Monday, March 09, 2009
Trip to Chattanooga
Shannon and I were off Sunday and Monday, so we decided to take an unplanned trip to Chattanooga. I guess I never realized how close it was from Kennesaw or we would have gone much sooner!
We drove straight to Lookout Mountain and bought package tickets for "The Incline", Rock City, and Ruby Falls. "The Incline" didn't look so bad at first. It's only a little train, right? WRONG!!! It's a cable car over 100 years old that, with the slightest malfunction, can lead to a very quick and terrifying death. At least that's how I saw it.
Let me explain that I was under the impression that Rock City and Ruby Falls were at the top of "The Incline". They were not. We simply rode that evil manifestation for giggles, both up the mountain, then down again. As the good samaritan in the info booth at the apex explained, we would need to drive back up the mountain for the other two venues. Perfect...
After escaping death, we drove up to Rock City. Shannon and I agreed that this was the best of the three offerings. We were also lucky enough to pick a great weekend for it: 68 degrees, off-season, no crowds, etc...
Ruby Falls was interesting, but I seemed to get a minor case of claustrophobia during our 1/2 mile trek into the base of the mountain: it was around the time that the tour guide told us that there was 1450 feet between us and the surface above (the height of the Empire State Building for those keeping score). I could have gone all week without knowing that...
We survived our second careless act of the day, and decided to check into a hotel downtown. We got extremely lucky and found a room about 100 feet from the Tennessee Aquarium, right on the Tennessee River. We checked in, then headed to Bonefish Grill (our favorite restaurant) to meet my Uncle Ben and Aunt Kiyu for dinner.
Neither has changed a bit, and the four of us spent the next few hours enjoying incredible seafood and even better company. I could listen to Uncle Ben tell stories for day and days.
We slept in on Monday morning, mainly because we were wiped out from all of the walking the day before. Our calves hurt and we were starving. After a huge breakfast, we decided to tackle the Tennessee Aquarium. We have been to the Georgia Aquarium twice, so our expectations were high. Tennessee's version certainly didn't disappoint us.
We stopped in Dalton on the way home to see some of Shannon's friends, shopped at the outlet stores in Calhoun for a minute, then came on home to Kennesaw. We packed a lot into two days, but had a great time.
We drove straight to Lookout Mountain and bought package tickets for "The Incline", Rock City, and Ruby Falls. "The Incline" didn't look so bad at first. It's only a little train, right? WRONG!!! It's a cable car over 100 years old that, with the slightest malfunction, can lead to a very quick and terrifying death. At least that's how I saw it.
Let me explain that I was under the impression that Rock City and Ruby Falls were at the top of "The Incline". They were not. We simply rode that evil manifestation for giggles, both up the mountain, then down again. As the good samaritan in the info booth at the apex explained, we would need to drive back up the mountain for the other two venues. Perfect...
After escaping death, we drove up to Rock City. Shannon and I agreed that this was the best of the three offerings. We were also lucky enough to pick a great weekend for it: 68 degrees, off-season, no crowds, etc...
Ruby Falls was interesting, but I seemed to get a minor case of claustrophobia during our 1/2 mile trek into the base of the mountain: it was around the time that the tour guide told us that there was 1450 feet between us and the surface above (the height of the Empire State Building for those keeping score). I could have gone all week without knowing that...
We survived our second careless act of the day, and decided to check into a hotel downtown. We got extremely lucky and found a room about 100 feet from the Tennessee Aquarium, right on the Tennessee River. We checked in, then headed to Bonefish Grill (our favorite restaurant) to meet my Uncle Ben and Aunt Kiyu for dinner.
Neither has changed a bit, and the four of us spent the next few hours enjoying incredible seafood and even better company. I could listen to Uncle Ben tell stories for day and days.
We slept in on Monday morning, mainly because we were wiped out from all of the walking the day before. Our calves hurt and we were starving. After a huge breakfast, we decided to tackle the Tennessee Aquarium. We have been to the Georgia Aquarium twice, so our expectations were high. Tennessee's version certainly didn't disappoint us.
We stopped in Dalton on the way home to see some of Shannon's friends, shopped at the outlet stores in Calhoun for a minute, then came on home to Kennesaw. We packed a lot into two days, but had a great time.
Incline Railway
Rock City
Ruby Falls
Uncle Ben and Aunt Kiyu
Tennessee Aquarium
