Part 2: Tennessee Rivers Cruise Excursions, Day-by-Day

We’re back with Part 2 of our Tennessee Rivers cruise with American Cruise Lines (ACL)—diving into the ports, excursions, and what surprised us most along the way as we sailed on the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Ohio Rivers. 

From Chattanooga to Nashville, we share the excursion options along the way, including scenic sailing, small-town gems, Civil War history, and unique stops like the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and Paducah’s Quilt Museum, which we experienced firsthand.

We also cover tips for excursions, what to expect in these quieter destinations, and how to extend your trip before or after your cruise in Chattanooga, Nashville, or Franklin, TN.

In Part 1 (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2448059/episodes/18904212), we talked about the overall experience of river cruising on the Tennessee River, what the ship is like, and who this type of cruise is best for.

Here are helpful links to go along with this episode, which include photos: 

• American Cruise Lines: Tennessee River Cruise Review from Chattanooga to Nashville: https://sometimessailing.com/american-cruise-lines-tennessee-river-cruise-review-from-chattanooga-to-nashville/ 
• Is the Grand Ole Opry Backstage Tour Worth it? https://sometimeshome.com/is-the-grand-ole-opry-backstage-tour-worth-it-in-nashville/
• 26 Date Ideas in Franklin, Tennessee: https://sometimeshome.com/date-ideas-in-franklin-tn-for-couples/
• The Harpeth Hotel Review: https://sometimeshome.com/the-harpeth-hotel-review-in-downtown-franklin-tennessee/ 

Transcript

Dan (00:35)

Hey, everybody. Today is part two of the Tennessee Rivers cruise with American Cruise Lines conversation. We're gonna discuss the ports that we stopped at, extending your trip in Chattanooga or/in Nashville. And then we're also gonna talk about kind of what surprised us and what you can look forward to on this particular cruise. If you want information on just the overview, what the cruise was like, the ship experience, and who this cruise is best suited for, check out part one and that is linked in the show notes below.

Mikkel (01:12)

We also talk about the entertainment, the evening entertainment, music, and the food in part one as well.

So this episode is gonna give you a clear picture of what a typical day in port looks like. We're also gonna share some information about what we did on the day on the river, our sailing day. So come along.

Journey with us along the Tennessee River into the Ohio River and lastly into the Cumberland River. Now just as a reminder we sailed from Chattanooga to Nashville. It winds through Alabama and Kentucky but also if you're doing a different date— whatever date you're doing— it's very possible that you are doing the reverse route from Nashville to Chattanooga. So, it's interchangeable, it still stops at the same cities, just keep in mind the reverse.

Additionally, this is a nine-day, eight-night cruise.

Dan (00:00)

In this week's episode, we talk about shore excursions. We just want to add one note to that.

Mikkel (00:05)

If you have sailed two or more times with American Cruise Lines, you are in what they call the Eagle Society. It's like their loyalty program. And one of the benefits of that is that you get some excursions complimentary. Not all, but some. So we do reference if there's an additional cost here and there for some of the excursions we went on during this cruise. But just to note, one of the perks of being an Eagle Society with ACL is complimentary excursions for some of them.

Let's start with our embarkation in Chattanooga. So, Dan, we decided to fly to Chattanooga early because you had never been there and I had been there once previously and I just thought it was a really great city. And most people, I would say, don't really think of it when they think of Tennessee. They really think of Knoxville and Nashville and Chattanooga needs more attention. So we decided to go there first. I'm glad we did.

Dan (03:12)

Yeah, so there was some pretty cool restaurants, some like there was definitely some up and coming neighborhoods in the city. And it was little pockets of Southern hipster along the way. There was some interesting stuff in that city.

Mikkel (03:27)

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And flying into the airport, it is a small airport. It was really small. It kind of reminded me of the Charleston airport, but maybe even a little smaller.

Dan (03:32)

Yes. Yeah.

Completely accessible, very navigable and it's definitely not an overwhelming airport. You're gonna feel pretty comfortable and you can get in and out quickly.

