Lookout Mountain is a place that any kid would love because, after all, where the heck are you going to see seven states while standing in one spot? Oh sure, there is that one little tiny spot out west where you straddle four states at once, but only one or two people can do that at any one time, and that's only four states. At Lookout Mountain, seven states can be glimpsed by dozens or even hundreds of people at once.

Lookout Mountain is located in Tennessee, and in all honesty, Lookout Mountain is a molehill, but in the grand scheme of things, especially in the flatter portions of Dixie, Lookout Mountain is a majestic plateau that rises into the warm southern sky near Chattanooga. It is also quite near the northwestern tip of Georgia and the northeastern quadrant of Alabama. Well, let's see, that's three states. But Lookout Mountain presents itself as a spot from which you can peer off into the distance and set your gaze upon seven states. What are the other four states?

The promotional material for Lookout Mountain suggests that in addition to Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, on really clear days you can see in the distance land belonging to the citizens of Kentucky, Virginia and both South Carolina and North Carolina. If you want to be completely and brutally honest with your kids, you'll have to tell them on top of the mountain that they are not necessarily seeing those states. If you want to make their trek up the mountain one they will remember for a lifetime, go ahead and let them think they saw the land of George Washington and Daniel Boone. Who is going to know the difference by the time your kids reach adulthood, right?

What really makes Lookout Mountain a destination spot that kids will enjoy is that there is more to it than the mountain itself. But you'll have to come back later to see Rock City ...