4 Year Anniversary - Chattanooga

Continuing our tradition of going somewhere new for our anniversary, we decided to keep our 4 year location a little low key and drove 1.5 hours north to Chattanooga, TN. Neither of us had been to Tennessee (officially…I had only been to the Nashville airport) and from what we read Chattanooga was supposed to be a beautiful little city with much to explore. I took a half day on Friday, packed up the car, and we headed out.

When we arrived, we checked into our hotel and explored the area around the river. Thinking we could walk quite a ways along side it, we got sidetracked at what appeared to be an outdoor water play area and we were right. Just underneath the bridge and up the stairs leading to the east side of the Tennessee Aquarium was a large play area where kids and adults alike can play in the free flowing water leading into a small “pool” area that sits directly under the vehicular bridge running alongside the river. At first it was a little odd then after exploring the area around the aquarium we grew to love and appreciate it. There were plenty of areas to explore, climb, swim, cool off and just relax. Well done Chattanooga, well done.

On Saturday we put our tourist shoes on and went out to some of their key attractions: Ruby Falls, Rock City and the Incline Railway up to Lookout Mountain. Initially we were more interested in the railway and the mountain but fell in love with Rock City and Ruby Falls as well. A brief introduction of each attraction:

• Ruby Falls – 200+ feet underground inside Lookout Mountain is a water fall that when lit up is a spectacular sight to see. The tour lasts over an hour and winds throughout the cavernous mountain with many rock formations and crevices to see. Word to the wise, if you’re a wide person or claustrophobic, this is not for you.
• Rock City – Garden area actually on the Georgia side of the mountain that gives you a self-guided tour of the gardens and areas overlooking the Chattanooga and north Georgia region. Also home to a magnificent waterfall, there were bridges, caves, caverns, rock formations and paths to explore. We got rained on and had a thunderstorm roll through while we were at the most open part of the tour…it was fantastic!
• Incline Railway – Coined “America’s most amazing mile”, this train system is a cable type railway that is over 100 years old with much history…too much history to write here so look it up on their site. The steepest part of the track is about 72.7% incline, making it one of the steepest railways in the world.

Sunday we planned to get up and head to the Children’s Discovery Center but timing and Lia’s nap schedule weren’t cooperating so we decided to grab a bite to eat and head back.

All in all, it wasn’t the same as heading up to Canada or down to Cancun but it was a fun and relaxing trip…one we hope to make again in the near future as we continue exploring the areas around our new home.