Chattanooga - Day 3

Third morning in Chattanooga. Out of the Choo-Choo hotel to Frazier Street across the Tennessee River from downtown Chattanooga. It is the cutest little strip with boutique shops, hippie stores, and some cute cafes. The sidewalks were lined with dance steps... like the mambo...

After dancing on the sidewalks we settled down to the first place that offered Sunday mimosas: Mudpie. The food was great, while specializing in Cuban cuisine we settled on pancakes and french toast for brunch... and of course the mimosas were the perfect send off from the city.

And now that we're official now-Tennesseans, we had to explore one of the Volunteer State's proudest treasures: Rock City!

Rock City is one of those things that everyone from outside the state goes and visits, but no one from Tennessee spends much time there. It is filled with odds-and-ends including a vista where you can see seven states.

There's waterfalls... rock features... swinging bridges... SUPER CREEPY BLACKLIGHT LUMINESCENT DIORAMAS, and a leathersmith that made us some pretty sweet friendship bracelets. So here we go...

Swinging Bridge

Lovers' Leap

Waterfall

Sneaky passageways through the rocks


How is it not illegal to "wallpaper" an entire cave with coral (spray painted glittery)

Who would think its a good idea to create gnome dioramas in caves out of blacklight sensitive materials? Welcome to Tennucky.

Look at our super cute friendship bracelets!

Chattanooga - Day 2

Rise and Shine Morning Glories! It's Saturday in Chattanooga. Rolling out of the room, the first stop is the Choo Choo locomotive. Yeah, hot.



And then via public transportation, on to breakfast at this cute little coffee shop called Greyfriar's. They had these awesome paintings from local artists... These two were my favorites and I need to see if my auntie can figure out something similar for my living room. They were so pretty.

And then hip-hip-hooray! On to the Tennessee Aquarium! I love fish and rays and PENGUINS!!! CUTE!!!

The indigo macaws



Me and Em hiding out in the underwater adventure cave.

Pretty Orchids... Em's such a good photographer!

For our evening meal Em and I went to Bluewater, where once again we encountered our fishy friends. The day had officially come full circle from seeing the fishies in the tanks to having all the creatures of the sea right there in my paella. Yummy! I've never had it before, but always wanted to try.

Now we're ready for day 3!

Chattanooga - Day 1

Emily and I have been talking about a Chattanooga road trip for about a year now, and finally we decided to go! We loaded up the Honda at Em's apartment after she got off work and hit the road about 6pm. As non-native Tennesseans, we figured that while we were going on a road trip, we should probably acquire some Tennessee/Southern culture while en route.

First stop: Dinner to-go from Zaxby's. The chicken joint was born in Georgia, but is totally a Southern favorite! Em had never been, and I was a little afraid that she wouldn't like it as much as Chik-fil-a, but I think she enjoyed it just fine. I'm sure it was entertaining for her to assist me in trying to eat my chicken strips while driving and singing Jordin Sparks.

Second stop: The Chattanooga Choo-Choo. In good tourist form, we ( Emily ) booked our hotel reservations at one of Chattanooga's best known attractions - the former Chattanooga train station. The building was constructed in 1908 and was one of the most glamorous train stations of its time and remained popular until the 1960's when train travel was out competed by car and air transportation, and the train station became a hotel - complete with the lobby in the main concourse, and guest rooms in train cars on the property.

We stayed in one of the hotel buildings, which wasn't quite as glamorous as the train cars. With a sweet Hotwire deal though, we couldn't complain too much (once the air conditioner got going). After exploring a little bit of the city, we were back at the hotel resting up for the next day's adventure.