Rome, Georgia with Toddlers

You never quite know where you are going to end up! We ended up tagging along with the grandparents and finding quite a bit of fun in and around Rome, GA. If your headed that way download the Rome, GA app.

We started our morning by grabbing a Starbucks for our walk and Panera Sandwiches for an afternoon picnic. Rome is small so it was easy to find both these places right off the main drag.

We headed downtown to park by the river. The Heritage Trail is an easy paved walkway along the rivers. We parked at Unity Point at the base of the old railroad bridge where the rivers meet. There was plenty of shaded parking. We walked down the hill to get on the trail headed East. We stopped at the Towne Green. There is a fountain suitable for playing in here as well as a grass field. I packed swimsuits and towels so the kids could run around in the fountain but the three year old was only interested in crossing bridges... so we pressed on.

At the north end of the Green a pedestrian bridge crosses over the river. There are a few little pull outs on the bridge where we had great views of the swallows flying around the bridge, a group of geese headed under the bridge and even a few turtles sunning themselves.

At the end of the bridge we headed West, back toward the railroad bridge on the upper path, switching to the lower path to pass under the old railroad bridge at the headwaters. The path turns North and there is a gazebo, bathrooms and a playground - your now in Heritage Park. We stopped here for a snack and playtime. The kids enjoyed the small park and the gazebo gave us some much needed shade.

At the Gazebo you can switch back to the upper path, which crosses over the old railroad bridge and back to the parking lot. This loop took us about an hour with the three year old walking and the many many stops for playing and animal spotting.

As soon as we loaded the kids into the car the one year old was asleep. We drove down Riverside Parkway, actually paralleling the trail that goes over the Pedestrian Bridge. Here we found the perfect picnic spot. Riverside Park has two large areas, split by the railroad tracks, with a playground and covered picnic areas on both sides.

After our picnic we loaded everyone, including Grandpa and Grandpa, into the van and headed off to Cartersville, GA.  I always like to drive a bit after lunch in hopes of getting a nap, and this did not disappoint, both kids were asleep for most of the drive.

The Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville was a huge surprise win of the trip. This little museum has fantastic exhibits. If you've read our Atlanta visitors guide you will know we were not impressed by Fernbank. The Tellus Museum has taken the time to focus on a few things and do them really really well. The museum is small but the kids loved all four sections - Geology, Dinosaurs, Vehicles and a Children's Exploration area. They also have a planetarium, although we did not get show tickets. There are several outside displays as well; a Georgia rock garden, a Solar House, a few satellite dishes and some large trucks. There is also plenty of space to picnic here. The Tellus Sciecne Museum participates in the Blue Star Museums program, so it is free to military over the summer.

The kids were exhausted after our long day and slept all the way home. We grabbed some Bell Street Burritos for dinner once we were back in the city. The perfect end to our busy day.