Our family loves garden trains, so I was very excited to discover The Holiday Express garden train display at the UT Gardens. Hopefully, we will be checking it out this weekend. Hours and rates at the link.
Update: Yes, the garden trains were lots of fun. They had a number of different trains running on various loops, including a Thomas the Tank Engine train, a UT train, a John Deere train and, even an aquarium train with actual fish. For an aerial view, there is a raised bridge in the middle of the display.
The display runs daily, noon to 6:00, until Dec. 29th.
If it's a nice day, you're free to walk the grounds of the UT gardens. The grounds have lots of fun sculpture and interesting little paths to walk down. Great for kids. Do note: that is Neyland Dr. in the middle ground, so the gardens, while lovely, are not very peaceful.