Our destinations
full List of our many destinations
Amazon Fulfillment Center
Touring the Amazon Fullfillment Center in Chattanooga was an amazing experience. When we arrived at the building, there were large signs clearly directing us to the reserved parking for tour visitors. Inside, we were greeted promptly, and then we waited in the lobby until the tour guides came to get us. The first stop on the tour was the restrooms (there were none in the waiting area). We were then taken to a classroom where we were given information about safety and the tour, then we went out into the center. It was HUGE!!!! We learned so much about Amazon, and its processes, and its workers. Amazon is about safety and respect for its customers and workers. We walked through all the areas, and I was amazed by how calm the workers were. No one was rushing around or working frantically. On the other hand, packages were flying by on conveyers, and bins and carts of products were everywhere. It is all so organized and so interesting. If you get a chance, this is a great tour. It is free and fun. Wear good walking shoes; they take you on a bit of a hike!
Driving Information: The Amazon facility is located a little north of Chattanooga. It is about a two-hour drive from crossville.
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service is a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Nashville, Tennessee is part of the Southern Region.
WFO Nashville is managed by the Meteorologist-in-Charge, Larry Vannozzi, who is responsible for all NWS Nashville operations. Operational personnel include ten forecasters, whose responsibilities include issuing hazardous weather watches, warnings and statements, public forecasts and discussions, aviation forecasts (called “terminal aerodrome forecasts”), and fire weather forecasts.
Driving Information: The National Weather Service facility is located a little north of Nashville. It is about a two-hour drive from crossville. It is not an easy place to find, you definitely need GPS to navigate to it.
Tennessee College for Applied Technology
TCAT serves as the premier suppliers of workforce development in the Crossville area The College fulfills it’s mission by: Providing competency-based training through superior quality, traditional and distance learning instruction methods that qualify completers for employment and job advancement; Contributing to the economic and community development of the communities served by training and retraining employed workers; Ensuring that programs and services are economical and accessible to all residents of Tennessee; and Building relationships of trust with community, business, and industry leaders to supply highly skilled workers in areas of need.
Driving Information: The Amazon facility is located a little north of Chattanooga. It is about a two-hour drive from crossville.
Cumberland County Playhouse
The Cumberland County Playhouse has a rich history, and is now the only major non-profit professional performing arts resource in rural Tennessee, and one of the 10 largest professional theaters in rural America. Combining a resident professional company and a staff of 16 with more than 100 visiting professionals and a large volunteer corps, the Cumberland County Playhouse draws professionals from across the country and volunteers from a dozen Tennessee counties. Over 50% of all revenues are expended for professional artist compensation.
The Playhouse has been managed and directed by two generations of the Crabtree family since 1965. With an annual budget of over $1,800,000, the Playhouse is among Tennessee’s most sufficient arts institutions. Since its opening in 1965, 78 – 85% of all revenues have been from earned income, including funding of the construction of the original facility.
Bryce McDonald, CEO, is your host for this tour and gives you the history of the Playhouse and then literally takes you behind the scenes and explains everything that goes into making a production.
Driving Information: The Cumberland County Playhouse is on the outskirts of Crossville just off Sparta Highway.
Cumberland County Jail
The Cumberland County Jail, located in Crossville, is a maximum security facility. Because the inmates in this jail range from low level offenders to those being held for violent crimes like robbery, rape and murder, the security level is as high as is it is in any maximum security state prison. Some of the security features in this facility include security cameras, electronic detection and reinforced fencing topped with razor wire. Correctional officers are armed with mace and trained to use physical force to protect themselves and other inmates from violence.
The men, women and juveniles being held in the jail are either awaiting trial or have been sentenced in the Cumberland County Court System already and been sentenced to a period of time of one year or less. When an inmate is sentenced to a year or more, they are admitted into the Tennessee Prison or Federal Prison System.
The tour guide is usually Tim Clafin the Jail Administator and Sherriff Casey Cox will talk to the group for about 15 minutes if he is available.
We often combine this tour with a visit to the E911 Center which is nextdoor.
Driving Information: The Cumberland County Playhouse is on the outskirts of Crossville just off Sparta Highway.