We had a fabulous week in Chattanooga! We rented a car so we could make the most of our time. We stayed right downtown on the "Bluff" dock between the 2nd and 3rd bridge as you head up river. The historic Walnut Street Bridge was right in front of us. We walked into town to have a look around. We stopped for a local beer and sat outside at a bench table facing the street and watching Chattanooga go by. Our friends from Charley Girl came by on their bikes for a visit. Pam and Bob stayed in town for Pizza, but we went home for leftover spaghetti.
On Saturday, we took an Uber to the airport to pickup our rental car. We seemed to spend the rest of the day going to Costco, Walmart and Publix. It's funny what the freedom of a car will make you do! We came back and had Perseco on our boat to celebrate making it to Chattanooga. Then Heather and Pam did a sunset walk on the Walnut Street Bridge which was so picturesque and had a great view of our boats below.
On Sunday morning, our friends Maggie and Bruce surprised us with a brief visit to our boat. They were a great resource on our Tennessee River travels as well as our time in Chattanooga. We drove to the market and found lots to buy there including chocolates, earrings, and a warm cape. We had some lunch and listened to music too. That evening we went to Maggie and Bruce's for dinner. Heather had made a gluten and dairy free carrot cake on the boat to bring along. It was a bit challenging, but it turned out pretty good! The crews of Arion, Masquerade, Dancing Bears, Endeavor, and True North were there. It was a great time with many like-minded boaters.
On Monday, we went to a coffee house for breakfast. The atmosphere was great, but we weren't nuts about the coffee and snacks. Cam had to hurry back to the boat for a meeting. In the afternoon we went to Lookout Mountain where we stopped at Pointe Park and Rock City. Pointe Park had some Civil War plaques, monuments, and canons and the views were amazing! We hiked a little but it would have been a lot to go to the recommended stops, like Sunset Rock. Rock City was in the the same area, with even more stunning views, and pathways with sculptures, bridges, benches, and funny names like the "Fat Man's Squeeze", "Goblins Underpass", and "Needle's Eye". It was huge and it was easy to get lost! There was an area dedicated to all the old Fairy tales called "Fairyland Caverns" with sculptures of the various characters displayed in their respective stories and scenes. The land was originally owned by Garnet and Frieda Utermoehlen Carter. Frieda collected all the little sculptures that she had mail ordered from Germany and she was the original architect of Fairyland. At one point in the Rock City grounds you could actually see a panoramic view which included seven states: Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. It was really cool!
Tuesday morning was set aside for work and chores. After lunch, we biked across the bridge to historic Chattanooga and met Maggie at Cashew for gluten free donuts. They were the best gluten free donuts we've ever had! We roamed around the area on our bikes, and we even managed to get our next Covid vaccines. We reconnected with Pam and Bob and biked halfway to the Chickamauga Lock. The bike trails were beautiful. We hurried back for a quick dinner and then met Maggie and Bruce, with Al and Arlene from Arion at the Whiskey Thief. It was a great visit and nice atmosphere. Unfortunately, it was raining out so we couldn't enjoy the views from the balcony.
It continued to rain overnight, so on Wednesday it was much cooler. We spent most of the day at the Aquarium and the IMAX. We saw "Wings on the Water" which was a documentary style IMAX production about bird migrations to the marshlands and preserving and restoring the marshlands. Very interesting and that would help us enjoy the areas we would soon travel! The aquarium was split over two buildings; one for ocean and the other for the Tennessee River. We particularly loved the butterfly section. It was all very interesting and educational.
We had some free time in the afternoon before dinner so Cam got a haircut and found a candy store to buy some salt water taffy. We have a very good supply of that now! He also found a Brazilian restaurant so we switched our dinner reservations and went there instead. We rolled out of there so stuffed!
On Thursday, we had divers come to our boat. They checked the props, which were good, and scrubbed the bottom. Then we had a quick lunch and drove out to the Raccoon Caverns. We got a spot at 2 PM and went for a drink before our tour. The Raccoon Caverns were discovered by two boys chasing a rabbit in 1911. In 1929 the family of the boys heard about a man who explores caves and they sold it to him. He discovered many tunnels from the original cave, and since his death, many more have been discovered. There are over 5.5 miles of caverns! We did the Crystal Palace walking tour, which was about an hour and we saw lots of Stalactites and Stalagmites, plus columns, curtains, chandeliers, and shields, not to mention a few salamanders! There are other longer tours including night tours. When we got back, we had a quick dinner at the Burger Bar on an old river ferry. We were not so enamoured with it but we were hurrying back for a visit with Maggie and Bruce. Bruce was telling us about the book he is writing on their Great Loop journey so we are looking forward to that!
Friday we got up at the crack of stupid and drove out to Delano to catch our Copperhill Valley train ride. The goal was to enjoy all the fall colours but we think we missed the peak by a few days. We sat on the right on the way up and, since the engine moved from the front to the back of the train for the return trip, we switched to the left side for the way down. It was well narrated, interesting, and picturesque. We packed a lunch that we quickly ate before getting off the train at the shared community of Copperhill, TN and McCaysville, GA. It was a tourist town but there were a few unique shops. There was a blue line through town representing the border between Tennessee and Georgia. It literally sliced through buildings. If your business was in both states, you could choose where to pay your taxes! We got back on the train for the ride back down. There was a lot less narrating and a little more resting on the way down. Once we disembarked, we hurried to the car and drove to the airport to return our rental. We took an Uber back to the boat, exhausted! It was time to make plans for our departure the next day. What a great adventure in Chattanooga!
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