My family and I spent the weekend in Hendersonville NC and decided to explore Carl's Sandburg Home…read more Carl Sandburg Home-located in Flat Rock North Carolina-offeres an educational lessons for all ages. My family decided to take a tour of the house, to our surprise there was no charge for the tour. Our tour guide, a sweet elderly lady, was fantastic, it was like I was a part of Carl Sandburg's family. The house is well preserved bringing you back to the 1800s. I gained an abundant amount of knowledge during the tour, it was roughly two hours. After the guided tour was over we stamped our Passport book, because the site is a national park. Don't forget your passport books! If you have younger children, don't be cautious about bringing them. You can also go on the actual site of Carl Sandburg's wife's goat farm. I had so much fun petting and brushing the goats. They were so friendly and calm. After our day filled with history and playful goats, my family decided to walk some of the trails, located on the property. The trails are well mapped out and easy to follow, which my family enjoyed. Also, your pets are welcome to join you on the trails. During our visits we were greeted with friendly staff members, who were eager to answer your questions. The grounds and bathroom were clean, and you could tell the grounds had regular maintenance. To my surprise Carl Sandburg's Home and surrounding grounds are accessible to all: youth, adults, and elderly. Offering ample parking including Handicap spots. In addition, the grounds were mostly flat, and there is a shuttle that runs if you are unable to walk through the grounds. If you have a free day during the week or on the weekend, I would recommend checking out Carl Sandburg's Home.

How in the world have I not reviewed the Carl Sandburg Home National Historical Park yet. I've come…read moreto just go to the park and typically head over there before performance at the Flat Rock Playhouse. I even leave a note on my windshield as parking for the national Park isn't allowed there on show days. Tours of the home can be done through reservations but the number on a tour are limited. You can still enjoy the park without a reservation though. The park is a good place to walk especially if you like hills. It is a a hike to get to the house but being in nature and enjoying the scenery is part of the experience. If you didn't get a reservation to tour the house you can view it on the outside as well as wander through the grounds and see the goats and chickens. Make sure to enjoy the beautiful views.

Quaint town. Expensive boutique shops. Very faith based community…read more It has a very Main Street USA feel to it. In my opinion, not a lot of great restaurants, so they need to work on that. However McFarlane's bakery is amazing! Asheville is not far, so you can always enjoy the Biltmore and the other attractions in that area. There are better restaurants in that area, but they are usually more crowded and can be expensive also.

Downtown Hendersonville is a great downtown to spend some time in. Paid parking lots are available…read morein different area, and there are some free places to park. The first thing you will notice downtown is the bears. They are all over the place and each is so unique. The bears are auctioned off each fall to provide money to charities. It is an easy downtown to walk around with plenty of crosswalks and benches to rest and watch your surroundings. Downtown has numerous restaurants; shops; museums; art galleries to keep you busy. Festivals appear to be held throughout the year as well. An antique show was occurring while I was downtown. I liked the setup that Main Street was closed but the side streets were still open to traffic.

Fun place to go with unlimited play for 1 price. The staff is very friendly and a nice variety of…read moregames to play.

Reasonably priced, and friendly service!!…read more I was able to start a tab so I could add drinks and chips onto my entry. Sodas and potato chips were only $1 each, so it was a reasonable snack. You pay for a wristband and get unlimited pinball games for the entire day. With in and out privilages. They have sooo many pinball games, ranging from vintage to new. They also have several video games including pac-man, donkey kong etc. My kids and I loved this place, we had a lot of fun playing for hours!

We love this indoor children's museum located in the heart of downtown Hendersonville. My toddler…read moreloved all the different play areas and so did his much older siblings (20 & 17)! The entrance fee is very reasonable plus it gives you access for all day. So you can leave for lunch nearby and come back. Plenty of parking around back. I highly recommend for families with little ones.

The perfect spot for a rainy day and your littles! Our daughter had a blast here while we were…read morevisiting and truly didn't stop moving the whole time! Everyone was nice and it was clean inside. We would get a membership here if we lived here! So fun!

Very nice place. You'll see chickens, goats, and even friendly cat here. Friendly and polite staff…read more Definitely worth taking a tour of the house. Very interesting!

Nice historic property, informative self tour of the property. Chickens and goats! You can go visit…read morethe lady goats and brush and pet them. Pretty nice place with friendly volunteers to give you the details of the historic property. All the lovely goats are descendants of Mrs Sandbergs Goats!!!

The Hendersonville Visitor Center is a good place to start if you are visiting Hendersonville. The…read morestaff will help point you in the right direction of where to go and visit. They even have information for other places in the area and state. The visitor center has a small gift shop and restrooms as well as its own parking lot.

COOL BEANS! The nice…read morething about visiting the visitor center in a small town is that you get a nice picture of the town because the people who staff these centers are usually long time residents, they really love the town and they are always enthusiastic about visitors. They represent the very best of life in a small town. We stopped here to get information about the area and it is one of the cutest buildings on the main strip. It has a shaded outdoor seating area and nicely manicured lawn. On a busy Saturday morning, they offered free parking in their adjacent lot which is perfect if you want to explore Main Street. They had lots of information that was very well organized along the office walls. Don't forget to get a map of the city to help you along your way. ABOUT THE TOWN: The one thing that really surprised me about Hendersonville was the unexpected downtown area. I expected it to be small and quaint with great historical buildings. However, it is a very typical tourist spot that was overrun with tourists on a Saturday morning. If you are not a smoker and do not like being around it, beware because they were out in full force and we were constantly having to dodge the gauntlet of smokers hanging out on the sidewalks. Unfortunately, it really affected our ability to see the town in its best light. If I had to visit again, I would do so on a weekday morning before the stores open so that I could really appreciate the buildings. I would then find a nice downtown breakfast restaurant to enjoy a meal without the smoke bombs. Although I really loved the many outdoor dining options that were available, the experience would be ruined by all of the smoking in these areas, so this was not an option. I would love to see them remove the museum from the old historic courthouse because it was very awkward and did not make sense. This building is the "show" and should be left open and uncluttered so that it can be fully appreciated. If you visit, you will want to see the courthouse and the historic depot which are great historical landmarks.

If you have a young train enthusiast (or if you are one yourself) the Apple Valley Railroad Club is…read morea must-see! FREE admission, but I encourage you to leave a donation to support this wonderful location! Located in a 100-year-old train station, come see model trains in action! There's a G track outside and an HO track inside that spans 3 rooms!! My 6-year-old future train engineer was in railway heaven!! All the volunteers were so friendly and knowledgeable. There's a counter piled up with a variety of old railroad and model train magazines that are free to take and enjoy. Such a nice place to visit!

The Historic Hendersonville Depot is where the Apple Valley Model Railroad Club showcases their…read moremodel trains. Western North Carolina is the background behind the trains. There are trains to see both inside and outside the depot and the volunteers will answer questions. You can tell that they enjoy showing these wonderful trains. The detail in the displays is very impressive. The Farmers' Market is nearby so you can visit both if near downtown Hendersonville.

Great for both kids and adults! It is free (donations are appreciated) and there are several rooms…read morein which to watch the trains operate.