1 comments about Frommer's Nashville & Memphis (Frommer's Complete).

1. I just came back from my first trip to Memphis and Nashville. I have to say that this book was my life source. We only had a limited amount of time to see everything on our wish list, and this book made it possible to plan the best sites, the best restaurants, where to stay, shop and everything. All of the information it gave was useful and was essential to our amazing trip. They even include fun and comprehensive walking tours. I would recommend this book to anyone going to Nash and Memphis.

4 comments about Where the Locals Eat- Nashville.

1. This is a great book and works easily as a resource. What I found was that people coming in and out of the house were stopping to check what was written about their favorite restaurant. This started many conversations and led to wonderful discussions about what people like and don't like. I had been looking forward to checking it out but had no idea how provocative it would be. Many thanks to the editors for the ease in finding restaurants and the great descriptions!



2. It's high time someone wrote this book. Where the Locals Eat is an incredible resource for both natives and visitors to Music City. The succint descriptions of Nashville's hidden food treasures give readers an incredibly accurate and thorough view of Nashville's culinary landscape. Being a Nashville native, I can attest to just how on target this book is..The writers found every delicious place in town. And, the book is so user-friendly with its specific categories. You can find the answer to any and every craving! I hope we see these for other great cities across the nation.



3. Sad to say, but many of us eat out at the same four or five restaurants most of the time - and many of us are leery of trying something new and different without some sort of recommendation or endorsement. But now anyone living in or visiting Nashville has a comprehensive guide to restaurants, one which readers will find deliciously helpful in steering them to places they've never tried (and probably never heard of). All types of eateries are included, from meat 'n threes to Middle Eastern to Guatemalan. "Where The Locals Eat" is just that - the password to places jealously guarded by locals who don't want too many people cluttering up their favorite food emporiums. Yum! I want another order of pupusas!!



4. Handy size and chocked full of good info on the local favs here in Nashville. Proves far more useful than many of the mainstream guides from other publishers by giving readers a real look at primarily non-chain restaurant dining in Nashville. Truly, where the locals eat.
   
   The book covers a huge variety of dining categories- the editors did a great job of reviewing just about any dining possibility imagineable. I'll keep this guide in the car for those moments when I'm drawing a blank on where to eat or if I want to try something new.
   
   Will also be good for arming visitors & family with their own guide to eating in Nashville and save me the time of describing our personal favorites...
   
   I'll look forward picking up a few more if they come out for travelling (Atlanta GA, Columbus OH would be great!) - just too useful and convenient.
   
   If you frequently travel to or live in Nashville, TN you'll undoubtedly enjoy this dining guide!

1 comments about Cades Cove: Window to a Secret World.

1. I bought this book expecting beautiful photos of my one of my favorite places on earth, Cades Cove. I certainly was not disappointed. The photos are masterfully taken with great sense of proportion and composition. The beauty of the mountains and this special valley shine through. The photographer's love for his subject is obvious. What a pleasant surprise to find so much interesting and informative narrative on the people and history of the Cove. I learned so much and will treasure this book for many years. Thank you, Bill Lea.

1 comments about Appalachian Trail Guide to Tennessee-North Carolina.

1. This packet will be very useful on our journey on the AT. The maps are waterproof and very detailed with shelters, mileage, and altitude. The book itself contains everything we needed to know about each section of the trail and allowed us to choose which sections we deemed most inviting.

1 comments about Rail-trails Southeast: Alabama, Florida ,georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina & Tennessee.

1. I gave this present to my aunt and uncle for Christmas as they have recently purchased new bikes and begun riding trails in our area. They have planned a trip to Florida next month and told me this book has been a great source of information in planning their trip. They really enjoyed this gift.

No comments about Great Smoky Mountains & Shenandoah National Parks.

3 comments about Frommer's Nashville & Memphis (Frommer's Complete).

1. This was not a very good guidebook. The directions were not always accurate and the maps (a very important part of a guide book) were not very good. The book is poorly organized, so that you are constantly having to page through to find information.



2. Although Memphis should have it's own book. This is a decent overview of both cities. If you are just planning to visit Memphis like I was, try Nicky Robertshaw's Memphis book. It is much more in depth



3. Frommer's Nashville & Memphis is a comprehensive yet easy to read travel book. I especially liked the list of "must-do" items if you only have a few days to tour, which was the case with me. It's broken down in an organized fashion with sections on restaurants, nightlife, attractions, etc. The maps in each section were particularly helpful.

5 comments about Moon Handbooks Tennessee (Moon Handbooks).

