{"id":78948,"date":"2024-04-23T18:36:20","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T01:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/?p=78948"},"modified":"2024-04-27T07:54:55","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T14:54:55","slug":"chattanooga-choo-choo-we-is-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/?p=78948","title":{"rendered":"Day 19 – Chattanooga Choo Choo; We Is Coming!"},"content":{"rendered":"
Panama Canal Adventure: <\/b> Day 1 Departure<\/a> | Day 2 Sailing Off Baja<\/a> | Day 3 Cabo<\/a> | Day 4 Eclipse<\/a> | Day 5 At Sea<\/a> | Day 6 Huatulco <\/a> | Day 7 At Sea <\/a> | Day 8 At Sea<\/a> | Day 9 Costa Rica<\/a> | Day 10 At Sea<\/a> | Day 11 Panama Canal<\/a> | Day 12 Cartagena<\/a> | Day 13 At Sea<\/a> | Day 14 Grand Caymen<\/a> | Day 15 At Sea<\/a> | Day 16 Ft. Lauderdale – Savannah<\/a> | Day 17 Soddy-Daisy<\/a> | Day 18 – Tracy TN<\/a> | Day 19 – Chattanooga<\/strong> | Day 20 – Memphis<\/a> | Day 21 – Graceland & Home<\/a><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n


\nWe were up late this morning, probably about 7:00 am, as our bedroom was dead quiet.\u00a0 We were in the forest, and there were no man-made noises.<\/p>\n

Miss Becky went out of her way to make an absolutely fantastic breakfast fit for a king and a queen.\u00a0 She even prepared some Lambsquarters, a local vegetable often called a weed.<\/p>\n

Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) is edible and can be eaten raw or cooked.\u00a0 It’s a leafy vegetable related to beets, spinach, orach, epazote, and quinoa.\u00a0 <\/span>Lambsquarters is available from early summer through fall’s first frost, and you can find it at farmers’ markets or forage for it yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

A gourmet breakfast at Chez Becky’s<\/p><\/div>\n

Art was doing an errand that involved delivering Lady, their baby dog, to a friend who would watch her for a few days.<\/p>\n

Art and Becky followed us in their car to Chattanooga, where we stayed at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel.\u00a0 This hotel is unique in that the rooms are in retired railroad cars.<\/p>\n

Did You Know?\u00a0 <\/b>“Chattanooga Choo Choo” is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and composed by Harry Warren.\u00a0 It was originally recorded as a big band\/swing tune by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra and featured in the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade.\u00a0 It was the first song to receive a gold record, presented by RCA Victor in 1942, for sales of 1.2 million copies.<\/div>\n

The billboard is high on the city skyline.<\/p>\n

\"\"

We could not miss the sign.<\/p><\/div>\n

We pulled up to the hotel and checked in.\u00a0 Soon, we were freshened up and ready to explore a part of Chattanooga.<\/p>\n

\"\"

There were about thirty cars converted into two units each.<\/p><\/div>\n

Becky brought her flowers, and Mary had all the paperwork for the remaining part of the trip.<\/p>\n

\"\"

We raced to the rooms to unpack and get going!<\/p><\/div>\n

We walked by the side-by-side cars and were amazed at their size.\u00a0 They were in pretty good condition, considering they were almost 100 years old!\u00a0 Oops, I am talking about the cars, not the girls!<\/p>\n

\"\"

The cars were huge!<\/p><\/div>\n

Upon opening the door, we were instantly returned to our country’s kinder and gentler period.\u00a0 People traveled in style, and railroads were king!<\/p>\n

\"\"

Wow!\u00a0 This is uptown!<\/p><\/div>\n

Soon, we popped into our car and headed to the top of the mountain.\u00a0 The upscale town of Lookout Mountain is known for its namesake ridge and attractions like the steep Incline Railway and Ruby Falls, a waterfall set in a cavern.<\/p>\n

The Battles for Chattanooga Museum showcases local Civil War history, and hiking trails wind around Point Park and up to scenic overlooks such as Sunset Rock.\u00a0 A few rustic cafes, homey eateries, and breweries dot the area and the nearby St. Elmo neighborhood.<\/p>\n

We got our passes into the national park, which contained the\u00a0 Battles for Chattanooga Museum.<\/p>\n

\"\"

To the top of Chattanooga.<\/p><\/div>\n

Why was the Battle of Chattanooga important to the Civil War? <\/b>\u00a0 The Federals’ victory at Chattanooga opened the Deep South for a Union invasion and set the stage for Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign the following spring.<\/div>\n

Boom Boom rested on the cannon, and we were puzzled how the soldiers got these 2600-pound cannons to the top of the mountain!<\/p>\n

\"\"

They call her BOOM BOOM for a reason.<\/p><\/div>\n

The view was amazing.\u00a0 We were almost 2,000 feet above the city; you could see forever.\u00a0 We spent an hour wandering around the site and visiting the museum with pictures from the 1860s and stories of the five-day battles for Chattanooga.<\/p>\n

\"\"

We were 2200 feet above the city!<\/p><\/div>\n

We wanted to see the lookout point inside the Rock City Gardens, just a few miles away.<\/p>\n

Rock City is supposed to be amazing, located atop Lookout Mountain, just 6 miles from downtown Chattanooga.\u00a0 Rock City is a true marvel of nature, featuring massive ancient rock formations, gardens with over 400 native plant species, and breathtaking “See Seven States” panoramic views<\/p>\n

We took an unforgettable journey along the Enchanted Trail, where each step reveals natural beauty and wonders along the woodland path.\u00a0 We experienced the magic of Fairyland Caverns and Mother Goose Village.\u00a0 We took almost 200 pictures of the adventure!<\/p>\n

