bombs used in World War II.  There is even a section on torture.  They have classic cars, dinosaur skeletons, a giant slide in the shape of a human body that kids can use to go from one level of the museum to the one below.  Outside there is a garage with several vintage farm equipment, a reproduction of an old American town, different gardens (one is a Japanese garden).  There is also a church and old rockets from NASA from the 60s. 

The two boys had a blast and wanted to stay longer.  Sadly we had plans for the next day.  This is a great place that is not too far for either Memphians or Nashvillians.  They have a variety of tickets that allow you to see what you want.  I recommend the all access pass so you can do everything.  There is also a pass that allows you to have two days.  Might be good especially if you want to kill multiple days.  I highly recommend this awesome place that has something for everyone.