We're Back

Our stay in Chattanooga became much longer than originally planned.  We took our scheduled 10 days back to Texas, enjoying many visits and taking care of annual appointments.  We had scarcely gotten back to Chattanooga before being called back as Mom's health quickly deteriorated.  We stayed with her and Dad as her days counted down under hospice care.  During one of the last days that she was able to communicate with us, she talked very fondly of all the travels she and Dad had enjoyed over the years.  She reiterated how happy she was that M and I are taking advantage of the opportunity we have now to travel, hoping that we find the same enjoyment and create memories to carry with us.  We intend to.

The RV park here in Chattanooga has been very gracious in allowing us to extend our planned 1-month stay into 2 months + 1 week.  We've been able to see a bit of Chattanooga, and have been impressed with the downtown area.  In 1969, Walter Cronkite said that Chattanooga was America's dirtiest city.  City leaders didn't dispute that charge; instead they took it on as a challenge to make drastic changes.  And they did.  Not to say that there can't be more done, but the downtown area near the river is very welcoming.  They have what used to be the world's longest foot bridge; it's now the second longest since New York City recently converted one of their bridges to a foot bridge and has taken the title from them.  We took a walking tour of that area, and really enjoyed it.

The Hunter Museum is built right on the banks of the Tennessee River.  It's architecture is unique as it's had 2 additions over the years, and each one has used a different style, resulting in 3 distinct sections.

One of the parks along the river has an old carousel that has been refurbished, and is operational.  The park also has a water feature that small children enjoy, and a concert area (in the background) that folks of all ages enjoy during the summer, with entertainment most weekends.

We've all heard of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, and yes, there is an old depot that pays homage to it.  It's been converted into a hotel and restaurant.  They have an old train on display there, and the hotel lobby has a fine, old feel to it.  The ladies room is really nicely done in a vintage fashion--didn't get photos, though.

We saw a sampling of the Chattanooga Symphony when we attended a live taping of "From the Top".  This is a nationally syndicated show that many classical radio stations air every week.  We've listened to it on Austin's KMFA station over the years, so it was fun to be part of a live audience.  The Chattanooga Symphony performed as an 'opening act' for the show.  The Tivoli Theater, where the show was held, is an old establishment that has been refurbished as have many old theaters in many cities across the US.

Our last sightseeing outing here was to ride the Incline Railway to the top of Lookout Mountain.  The angle of incline is 75 degrees, and one of us (won't tell you which one) had very sweaty hands by the time we reached the top.  Pictures don't really do the experience justice.  At the top of Lookout Mountain is Point Park, managed by the National Park Service.  There are several rock formations throughout the park that many famous and not-so-famous military personnel posed on shortly after the Civil War--Ulysses S. Grant and Teddy Roosevelt, to name a couple.  M makes one of the not-so-famous.

We're very glad that we included Chattanooga in our route.  We've enjoyed our stay here.  We leave tomorrow morning heading for Kentucky and Ohio.  We're going to make a short detour to Atlanta first.  Details on the purpose of the detour will follow in the next posting.