We have tickets for three separate attractions today, one in the morning, one it the afternoon and one tonight. With plenty of time in between our reservations we'll have time to explore some of the rest of what Chattanooga has to offer.
At 8:30AM we were out of THE POD and on the road to Chattanooga.
'Tis the season and as such this cave tour was decorated with lots of Christmas lights, laser lights and inflatable displays. They even piped in Christmas music. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy all the lights possibly taking away from the simple beauty of the cave, but the staff did a great job of not overdoing it. By 10:45AM we were off to our next destination.
While ROVER didn't quite fit in with the vehicles parked on either side of him, he quickly made friends with both.
We are downtown to walk upon the 130 year old Walnut Street Bridge. First built in the 1890s the bridge was used by pedestrians and automotive traffic as a way to get across the Tennessee River in Chattanooga. By 1978 two other bridges had been built to cross the river and the Walnut Street Bridge had deteriorated to the point it was no longer safe to cross, so it sat unused for nearly a decade.
In the 1990s money was raised to preserve the bridge and minor repairs where done to make it safe for pedestrian use. Today nearly 30 years later it is still used by walkers, joggers and bicyclists to cross the river.
It was a short two mile drive and she spent the whole time guessing where we were going. Soon we were stopped at a traffic light the directions said, "turn left and the destination will be on your right".
From the traffic light Tricia could see a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream on the far right corner and said, "Well it won't be the first time we've had ice cream for lunch."
To which I said, "No, look two doors further down the block." She did, and then I got the big smile I was hoping for. Hidden behind a few bare trees was the Mellow Mushroom sign, Tricia's favorite pizza place! We elected to be as safe as possible while eating our lunch and sit outside on the open air patio, it also helped that no one else was out there.
After lunch we had some time to kill before our next reservation so we asked Google to look for nearby Walmart's. See today we planned ahead and brought our two empty 3 gallon water bottles with us. Not all Walmart's offer drinking water at 39 cents a gallon, but only if you bring your own bottle to refill. Luckily the first one we tried did.
I know what you're thinking, "Why don't I call before jumping in the truck?" I used to do that, but all to often I was told YES they had a dispenser and found out upon arrival that NO they didn't. And once I was told NO and found out later they did. That's why I stopped calling ahead.
Again with 20 minutes to kill we both enjoyed a single scoop of ice cream at the rail station. Two hours earlier we both passed on a visit to Ben and Jerry's after eating our large Mellow Mushroom Pizza. We were both stuffed full at that time! But now we felt there was room for more.
The one mile historic train ride up to Lookout Mountain was both fun and interesting. The views of Chattanooga down below were breathtaking, but we didn't find much else to do up there. Thirty minutes later we were boarding the train for our return trip to the lower station. It's something we were glad we did, but feel no need to do it again.
This one however also mentioned a walk through Christmas Light Display and well, Tricia is a sucker for a good light display. Especially like the one we saw near Mobile, AL last year. We decided to drive on over and check it out, since it's also up on Lookout Mountain where we are headed anyways.
Once in the parking lot we had second thoughts on the whole idea. The lots were all full and there were people everywhere walking around, it was outdoors, but many were not wearing masks. Then the decision was made for us, signs indicated tonight's showing is SOLD OUT.
We left the parking lot after making a very tight u-turn and headed over to Ruby Falls, just ten minutes away, for our final attraction of the day.
We park ROVER on the edge of the parking lot facing the city down below. Then proceed to go into the gift shop, use the restrooms, look around and then purchase a bottle of Gold Leaf Iced Tea for me and a Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee for Tricia to take back and enjoy in the truck.
The drinks set us back over $8.00! Last time we spent that kind of money for two bottled beverages was at the concession stand at the top of the World Trade Building in New York City!
By 8:30PM it was time to get out of the truck, stretch our legs and once again go use the gift shop restrooms. We also took the time to climb the tower and get a different view of the city.
The lantern you see on the left is what every fourth person on the Mammoth Cave National Park lantern tour was issued to carry. A full sized, liquid fuel burning, bona fide lantern.
It was plenty of light once your eyes adjusted and we really enjoyed the whole experience. So we decided to pay the extra price and do another lantern tour.
In hindsight we wish we just did the standard daytime tour and here is why?
They felt more like a kid's toy than a real lantern. They did light the pathway so you could safely see where you were walking, but didn't put off enough light to see more than just a few feet around yourself. With everyone trying to maintain their six feet of social distancing you couldn't put together enough light to see the formations you were walking past.
Is Ruby Falls worth a visit? Absolutely! I just recommend taking the standard tour and saving your lantern experience for somewhere else.
Now that I've got that off my chest, let's talk about the tour we did take.
The bad news is most of the tour you'll spend walking single file through a 3-foot wide and 6 1/2-foot tall corridor. If someone stops to take a picture, everyone behind them stops too. If you're at the back of the pack (our tour had 20 people) you'll never hear what the guide is describing at the front of the line.
I suspect it is for this reason they have placed lots of signage along the path pointing out formations of interest. A few times we lost sight of the group in front of us and it was almost like we were on a self-guided tour.
I forgot to mention, there was one person on the tour with a full sized gas powered lantern, the tour guide.
At first when we got to the room that Ruby Falls is located in we could hear and feel the falls, but just barely see it. Then the guide attached his lantern to a cable and pulley system to hoist it some 150 feet in the air to the top of the falls. That made it a little easier to see.
But then he turned on the emergency lighting in the room and we were able to see the entire falls and pool area at the bottom. Well worth the price of admission and the hike to get here.
Here is a short video of our guide retrieving his lantern from the top of the falls so he could then safely escort us back out of the cave.
By the time we exited the cave, drove down the mountain, jumped on the Interstate and returned to THE POD it was midnight. So ends our fourteen hour long day in Chattanooga, TN.
... if you wish to receive an email notice when there is a new blog post!
PLEASE NOTE:
After you subscribe a company named Feed Burner will send you an email to once again verify that you wish to subscribe to TWO PEAS AND THE POD to which you must reply before you will receive notices.
If you prefer
to be notified of new blog posts.
 |
We encourage everyone |
Until next time
