Cleveland's First Stops

Welcome to Trippin' Thru' Dixie with GuestLine.

Last week we slid back down the Cherokee Mountains from Tellico.

This week we've landed in my very favorite spot.

C l e v e l a n d.

Where to start?

Two choices:

The Cleveland-Ocoee Visitor Center (the Chamber of Commerce

headquarters at the Village Green)   ...  or  ...

the Museum Center at 5ive Points, just around the corner from it.

Doesn't matter which you do first, but you should definitely do them both!

The Chamber is going to give you a feel for this small sophisticated East Tennessee "city"!  It's a beautiful interpretation of a progressive community

that caters to its visitors, its business clientele, and its families.

The entrance itself is a statement of its appeal.   An open welcoming entrance, friendly Southern hospitality no matter who is sitting behind

the gorgeous front desk, and its visitors information corner holds

enough options to keep you busy not only all summer, but all year, and part of next. Of course, you should definitely pick up your GuestLine Tennessee visitor guide there, so you can follow the map to every place I'm going to take you.

Just up Inman Street from the Village Green is The Museum Center at 5ive Points.  Cleveland's museum and cultural center does that trendy new

"edu-tainment" thing... you're so entertained, you don't even realize

you're learning. (Great for us kids!)   If you're a local, you will truly enjoy

taking in the history - and the people who founded this gorgeous area.

If you're visiting - you may just fall in love with this remarkable region

of East Tennessee foothills.  The award winning River of Time core exhibit

is something you can absorb many times, as it includes videos of historic characters that could have actually existed - a very imaginative concept that was created by some of Cleveland's most talented and gifted performers.

The Museum Center hosts incredible temporary exhibits throughout the year. The Quilt Show each winter is an extraordinary showing of East Tennessee heritage and beauty! I love browsing the Quilt Show each winter, IT IS AMAZING! I feel like I'm being allowed to view the richest, most precious gifts that families give one another. If you hurry (last day July 1st ) you can still take in - SWEET HARMONY - and explore the history of Southern Gospel Music in our area ... from performers to publishers, to roots that reach back over 100 years. Also currently on display - FAR HILLS: IMAGES OF THE TENNESSEE GOVERNOR'S MANSION. Over a dozen works of art by acclaimed Charles Brindley are for sale to benefit the mansion itself, as well as our own Museum Center's programs.

The Museum Center's Gift Shop is the place to stop before you walk back out into the hub of history-rich downtown Cleveland. If you're visiting, by now you may have become entranced with our corner of the world, and this is a perfect place to find a keepsake of your visit. Wonderful art by our locals,

books of local interest, many also by locals, history, and heritage,

and you can take a piece of it home with you.

This is one of my favorite stops for that just right gift - for a special somebody, sometimes me!

Wait, don't walk out the door just yet - not without grabbing a Historic Walking Tour Guide! (You may have landed one at the Chamber...) I have been lucky enough to enjoy a guided tour with my daughter's 4-H group - it is fun to hear the extra anecdotes of a local! The 4-H Extension Service Office is a good place to try to locate a guide for your group, or ask at the Museum.

A few spots just a short drive away ... Cherokee Springs Golf Course is situated in a lovely valley just outside of town, with rolling hills and clear springs that once belonged to the Cherokee Indian nation. It then became one of the areas first and most prominent Tennessee Walking Horse farms. Its springs are rumored to have "the purest water east of the Mississippi." Today, this municipal course is beautifully maintained by Cleveland's Parks & Recreation Department and is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Wednesdays, seniors 62 & over can ride 18 holes for $15. Cherokee Springs is a challenging course, but great for even the beginner.

Red Clay State Historic Park, just a few miles beyond in the same gorgeous valley, brings thousands of visitors each year to view their clear springs and learn of the Cherokee Indian ways, myths, and history. This is another good place to enjoy again and again. Each time I go I pick up new bits about these interesting people. I am one of those people who have always wanted to understand the Cherokee. I often sit in to hear Native American Indian Storytellers at festivals and such. I suspect they had (and probably still have) a pretty neat thing going with their faith - and it seems to have a nature connection. I have never found anything in writing that explained it to me, but I keep listening to their stories to figure out what it is they have that I find so appealing. You are invited to help celebrate the Cherokee Indian heritage the first weekend in August with authentic Cherokee crafts and food, storytelling, music and dance.

Let's go eat - Rafael's Famous Italian Restaurants now boasts a location just 5 minutes from the Golf Course in the new Walmart Plaza. It's very casual, so you can go after your golfing jaunt. Or ride back into downtown and visit the Rafael's on the courthouse square. Both have great food and friendly folks. Pizza is one of their specialties, by the way.

If you're up for a more decorous outing, the Bald Headed Bistro is your ticket. Western Dining Experience in the heard of the South. Great food, luxurious surrounds will make you feel like you have stepped into Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I love sitting in the restaurant - dining there! The animals that surround you, there is a real bear in a real tree!!!!! Swear! A Mountain Lion! A Raccoon. The art work that is the d?cor - artists created the fixtures and such - is so pretty! I love to just take it in. But again, I have to reiterate, it's the food Bick's cookin' up in the kitchen that keeps 'em packin' it in at the Bistro. Oh yeah, they also have live music on the all season patio on the weekend. A real nice place to go and enjoy a meal. Real nice!

Next week, we're going to show you some hidden treasures in Cleveland that you may not have discovered yet. See if you can find them first - at GuestLineTN.com, or grab a GuestLine guide at any of the above places.