Mikkel (03:49)

Right, and we had to transfer from the airport to our pre-cruise hotel ourselves because we chose to go there early. So if you're flying in the day that you start your hotel stay as part of the ACL itinerary, American Cruise Lines itinerary, then you can arrange for transfers. But we just Ubered. It was really easy. We Ubered. I remember the woman we had as a driver was telling us about the area and kind of what her and her husband like and don't like there. So I thought that was an interesting interlude to our stay.

Dan (04:14)

yeah. Yeah.

Mikkel (04:18)

In Chattanooga, a very walkable downtown area that we were able to explore by foot, it was flat, right? So not a lot of not hilly like San Francisco, not at all. It was flat. It was lovely to be a part of the aquarium there.

It was the same architect on the aquarium as the Baltimore Aquarium, if anybody has been there. So it was great to experience that because I grew up going to the Baltimore Aquarium. I remember we went an area with a glass blowing demonstration that we happened upon. We did some waterfront dining. So we were able to walk to the waterfront before the cruise and actually scope out where the ship was docking and have some meals there and enjoy extra

Dan (04:55)

All right. Mm-hmm.

Mikkel (05:10)

time on the waterfront as well. We slept at the hotel overnight, and the next day we're greeted by the American Cruise Lines crew, and they checked us in, gave us name tags, and the folder, and everything.

Dan (05:22)

It's interesting. One thing I want to note about ACL and embarkation day. I feel like they do such a great job at making it low stress and you're not in a rush. You're not in a hurry. They load you onto the buses in an orderly fashion. Like, they kind of set the table really nicely to ease you into life on board.

Mikkel (05:36)

Mm-hmm. That's true. Also as an option, we decided to walk to the port, but they took our luggage. So we told them, "It's very close. We saw it yesterday. We know where it is. So we're going to opt out of the transportation, but we are going to bring you our luggage." They were totally fine with that. 

Even though the port's really close to the hotel that we stayed at, if you're not able to walk long distances like that, I would say it was like a 10 or 15-minute walk. It wasn't far at all, but you know, if you are challenged mobility-wise, then of course they have

American Cruise Line-branded coach buses that are lovely that are very easy. I remember it was July 4th time it was in July, the beginning of July, and there was like a very patriotic garland decorating the inside of the bus, which I thought was cute.

Dan (06:24)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, And then once you get on the boat, again, I think ACL does such a great job of welcoming everybody. To me, the big takeaway from this entire voyage was it's low stress. It’s all about enjoying yourself and enjoying the river and connecting with other passengers and connecting to the scenery.

Mikkel (06:52)

So, to your point, let's get right into the day-by-day; after our pre-cruise stay, we sailed. So getting right on that ship, doing a scenic cruising of the Tennessee River. And we were really able to get the flavor of how gorgeous it is and the beauty of the Tennessee River during summer in that Tennessee River Valley, on an American riverboat. We were on American Serenade, which was built in 2022. We were on in 2023. It was new. It was shiny. They maintain their ships so well. 

So I have no doubt it would be the same experience today. But it was kind of a nice little thing to be on, you know, a brand spanking new ship sailing between the Appalachian Mountains and the "Land Between the Lakes," as it's called, which is a corridor that's very rich in history and, of

Dan (07:26)

Mm-hmm.

Mikkel (07:43)

course, we were sailing onward towards Nashville the last day. So, musical legacy went hand in hand with that as well.

You stop in small towns and historic river ports along the journey so after our scenic sailing day we stopped in Decatur, Alabama. The itinerary that we signed up for in this kind of quote/unquote official port day was the US Space and Rocket Center. This was a paid excursion. And we love space. Space! We love space. So I mean, as soon as we saw this as an option on this Tennessee Rivers cruise itinerary, I mean, there was just like nowhere else we wanted to be but learning more about space.

Dan (08:15)

Space!