1. I'm a lifetime Tennesseean, and I couldn't put Mr. Bradley's book down. I know Middle Tennessee and the Smokies fairly well, but as I got into his marvelous book I couldn't believe one author could capture and capsulate so much in such limited space. I've garnered information about my State- so much new to me- that it just blew me away--some info right at my doorstep, so to speak. About locales I know fairly well his presentation is right on target. I especially value the boxes about history, personalities, buildings etc. Don't hesitate. Buy the book!



2. I have the first edition of this book, and I've raved about it to my circle of friends. I heard this third edition was vastly improved, and I doubted this, but figured I couold always give it as a gift.
   This book is going nowhere but to a choice space in my book shelf!
   It covers more material, has a format which invites digging deeper into a topic at hand, highlights special topics, has a clearer type face, and is simply loaded with URL's for further cyber digging. I got out my Tennessee Atlas and Gazetteer by Delorme mapping, a topo coverage of Tennesee, my state, and put a "mark" by all the towns and villages Mr. Bradley covered. Not a page without copious markings. What a living history exprience.

   He begins in the East as our state did, moves west, and brings out information about people, about the locale, gives historic facts and loads of human interest materal. He covers the Civil War as it progresses in various locations and is in fact more historical than a course or two I've had in Higher Eduction. And READABLE!! His wry, delightful humor graces most every entry. And as you follow this through the topo maps you SEE how history unfolds. Now I know where the Cumberland Gap is, I know where the mysterious Melungeons 'are', I've followed the tragic trail of tears, I know where to find barbeque all across Tennessee etc etc. I know where that terrific meteorite hit Tennessee, where biggie dinosaur fossils are found etc. .
   What a book! What a marvelous travel companion, what a history of my state. And I have a store house of "stories and tales" I'll make good use of.
   If you have an interest in Tennessee and can get only one book: THIS is it! Hands down. I'm grateful to Mr Bradley for doing it.
   Hap Eliason




3. If Mark Twain comes back from the dead to write a guidebook of the state where he was conceived (in Jamestown, as Bradley explains on p. 196), then buy that. But old Sam Clemens would be wasting his time, because in Moon Handbooks: Tennessee, Bradley's already written the "Life on the Mississippi" of Tennessee travel guides.

   Like "Mississippi," Bradley's "Tennessee" is so fascinating in in its details and anecdotes that I kept finding myself reading far more than I "needed" to for the travel at hand. And like Clemens, who clearly wrote from a genuine love of the river and the bygone steamboat days that he wanted to capture on paper, all of Bradley's local lore and country cookery reviews and sidebars on everything from roots musicians to the development of the the atom bomb in Oak Ridge...well, these all swirl together to create a sort of love song to the author's native state.

   Bradley isn't afraid to criticize where criticism is due--look at his coverage of the outlandish developments near the Smokies. But even then, it's clear his concerns are not based on some disaffected political agenda, but from a genuine, familial concern for a cousin who has lost his way. Consequently, Gatlinburg doesn't "outrage" Bradley, it breaks his heart because of its failed potential. And even then, Bradley doesn't just sneer and proceed into the pristine National Park, shaking Galinburg's dust from his feet. Just as any good family member will make a point of telling you that old yellow-eyed aunt Ruth used to knock 'em dead at the USO dances and can still cook a mean casserole and belt out a showtune, Bradley lingers and explores Gatlinburg on its own terms. He points out its cherished place in many Volunteer hearts (including his own) as a childhood wonderland, and shows that he's not above enjoying the small simple pleasures of a candy shop, or even the more garish wonders of Ripley's aquarium.
   If you don't know Tennessee, you won't find a more comprehensive introduction to the entire state. And if you already love Tennessee...you'll find all of the states most endearing qualities captured between the covers--and in the spirit--of this book.




4. You don't have to be planning a trip to Tennessee to appreciate Jeff Bradley's book. If you are, don't leave home without it. Bradley not only tells you what you must see if you have the time, but he frankly tells you what might not be worth a visit, or at least what to be prepared for that you might not expect, such as the bumper-to-bumper, big-city-like traffic in the Smokies, especially in the fall when the leaves begin to change. He also provides interesting facts and historical details you won't find in other travel books. I grew up about 50 miles from Bean Station in East Tennessee but didn't know until reading Bradley's book that a tavern there was the best place between Baltimore and New Orleans to get a bottle of wine back in the stagecoach days. Almost every page is enriched with little-known facts, insights and advice, and the book is organized in a way that takes the frustration out of trying to find what you're looking for.
   
