Oak Ridge, Tennessee: American Museum of Science and Energy

Oak Ridge exists because of the atom bomb, but its science museum tries hard to get out from under that mushroom cloud. Among the exhibits: an Apollo moon box and the fingernails of a U.S. President.

If you are interested in visiting a few other fun-filled and exciting Oak Ridge landmarks, you might try 1) the second nuclear power plant ever built (after Enrico Fermi's Chicago blowout), including a graphite reactor that fuels one light bulb and an open cooling tank where you can actually see the reaction glowing, and 2) the American Museum of Science and Energy, a down-home country museum about nuclear, hydroelectric and other forms of energy. Nearby, the Museum of Appalachia shows how area residents lived before the atom was split, and has a great festival every fall where craftspeople and oldtimers make sorghum, lye soap, apple-head dolls and other Tennessee stuff. There's excellent music there, too.