Mikkel (08:28)

It is in Huntsville, Alabama. So we boarded a bus and were driven there. It was about a 45-minute drive— traffic, you know, pending, on the time you're going and coming back. But it was really cool to hear more about the space of like after the war, and how they recruited scientists. We have been to Kennedy Space Center, in the Port Canaveral/Cape Canaveral area of the eastern coast of Florida. So I didn't really know what to expect. It's not as robust as that, but it's equally impressive for kind of like a smaller-scale operation. Would you say?

Dan (09:03)

It was a little bit smaller. There were definitely less rockets there, but I think they did a very good job of really telling the local history and how Huntsville really put their fingerprints on the space program.

Mikkel (09:16)

Right and why it's there, and kind of all of that information. I recall being very hungry. It was a longer excursion. So pro tip here from our experience: on American Cruise Line ships, there's a snacks area. They have bags of chips, cookies to go, that kind of thing. And although they do cookie hour in some places... they do it on the ship every day.

Dan (09:18)

Yep.

Mikkel (09:42)

They'll bring it with the excursion if there are enough people are on that excursion. This was not that kind of situation. In the episode about the Columbia and Snake Rivers, we talked about how at Mount St. Helens, they brought the cookies to us, the fresh-baked cookies. But this was not that situation. So pro tip, just grab some snacks to put in your day pack if you are going on this excursion. Also, bring water. I remember being thirsty.

Dan (10:08)

Yeah, it was very warm.

Mikkel (10:09)

There are some extra paid experiences you can do within your free time at the US Space and Rocket Center. So one of them was like an IMAX experience. Another was kind of like a virtual reality simulation. So yeah, those are just things to be aware of.

Dan (10:27)

Our next port was Florence, Alabama. So Florence is known for music. It's known for its southern culture. We opted for a Native American history tour, and it was pretty interesting to learn about the Native Americans that lived in that area. They had a burial mound that was

very fascinating and sacred, yes. And then we heard stories about some of the locals and the history, the oral traditions that were in the area. So that was also really interesting.

Mikkel (10:51)

And sacred.

Yeah, I remember seeing the Wichahpi Commemorative Stone Wall that has a really interesting story, that a man built and now the story is told by Tom was his name, his son, who takes you through the experience and kind of explains why this was kind of like came to him in a dream after his grandmother's death to keep this wall alive and it was nice to have free time there to walk around and kind of like be one with nature and kind of feel all those spirits, like not woo woo in any way, but just be in tune with nature and respect the ancestry that came before you and the history of those grounds in the United States. 

One of the things I really appreciate about American Cruise Lines is that they integrate Native American history and culture

Dan (11:38)

Hmm.

Mikkel (11:55)

when they can, from our experience with the cruise line. And I love that we signed up for this because it was important to us to experience.

Dan (12:04)

Absolutely. When you participate in or take the time to learn what you're really looking at it does make such a world of difference.

Mikkel (12:12)

Yes. Now that we've done this excursion, will say there is a Shoals Studio experience. This is the Muscle Shoals region, they call it. And during that experience, that excursion with American Cruise Lines, you have the opportunity to sit at the piano where Lynyrd Skynyrd curated Freebird. Also, Mick and the Boys recorded Brown Sugar there. So you can stand in that room. Also, Aretha Franklin found her voice there.

Dan (12:31)

Okay, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Mikkel (12:40)

You're experiencing this at the original Muscle Shoals Sound Recording Studios, Cypress Moon and Fame Recording Studio. So that's another really good option. The complimentary excursion that's included here is the Florence Local Loop. So they do a bus drop off and you can walk around the downtown shopping area.

There is a Center for the Arts over there if you're interested in that. A historic home which is one of Frank Lloyd Wright's magnificent homes, called Rosenbaum House. We love us some Frank Lloyd Wright architecture. So that's a really fantastic option as well.

