National Corvette Museum

Kentucky


Car buffs should make a pit stop to ogle some 80 shiny Corvette models, including slick one-off concept cars and prototypes. You can’t miss the place, as its lofty, bright-yellow, cone-shaped Skydome is a beacon for miles. The Skydome is also where the infamous 2014 sinkhole occurred, when a large cavity opened up underneath the structure and swallowed eight classic cars (luckily, no people). It’s stabilized now, and a manhole in the floor lets you peer into the abyss.

Other highlights include the only 1983 Corvette (no other Corvettes were manufactured that year due to a change in California emissions laws) and heaps of classic convertibles. The museum is in Bowling Green because the world’s Corvettes are manufactured in the General Motors factory here. Check the museum website to see if plant tours are available.

The museum also operates a Motorsports Park (www.motorsportspark.org), located just across I-65, where you can ride in a Corvette with a professional driver at racing speed around the track (two laps $125) or drive a Corvette yourself (four laps $220).