Chattanooga – Days 5 & 6

The trip across Mississippi, Alabama, and a tiny bit of Georgia wasn’t terribly interesting, even though we avoided interstates.  The countryside is pretty flat, and much of the highway is lined with trees and skirts around towns, so we didn’t get to see much.  One surprising observation was that the homes were small and unexceptional, but the churches were huge, new mega-churches.  It’s easy to see where the money goes.

Chattanooga is on the southern edge of Tennessee, right next to Georgia, but  not far from either Alabama or South Carolina.  Economically it’s doing well, and for an industrial city, it’s clean and fairly attractive.  There’s a lot to do, from the typical tourist attraction to arts and outdoor fun.

Chattanooga has a 13 mile long Riverpark along the Tennessee River, which runs through the city. The park and trail starts at the Chickamauga Dam, runs past an impressive art district on the bluff of the river, and ends on the other side of the river, crossing on the Walnut Street Bridge.

We only had one full day to spend, so we couldn’t do everything we wanted to do.

We started with the American Art collection at the Hunter Museum.  Next we went up to Lookout Mountain on the Incline Railway, which runs up the mountain on a short but steep incline.  The view from the top of the mountain was extraordinary! We visited a section of the Riverpark near the Chickamauga Dam, where we saw about 20 blue heron, fishing at what must have been a good spot. Finally we drove out to a park along the lake above the dam.

Unfortunately the day was overcast, and wasn’t a good day for photos.