Dan (13:22)

Our next port was Savannah, Tennessee. Now, not to be confused with Savannah, Georgia, this was in Tennessee. Savannah, Tennessee, sits near Shiloh National Military Park. And that was the excursion we chose for the day. So it's a significant Civil War battlefield. There was a couple of excursions that were focused on the battlefield. But the one we took was a bus ride that visited the memorial in town and then went out to the battlefield and we walked around the cemetery and also had a bus of the battlefield with a great narrator from the Park Service.

Mikkel (13:57)

Yes, that's right. Who was on the bus with us, who met us on the bus when we got picked up. So there's two Civil War experiences you can do here. The one that we did was the Civil War from Battles to Reconstruction. This is a paid excursion because it's a little more in-depth. It's a little longer in terms of length, you know, hours that you're on the excursion. And it also includes lunch. We talked about this last time very briefly, but

Dan (14:02)

Right. Yeah.

Mikkel (14:25)

we were talking about that Southern food. Do you get really Southern food on this cruise? You don't really, but this was kind of one of those instances that we could combine a culinary experience in the South with an excursion, because it's on the same excursion. So we went to a catfish restaurant. We had catfish. We had French fries. It was fun. We sat at tables with other guests. It was so efficient.

I want to say they were serving like 75 of us because multiple buses stopped there for the lunch and they were on it. Snapping my fingers because they were timed and they were good and they got us in and out of there in an efficient manner and I was really impressed. After that, we went to the Shiloh Military Park like you were saying. Conversely, if you want to do the complimentary excursion that's a little shorter and included for the price of your cruise, you can do the Shiloh Military Park

Mikkel (15:18)

exploration, complimentary excursion as well. And you will get a tour that you get to see the battleground and such. It was the largest engagement in the Mississippi Valley campaign during the Civil War. We like engrossing ourselves in war history, we think it's important whether we're in Normandy — on the beaches of Normandy in France — or we're in the United States to talk about the Civil War or in Germany, with WWII, as well. 

So, this was a little bit of that. There's also a Tennessee River Museum and Taste of Savannah experience if you do want more of those catfish experiences, hush puppies, paddlefish caviar kind of thing and strolling downtown with boutiques and such. That is also another option. I will say the fee is for excursions with American Cruise Lines

Mikkel (16:08)

are very affordable. It's rarely more than like $25 to $100 per person, I would say.

Dan (16:16)

I would agree, and I think ACL does a very good job of offering diverse excursions. So it feels like they cover their bases pretty well. There's something for everybody and every mobility level along the way.

Mikkel (16:29)

Right, but on that note, I will say two things about it. If you are listening to this and you're like somebody who needs big cities and you're like, I love Paris, I love Tokyo — we love Paris and Tokyo too. You have to be able to appreciate the smaller towns and not be like, "Oh my god," roll your eyes, "There's nothing to do here." There are things to do there. I just think they're not going to knock your socks off. 

You’re not gonna see startups with the best inventions in these small cities, you know, like it's very small scale. It's very Americana to take the word, you know, you said a few times in part one of this two-parter, for the Tennessee Rivers cruise. So I think a caution to manage your expectations. There are really interesting things to see and discover. 

Also, you brought up a point to me when we were discussing this before we started recording that the itinerary can change slightly. That's true of any cruise, anywhere in the world. But if we are talking about an excursion and you go to look at the cruise and you say, well, that excursion isn't offered anymore, that's because they just try to keep things updated. Restaurants may close. Excursions can change because there is a better opportunity that came along to present to guests. So that's just something else to keep in mind.

Dan (17:42)

Yeah. So piggybacking off the comment you just made about smaller towns or appreciating smaller towns, my personal favorite on this trip was...hmm, that's hard. Is it my personal favorite? It was a hidden gem, let's put it that way, was Paducah, Kentucky. This was on the Ohio River section. We kind of like bumped up, we jetted for the day and then back down.

Mikkel (17:56)

Yeah, good question.

The confluence actually, you know, to your point. So it was easy to do that because it's where the Ohio and the Tennessee Rivers meet.

