Tennessee's Recently Updated City Is An Underrated Getaway With A Revitalized Downtown And Unique Attractions

If you've two-stepped to country music in Nashville, Tennessee, hummed along with the blues in Memphis, and wandered in search of the next honky-tonk, northwest Tennessee's Union City and its quaint downtown may be your next stop. The city is on the verge of growth, with new businesses, a beautified downtown, and an annual, six-week music festival featuring performances ranging from country rock to soul. Union City is about two hours north of Memphis or three hours from Nashville by car. Historically a hub for transit, Union City was named in 1852 for its location at the junction, or "union" of two railroads: The Nashville and Northwestern Railroad and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. Today, it hopes to become a larger gateway with the future completion of Interstate 69, a nationwide project connecting Michigan to Texas through states including Tennessee. 

At the heart of the town is Main Street Union City, a nonprofit with a community board of directors championing economic revitalization. In 2023, the group was awarded $300,000 in grants for business improvements, which helped fund over a dozen downtown projects, such as facade updates, bike rack installations, and crosswalk upgrades. A handful of new businesses have opened in recent years, including a brewery, which has given downtown an added jolt.

You can book your stay at a number of modest hotels in the area. The Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express & Suites both include free hot breakfasts and have fitness centers. Reviewers tout the Country Hearth Inn & Suites for its clean rooms and full breakfasts with waffles and hard-boiled eggs. Just 15 minutes from the Kentucky border, you can also hop the state line to Fulton and stay at The Meadows, where four-poster beds and great pillows await. 

Start your trip at the Discovery Park of America, which feels like multiple museums in one. Spend hours in the 100,000-square-foot hands-on museum and its 10 exhibition galleries, visiting T. rex and friends in the dinosaur hall, checking out the Civil War exhibit in the military gallery, and seeing the restored 1916 Ford Model T in the transportation gallery. There's also Discovery's 50,000-square-foot heritage park with a reproduction of an early 20th-century town.  And if you're in town on the right date, you can catch the free Rhythm on the Rails concert series hosted by the park. 

Gun enthusiasts and history buffs may want to beeline to Dixie Gun Works, considered one of the world's largest purveyors of black powder shooting equipment, antique handguns, pistols, and rifles, and replica parts. The 46,000 square foot facility. even sells Civil War-era cannon barrels. More machinery is on display at the company's adjacent Old Car Museum, which houses 36 antique cars and an 1850s replica log cabin shop. 

Even as a landlocked state, Tennessee offers an abundance of outdoor beauty — such as the Great Smoky Mountains and the historic Tennessee River Gorge waterway — and Reelfoot Lake is no exception. About a 30-minute drive away, Reelfoot is the state's only natural lake formed quite violently by a series of earthquakes more than 200 years ago. As a result, the 15,000-acre lake defies the typical ecosystem as a flooded forest with cypress trees poking above the water, where you can boat, fish, hike, and camp. The Reelfoot Wildlife National Refuge and its visitor center are also worth a stop for a chance to see rescued birds of prey.

You can't leave without checking out the throwback downtown with its colorful store awnings, now home to several new businesses. Enjoy a European ale or lager on the front covered patio at Reelfoot Brewing Co., which opened in 2024, paired with one of its Bavarian pretzels or gourmet quarter-pound hot dogs.  Pick up a vanilla latte, a caramel macchiato, or some light fare such as cranberry nut muffins or roast beef sandwiches at Vantage Coffee Roasters, whose Union City location opened in 2022. Brick-oven pizzas, barbecue wings, and alligator bites are highlights at three-year-old Bricks & Brews, which fosters community spirit with Monday trivia nights.

For downtown fun, the 98-year-old Capital Theatre, which typically offers six shows annually, is undergoing a renovation as of this writing to include stadium-style seating, expanded concessions, and upgraded lighting while maintaining its Art Deco aesthetic. Nearby Graham Park is the city's largest park, with a splash pad, skate park, picnic areas, and even a field for flying model airplanes.

If you promised friends Tennessee souvenirs, stop by the shops downtown. Order customized cowgirl hats at the Deep South Boutique, where glittery jewelry, flowy dresses, and candles abound. Get lost in Sisters Antiques and Gifts, which features holiday decorations, used items like croquet sets, glassware, and furnishings. For more chill adventures, you don't need to leave Tennessee. You can escape the tourists of Nashville in Savannah, a riverside town perfect for catfish lovers, whether enjoyed fried or sauteed. Or seek out the charms of Pikeville, considered one of the friendliest towns in Tennessee, where nearby Fall Creek Falls State Park– with its dramatic falls and forested hikes — is a major draw.