   I once had a job that took me to every one of Tennessee's 95 counties, but I moved away several years ago and my children, unfortunately, know little about this beautiful state that is as geographically and culturally diverse as any in the union. I brought the fourth edition of Bradley's book when I began planning a cross-Tennessee-and-back trip my 22-year-old son and I decided to take this summer in a rented convertible. Taking Bradley's advice, we chose many roads now less traveled (since the interstates were built), visiting places like Jonesborough (Tennessee's oldest town, first capital and home of the National Stortelling Festival) in East Tennessee, Lynchburg (exactly like the Jack Daniels' ads portray it, except for the abundance of shops on the town square selling things Gentleman Jack would never have imagined, as Bradley points out) in Middle Tennessee, and Grinders Switch between Nashville and Memphis, which I had always thought was a figment of Minnie Pearl's imagination. Our trip, thanks largely to Bradley's book, was as much one of discovery for me, a native, as it was for my son, who grew up in the Northeast.
   
   You will enjoy Bradley's book not just for its contents but also for his writing style. As the "About the Author" page notes, this Tennessee boy has been a stringer for The New York Times and taught writing at Harvard, so he knows a thing or two about sringing words together. He writes from personal knowledge of the place with respect but also with wit, honesty and a good measure of irreverence whenever he feel so moved, which is often.
   
   Buy the book or you'll never know how far in advance you need to make reservations for lunch at Miss Bobo's Boarding House in Lynchburg, how to get to the Lovelace Motel Cafe outside of Nashville for the best country ham and biscuits, where to find worldclass white water and bluegrass music in East Tennessee, or that the Talbot Heirs Guesthouse is one of the best and funkiest places to stay in the funkiest part of Memphis, a stone's throw from Beale Street, darn good barbecue and sweet potato pancakes you'll never forget.



5. We recently completed a trip to Eastern Tennessee and brought along several guidebooks. After a few days, it became apparent that one guidebook was head and shoulders above the others: Moon Handbooks Tennessee by Jeff Bradley. It is both comprehensive and concise. It contains lots of local color without drowning in it. And it is spot on in its evaluation of sights. (We didn't have any occasion to use it for lodging or food.)
   
   Full credit to Jeff Bradley for a writing syle that is one of the best in the business. He keeps things lively without neglecting the basic facts that need to be conveyed. In almost every instance his entries were more interesting and more complete than other guidebooks, while being about the same total number of words. He seems to know just when to insert a clever turn of phrase or an offbeat tidbit while still writing in a very direct style.
   
   The book covers all of Tennessee. It starts with general information about the state's natural history, settlement history, and culture. It then covers each region of the state. He does a good job of conveying which sights are most worth seeing in each area without neglecting second tier sights. He weaves together a complete tapestry that puts everything in the larger context of the region and the state. Throughout, there is a pervasive sense of the joy of travel in this interesting state. This guidebook is the real McCoy!

1 comments about Insiders' Guide to Memphis, 3rd (Insiders' Guide Series).

1. I bought this as a gift for my brother who just relocated to Memphis. He and his wife use this book all the time and share with family and friends who visit to plan outings.

5 comments about Tennessee Atlas & Gazetteer.

1. This is more than a book of maps. It lists state parks, campgrounds, places to canoe, etc. I think it works best when using another book in conjuction with it.



2. This Atlas, like all in the DeLorme series of Atlas & Gazetteer references, are wonderful map resources. A wealth of information is included. If anything, the level of detail, coupled with the topographic information, may seem a bit too much at first glace (if you are new to these guides). But if you're willing to spend a bit of time with the maps, you will find these guides to be very useful.
   
   In addition to the maps and the useful indexes and cross-references, these guides include listings or location sources for hiking, camping, fishing, recreation areas, unique natural features (waterfalls, bridges, caverns, natural areas, etc.), bicycle routes, horse trails, etc. And of course, GPS (Lat/Lon) coordinates are printed on each map.
   
   Although the scale of these maps demand it, it would be nice if the guide book dimensions were a bit smaller. At 11" x 15.5", it's a good size book, so it's not quite as easy to stow in the backpack or the motorcycle storage area, etc.
   
   Overall, these are excellent guides for any traveler or outdoor enthusiast.



3. This is not in as much detail as I expected and is just another map-I wish to return it-how do I do that ?



4. I am well satisfied with the service, however, the Gazetteer was dated 2004. Perhaps it hasn't been reissued since 2004.



5. GOOD SERVICE, GOOD PRODUCT, GOOD PRICE.
   
   GOOD = 5