Southern Celebrations In Cookeville, TN

Let's begin with Happy Fourth of July! (belated, I know, the whole "job" thing has had us wiped out this week).
For the long holiday weekend we decided we'd brave the 11 hour drive overnight with our trusty pup and go see the in-laws and other family members who reside in Cookeville, TN. Now I don't completely advise traveling over the holidays because it always seems to be a pain in rear, but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Just a quick word for the wise, Atlanta is ALWAYS horrible to drive through and if you cross paths with it, go in the middle of the night. Literally our whole departure time is geared around Atlanta traffic, and though it's still crowded at 1am, it's typically pretty smooth. 

Anyways, lets get to the good stuff! Cookeville, TN! Okay I'm aware that it's not exactly "Nashville" popular or even close... but it should be! For such a tiny little town there is so incredibly much to offer! Waterfalls with fairly short drives, tons of hiking trails and located literally in the center of Tennessee, it's a pretty short drive (less than 3 hours) to every major city you'd want to visit! We've yet to have an extended stay (more than 3 days) and when we go it's normally just to catch up with family, but having found out this information, you better bet as soon as we can spring for a week off work, we're heading straight to Cookeville and looking to venture out to some of my favorite cities like Nashville, Pigeon Forge, and Chattanooga. It's also only about an hour drive to Kentucky where there is come Cavern park that we have added to our TN Bucket List. 

If you're into waterfalls, there are some really pretty ones just outside the little city. Fall Creek Falls is absolutely beautiful! We didn't really have time to go on this quick trip, but it's one of our favorites for sure. This trip was mostly about family, with a little fireworks for the holiday and some lake time sprinkled in.

 Side note:
We've also discovered that being pulled on a tube in a lake should be considered a p90x type exercise.

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