Today we spent the whole day in the vicinity of Chattanooga, TN. We say the vicinity of because most of the day we were just 15 minutes away from the city, but it was the greater Chattanooga area anyway. We were joined for much of the day by a former SEED student, Salvador, and his wife. They live three hours away in northeast Tennessee and made the trek to see us for the day.
The same couple who developed Rock City were instrumental in developing a small community called Fairyland at the top of Lookout Mountain. We enjoyed a leisurely drive through the community where we oohed and ahhed over the beautiful properties and homes.
While waiting to meet Salvador and his wife we continued to explore the area on Lookout Mountain. We happened upon Covenant College and decided to drive in. To our surprise their visitor office was open. They greeted us, gave the girls t-shirts, told us about the school, and encouraged us to look around. It’s a small school with 1000 students. It’s a very beautiful campus. A great chance stop for Cecelia to see another type of school.
Our next stop was Ruby Falls where we met up with Salvador and Elise. Ruby Falls is a cavern tour that begins 260 feet below the surface of the mountain. After a 1/2 mile walk through the caverns, there is a large waterfall, Ruby Falls. It was a fun journey and we had a great tour guide.
Since Salvador is originally from El Salvador, and since pupusas (a typical Salvadoran food) are not readily available in Tennessee, he was hoping the trendy big city had some. They found a great hole-in-wall pupuseria and we had a delicious late lunch.
We were all back in our room by 7pm and we were beat. It was a long, fun day.
Most of the day we spent on Lookout Mountain, situated just outside of Chattanooga. Among the rolling hills of the area it juts up 2500 feet and provides great views from the top. It’s also home to a college, two tourist spots, a ritzy neighborhood, and a few other small communities. The Georgia/Tennessee state line also cuts the mountain in half; we crossed back and forth into each state several times.
Our first stop of the day was at Rock City. This stop can best be described as a series of walking trails, great landscaping using native species, jutting rocks and narrow gorges along with terrific views of the Tennessee River Valley. The location has been awarded numerous arboretum awards. We took a peaceful and relaxing walk through the park, enjoying the creative signage and location names along the way. The owners who developed this hillside as a walking park enjoyed European folklore so we saw plenty of gnomes tucked into rocky crevices as well as cool location names based on folklore. One of our favorites was a cave called “The Hall of the Mountain King.” Another highlight was a series of venues called Fairyland Caverns that paid a nod to famous fairy tales with hand carved decorations depicting fairy tale characters and stories.
The same couple who developed Rock City were instrumental in developing a small community called Fairyland at the top of Lookout Mountain. We enjoyed a leisurely drive through the community where we oohed and ahhed over the beautiful properties and homes.
While waiting to meet Salvador and his wife we continued to explore the area on Lookout Mountain. We happened upon Covenant College and decided to drive in. To our surprise their visitor office was open. They greeted us, gave the girls t-shirts, told us about the school, and encouraged us to look around. It’s a small school with 1000 students. It’s a very beautiful campus. A great chance stop for Cecelia to see another type of school.
Our next stop was Ruby Falls where we met up with Salvador and Elise. Ruby Falls is a cavern tour that begins 260 feet below the surface of the mountain. After a 1/2 mile walk through the caverns, there is a large waterfall, Ruby Falls. It was a fun journey and we had a great tour guide.
Since Salvador is originally from El Salvador, and since pupusas (a typical Salvadoran food) are not readily available in Tennessee, he was hoping the trendy big city had some. They found a great hole-in-wall pupuseria and we had a delicious late lunch.
After lunch we all headed to Coolidge Park which is down by the Tennessee River. It was a nice area. We rode a carousel, walked across the river, and had ice cream at Clumpy’s ice cream.
We were all back in our room by 7pm and we were beat. It was a long, fun day.
Here’s a video montage of the day ...
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