Dan (18:17)

Yeah. So the Paducah is a historic river town, like we said, where the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers meet and they had an interesting mix of heritage, art.  And yeah, like the, sea wall... sea wall, the flood wall... had murals. So it was a very colorful way of like interacting with the river.

Mikkel (18:30)

For sure art, yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Dan (18:42)

There was a large locomotive display, like a train, you know, there. But the hidden gem was very much the Quilt Museum.

Mikkel (18:46)

Mm-hmm.

And this is something we weren't even going to go to. It's so nice that American Cruise Lines arranges complimentary entrance to this for all American Cruise Lines guests. All we needed when we arrived was our lanyard with our key card or name tag. It was our name tag showing that we were guests and they marked us down for complimentary entrance. We were walking around. We wanted to shops and such in Paducah.

Unfortunately, we were there on a Monday or Tuesday, and not much was open on a Monday or Tuesday, which was a shame, because we would have liked to have gone into, there was a bar and there was a brewery. There was a artsy shop that I think we would have enjoyed with a pop-up with local artists and stuff. We did get quite the architectural tour on foot, just walking around the neighborhoods. 

We did see some real estate that we looked up, but we just didn't like how far Paducah was from the airport, which is why it was great that we were on there on a cruise. But we ended up running into another couple from the cruise who asked us if we had gone to the Quilt Museum. And, you know, I'm a crafty person, so I don't know why—I'm ashamed of myself—it didn't really appeal to me for some reason. 

But we were like, all right, we'll go. It's right here. You can walk very easily from the ship to the museum. If you aren't able to walk, they do provide transportation, but we are luckily able-bodied and we could walk over there. So we walked over, there were some really beautiful Native American and settlers of the city sculptures that were in front of it to give you a little bit of the history that you could read the plaques with more information. We went into the Quilt Museum and holy crap, who knew quilts could be so modern, right? Like, the beadwork on some of the outfits that people made from quilt work were so spectacular. You are able to get so close to the quilts. I mean, people were making murals out of different pieces of fabric. Like, murals, portraits of people. It was incredible, incredible.

Dan (20:59)

Yeah. It definitely opened my eyes to what is possible with fabric.

Mikkel (21:08)

Possible with fabric. Amen to that. If you're living on the wild side does not include a sewing machine and fabric or textiles, then another option during this day in Paducah is a

Dan (21:11)

Mm-hmm.

Mikkel (21:25)

National Scenic Byway Wildlife Tour. And this is an experience in the land between the lakes, a national recreation area between two lakes, if you're a lake person, Barkley and Kentucky lakes, to be exact. You see bison. You see elk. You see where they all roam free, just like all the 18th-century songs say about the beauty of the United States. You can learn about the indigenous wildlife. Don't forget to bring your binoculars. I think this would be a great excursion to bring those binoculars. 

There is also a horse-drawn carriage experience that you can sign up for. We're not going to get too into it, especially cause like I said, these could change.

Paducah is designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art and after having been there, I can say I see why.

Dan (22:21)

Agreed. So after Paducah, we did another day of scenic cruising. At this point we went through the Kentucky Dam that morning. Not to miss. The Tennessee Valley Authority has done a fantastic job with the dam. It works perfectly as far as I...

Mikkel (22:36)

It works... she works, clean as a whistle, works perfectly.

Operates like a well-oiled machine, she probably is.

Dan (22:45)

Yeah, that's exactly

what it is. And the crew put out a mimosa bar, which was as we were going through the lock. I mean, come on. Why not?

Mikkel (22:50)

Yes.

I appreciated that. And in your cruise fare with American Cruise Lines is all alcohol. So it's not like, you you look at this, like, "Ooh, complimentary alcohol at an abnormal time of the day when, you know, you don't otherwise get it." It's not like that. It's all included. But I did think it was a really nice touch and added a celebratory element to being in this engineering marvel.

Dan (23:15)

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Let's celebrate the accomplishments of our forefathers.

Mikkel (23:20)

Yeah.

