Pamela Dittmer McKuen

Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (photo courtesy of destination)

This family-friendly museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, shares the behind-the-scenes stories of America’s most notorious villains and artifacts such as a 1963 Harley-Davidson police motorcycle. 

Pond with fountain and willow trees at Friendship Botanic Gardens in Michigan City, Indiana (photo courtesy of Friendship Botanic Gardens)

Created for the Century of Progress Exhibition in the 1930s, this 105-acre Michigan City, Indiana, park features more than two dozen themed gardens.

The interior of the Knoxville Museum of Art in Knoxville, Tennessee  (photo courtesy of destination)

This attraction in Knoxville, Tennessee, showcases the rich and diverse visual culture of East Tennessee and Southern Appalachia. 

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Exterior of Michigan City, Indiana’s Old Lighthouse Museum in the winter (photo by Josh McIntyre)

Built in 1858, this Michigan City, Indiana, lighthouse was a beacon and keeper’s residence until the early 1940s. The Michigan City Historical Society opened it as a museum in 1973.

Child looking at red panda at Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend, Indiana (photo courtesy of Potawatomi Zoo)

See the more than 400 animals that reside at this 23-acre nonprofit zoo in South Bend, Indiana, that offers opportunities for incredible up-close experiences.  

The Elephant Discovery Center in Hohenwald Tennessee (courtesy of The Elephant Sanctuary)

This destination in Hohenwald, Tennessee, provides an engaging, hands-on learning experience for kids and grownups.

The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois (photo by Michael Hudson)

Joy Morton of Morton Salt fame turned his country estate in Lisle, Illinois, into an outdoor museum of evergreen and deciduous trees.