\"\"

We were off to Stone City!<\/p><\/div>\n

Off we go, walking between these vast rocks.\u00a0 The facility was first opened in 1932 by locals who had a vision.\u00a0 Opened in May 1932, the attraction gained prominence after owners Garnet and Frieda Carter hired Clark Byers in 1935 to paint “See Rock City” barn advertisements throughout the Southeast and Midwest United States; Byers painted over 900 barn roofs and walls in 19 states.\u00a0 When completed, almost 20,000 signs across the country were painted with “See Rock City.”<\/p>\n

\"\"

We walked in, around, between, and under huge rocks for an hour!<\/p><\/div>\n

The paths go up and down and around.\u00a0 We could look up and know we would soon be on that bridge!<\/p>\n

\"\"

Man-made bridges were overhead and hand-made of the local rocks.<\/p><\/div>\n

We spotted two amazing Lovebirds<\/em> <\/strong>cooing near an outcropping of rocks.\u00a0 We tried to get close, but they hurried away.\u00a0 They are scarce these days!<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ahhhhhhh!<\/p><\/div>\n

The various passages had clever names like “Needles Eye.”\u00a0 We had to turn sideways to get through. Paul applied a bit of Vaseline in certain areas, and thankfully, we wore hats protecting us from the very low ceilings.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Now we go underground.<\/p><\/div>\n

We took many opportunities to let others pass us by and enjoyed every second of the adventure.<\/p>\n

\"\"

It was time for a rest!<\/p><\/div>\n

Vanna White (aka Mary) showed us another flower, but we still could not guess what it was. So we asked for another flower.<\/p>\n

Did you hear about the drunk geologist? He finally hit rock bottom.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Mary loves the flowers.<\/p><\/div>\n

Since its earliest days, Rock City has claimed that it is possible to see seven states from a particular spot (Lover’s Leap) in Rock City; a scientist at the\u00a0University of Tennessee, when asked to prove the issue in 2007, pointed out that the claim refers to seeing mountains and other high points in many of these different states, adding that the claim was made long before the air pollution associated with the proliferation of automobiles and coal-fired power plants.<\/p>\n

You know the old saying\u2014igneous is bliss.<\/p>\n

\"\"

We were overlooking seven points.<\/p><\/div>\n

The claim was reasonable many years ago. Today, it would take a windy day to see the top of Kentucky 120 miles away.<\/p>\n

My wife told me she is thinking about selling Egyptian rocks. To me, this sounds like a pyramid scheme.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Seven states all at once.<\/p><\/div>\n

We were in Georgia when we arrived at Seven Points.\u00a0 I wanted to take a crayon and put in California, 2300 miles.\u00a0 Mary told me no!!<\/p>\n

\"\"

Amazing!<\/p><\/div>\n

High Falls (also known as Lover\u2019s Leap) is an artificial waterfall that is arguably the signature attraction of the Rock City Lookout and Gardens on the Georgia side of Lookout Mountain.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Magnificent even though it is man-made!<\/p><\/div>\n

We are at Lover’s Leap and decided we would stay on solid ground!<\/p>\n

\"\"

Just us.<\/p><\/div>\n

We continued our journey into the Fairy Garden, a fantastic adventure.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Deep underground was magical.<\/p><\/div>\n

At 5:00 pm, we declared victory and returned to the hotel for dinner at Elsie’s Daughters Restaurant.\u00a0 \u00a0At first, we were a little suspicious, but when our meal arrived, it was a fantastic experience.<\/p>\n

Art said his curry meal was the best he had ever had.\u00a0 Mary loved her chicken.\u00a0 Becky marveled at the kale salad.\u00a0 I had to order additional toast to sop up the spicy mussels’ juices, which were perfectly cooked!<\/p>\n

\"\"

Dinner in the diner.<\/p><\/div>\n

After dinner, we walked over to the grand train station, a tribute to the time when railroads were king of Industry.\u00a0 The interior of the building is seven and a half stories tall and sports a full-size Christmas tree during the season!<\/p>\n

Chattanooga Union Station, more commonly known as the Union Depot in Chattanooga, constructed between 1857 and 1859, served as a train car shed in Chattanooga, Tennessee.\u00a0 Located at Broad and Ninth Streets (the latter now Martin Luther King Blvd), the station was one of two major railroad terminals in the city, the other being the Southern Railway’s Terminal Station.<\/p>\n

\"\"

We walked through the old Union Station.<\/p><\/div>\n

We sat outside in the rocking chairs and admired the surroundings as a group of older folks on tour passed by.\u00a0 Several stopped and chatted with us.\u00a0 One lad asked if she could take our pictures because we were such a good-looking couple.\u00a0 That was so nice!<\/p>\n

\"\"

Under refurbishment.<\/p><\/div>\n

We returned to the car by 8:30 pm, as we were all tired.<\/p>\n

I went to the hotel and got two bottles of water and a small bottle of champagne.\u00a0 We read books for about an hour, and the lights went out.\u00a0 We slept until almost 9:00 am the next morning.<\/p>\n

We head to Memphis tomorrow to visit Elvis at his home, Graceland.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Goodnight all!<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Panama Canal Adventure: Day 1 Departure | Day 2 Sailing Off Baja | Day 3 Cabo | Day 4 Eclipse | Day 5 At Sea | Day 6 Huatulco | Day 7 At Sea | Day 8 At Sea | … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,24,17,236,189],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventures","category-food-and-wine","category-friends","category-travel","category-walking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78948"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79130,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78948\/revisions\/79130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}