There's no pool on board, but there is a gym if you want to occupy your time on the river cruising day with the gym. Bring a book, enjoy the scenery. Again, if you bring those binoculars, you don't know what you'll see along the river. You might see some lake houses that we kind of briefly touched on last time. It was really cool to see these summer homes, presumably, or just beautiful lake homes, river homes.

You are sailing on lakes this day, too. So that's not incorrect to say. But it really is gorgeous. Sit on your balcony, get a glass of wine, record a podcast if you're us, ⁓ and just enjoy your day on American Cruise Lines on the river. The day flies by in a minute. So between breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the onboard talks, right? 

There's always somebody sharing info that they've hired to bring on board for the duration of the cruise telling you about where you are, which I really appreciated. Don't miss that during the day. And there's certainly plenty to do, including the evening entertainment, which we talked about in part one of this, which is linked in the show notes that blew us away with the bluegrass music and the vocal trio that was on board that performed multiple times.

There's really something to look forward to every day of the cruise and it flies by, which leads us to our last destination on our open jaw, right? So that's starting in one city and ending in another in cruise terms as opposed to closed jaw that you go round trip from the same city. So the last stop on our open jaw itinerary was our final stop where we overnighted:

Dan (24:59)

Nashville! What was really really great about this was we came into Nashville right before dinner, so I remember we popped a bottle of champagne and we were like  we cruised by the ballpark and it was like right in downtown Nashville is where we ended up docking. All of it felt... it felt like just such a great crescendo of the cruise and all of sudden you

Mikkel (25:09)

Yes!

Dan (25:25)

were in these small, sleepy towns and now it's like, "Wow, we're in Nashville. And the music, you could hear the music and you could feel the energy and feel the excitement.

Mikkel (25:32)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I like how you phrased that. It's like bookended by a lot of energy to start and end your cruise in those two major cities, Chattanooga and Nashville. And man, was that primo parking for the port right at the end of Broadway Street. It's called Broadway, the street in downtown Nashville. So it kind of leads to the river, to the Cumberland River. And that is exactly where you'll find the ship.

It's very hard to get lost. You could just take that street all the way down towards the water if you were walking around. This was really a phenomenal experience. We went to the Grand Ole Opry show at night. So Grand Ole Opry, I mean, you can't talk about Nashville without this icon of a theater venue. I would say everybody went on that. They did several buses at night. And that was really cool to see.

We also did a tour of the Ryman Auditorium, another iconic music venue there. And we also were able to do the Johnny Cash Museum Experience. Now this was paid, we had to pay for the experience, again, minimal nominal fee. But because we had that ticket from the experience, you're able to also do the Patsy Cline Museum in your free time if you want, which we loved.

I mean, of course, we know Patsy Cline's music and we know she died way too early, but we didn't know about her life otherwise. So I thought this was really worth the visit and worth at least an hour, if not two, to learn about her

Dan (27:04)

Absolutely.

Mikkel (27:05)

Another highlight is going to the Country Music Hall of Fame. We decided not to go with the cruise line because it overlapped with other experiences and because we were extending to stay there for a few days after.

So let's talk about disembarkation. There’s not much to say about it, right? Like, it's smooth.

Dan (27:23)

Right.

Same as with embarkation. Like, I think ACL does such a great job making it smooth, stress-free, and I wouldn't say leisurely, but they're not rushing you off the ship, which is a nice change of pace. So low stress, I would say, is the best way to describe it.

Mikkel (27:43)

Yeah, it is really nice with river cruises, especially with ACL, that you don't feel like you're being kicked off. They're not like, "All right, everybody get kicked off. We need your rooms!" At a certain point, you need to get off the cruise unless you're paying for the next one. But it is nice and leisurely, like you said. We got off the ship in the morning after breakfast. We actually rented a car on Turo.com. So that's like people rent their own cars, if you want, as opposed to picking up from Enterprise or Hertz. T-U-R-O is the name of it. 

Dan (27:53)

All right.

