Museums & galleries

Bowen Center for the Arts

Located right off of the Dawsonville square, the Bowen Center for the Arts offers a variety of shows and events throughout the year. The Bowen displays unique, handcrafted works of art including woodworking, quilting, painting, sculpting and more.

t 334 Ga. Highway 9 North, Dawsonville, bowenarts.org, 706-216-2787

Cumming Arts CenterSawnee Association of the Arts

Located at the Brannon-Heard House in downtown Cumming, the center offers a variety of classes, exhibits and events throughout the year, as well as an open studio where artists can gather to create and inspire. Artwork from members of the Sawnee Association of the Arts is also often showcased at Legends Distillery in downtown Cumming.

t 111 Pilgrim Mill Road, Cumming, sawneeart.org

Georgia Racing Hall of Fame

There’s likely no place in this world more packed with NASCAR and racing memorabilia, cars and history. The Georgia Racing Hall of Fame is a volunteer-run museum of all things racing, from the sport’s humble beginnings when moonshine bootleggers raced revenuers in the Prohibition era, to the multibil- lion dollar industry it is today. The museum offers tours, informational videos, an event space for rent and racing memorabilia sold from its gift shop. t 415 Ga. Highway 53 E, Dawsonville, georgiaracinghof.com, 706216-7223

Interactive Neighborhood for Kids

Better known as INK, this attraction is set up like a small town, with more than 20 stations where children and their families can play pretend — including a grocery store, diner, hair salon, post office and an airport. The museum also includes a pottery studio, jungle gym and area where children can use foam blocks to bring their imaginations to life. Admission is $9 per person for anyone older than 2.

t 999 Chestnut St., Gainesville, inkfun.org, 770-536-1900

Longstreet Society

The headquarters of the group remembering Confederate Gen. James Longstreet is also what remains of the Piedmont Hotel he operated in Gainesville, where he lived from 1875 until his death in 1904.

Longstreet served as General Robert E. Lee’s principal military adviser. After the war, Longstreet made the then-unpopular choice to join the Republican Party and fight for civil rights of formerly enslaved people. In addition to the group’s offices, the building contains historical artifacts about Longstreet’s life and career and a library of Civil War volumes. Admission is free.

t 827 Maple St., Gainesville, longstreet.org, 770-539-9005

Northeast Georgia History Center

This center aims to preserve regional history through educational programs, community events, exhibits and historic structures like Cherokee Chief White Path’s cabin and an exhibit dedicated to the 1936 tornado