Mikkel (28:12)

We rented that and we actually decided to stay in such a great city most people don't know about. It's about 35 minutes southwest of Nashville and it is called Franklin, Tennessee.

Dan (28:28)

We were talking to somebody there and jokingly, he said there's more Grammys per capita in Franklin, Tennessee than anywhere else in the world. So this is pretty much like the suburbs of Nashville, and it's where all the country stars and producers and things like that live. It's kind of like a little oasis outside of the city.

Mikkel (28:50)

And there's so much to do there. There's open mic nights.

There is a part of the area by Franklin— it's just outside of Franklin— where Chris Stapleton lives, we found out, right by his neighbor, Justin Timberlake, called Leipers Fork. There is a resort over there a bee farm and a small shop you can go to that's almost like a farmer's market Kimberly Williams and Brad Paisley— Kimberly Williams' brother runs.

This is like really where you should go outside of Nashville. Not only do they have more Grammys per capita, like you said, but also what I took away from it was, the stars don't really live in Nashville. They live outside of Nashville. So we decided—because we had seen the hits in Nashville, and because we were just on this river cruise and it's calm,

Dan (29:31)

Yeah.

Mikkel (29:41)

less, you know, high energy, like you were saying. We're not big people to go out at night. We went to an open mic night because you can't not in Nashville. And you can go out at night if you want the day that you're overnight docked in Nashville. 

For us, it was the eighth and ninth day of the cruise. But for you, it might be the first and second day of the cruise. You can skip the evening entertainment if you want. I mean, we didn't want to because Charlie McCoy, a Hall-of-Famer, harmonica player was playing that night with his band. We didn't want to miss that, but you could if you wanted to, you know, there's plenty of music other nights on the ship that's amazing. So you definitely have options because it overnights there. We loved going to the open mic night in Leipers Fork. We did electric bike rides in in Franklin, Tennessee. 

We have an article that is linked in the show notes on our other website, SometimesHome.com, that explains 26 Date Ideas to do in Franklin, Tennessee. It was easy because we rented a car. And actually, it's equidistant to the airport with downtown Nashville. So downtown Nashville and the city of Franklin, Tennessee are equidistant to the airport. So you're not increasing your time to get to the airport after all is said and done there.

Dan (30:45)

Right, that was interesting too, yeah.

Yeah, I think Franklin was definitely a surprise little— I wouldn't say hidden gem, but it such a cute city, town. And it was just so well put together and you could tell that it's definitely a...

Mikkel (31:14)

It's got some money. It's, it's, what'd you say, some taste? What do you mean? Good taste. Yeah, yeah. We did a ghost tour there one night that we thought was really fun. I mean, I, I just love the options there. We stayed at a hotel called The Harpeth, that we also have an extensive article on that we couldn't recommend more. I mean, it was just, it was great. It was an amazing location. We were able to walk, right? Able to walk to everything.

Dan (31:15)

Yeah, it's got some money, but some taste, you know. Some taste, yeah. Good taste.

Yeah, it was just the right location. Yeah.

Mikkel (31:47)

So don’t sleep on Franklin, Tennessee, pre-cruise or post-cruise, depending on the direction you are traveling for this Tennessee Rivers cruise.

Dan (31:53)

Looking back— highly recommend the Tennessee Rivers cruise with ACL. To me, this was such an eye-opening cruise, and really, I was excited to learn more about Tennessee, but just really, more so my takeaway was, wow, this is something I would have never probably gravitated towards, but it was a very good cruise.

Mikkel (32:20)

And also you got bonus states in there: Alabama and Kentucky. Same with the rivers: Tennessee, Ohio, and Cumberland. So if you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to hit that follow button. 

Dan (32:23)

Right. Yeah. Buy one, get two free. Right?

Mikkel (32:37)

Also, if you were like, "Oh my God, I know who this cruise would be perfect for!" share this with a friend. Hit that share button. Until next time. If you are on the Columbia, Tennessee, Ohio, rivers or beyond...

Dan (32:52)

Keep cruising.