Hi again. Every now and again you have a win and stumble over a genuine gem. Well Chatanooga is one such place. It was a pity we hadn’t scheduled more time there because we just loved it. I have actually ‘cheated’ a bit with the galleries on this post because if I hadn’t the last gallery would have been humungous. I have added some photos from different days/trips into different galleries so that the last gallery wasn’t overloaded.
The first gallery as usual starts with some shots Shane took from the car enroute to our next stop. The lineup of trucks you see went on for about 15 miles (24kms for the youngsters). Eventually we were going against that jam so it wasn’t long before we crossed the border into Tennessee and reached Chatanooga. No we didn’t go into that aquarium but it was nicely presented. I put the pic of “The Block” in because I was amused by how the Climbing Centre on the ground floor had a climbing ‘track’ scaling the outer wall. I’m not sure if their front door was on the top floor or what but the locals having lunch would have a scary show watching climbers scale that building (why do that when the building has a lift?). I threw in a photo of a high school Football team at practice and another of a terrifying storm front that had us pulling over in a car park because we couldn’t see 2 car lengths in front of us.
Next day we drove up to Chat’s premier tourist spot, Lookout Mountain specifically to visit Ruby Falls. Ruby Falls is a 145 foot high waterfall located 1100ft (300mtrs) underground within Lookout Mountain. Ruby Falls Cave, unlike Lookout Mountain Cave, had no natural openings and could not be entered until Leo Lambert discovered the formerly hidden Ruby Falls Cave. On December 30, 1929 the Lookout Mountain caverns were open to the public and Ruby Falls became the premier attraction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Falls Now most of you reading this will have visited a limestone cave however I doubt that you will have seen anything like this. Shane & I have done dozens of caves but this left us almost speechless. Just enjoy the pictures and this video. The last few pics are the view from Ruby Falls rock tower followed by a massive ‘Incline Train” that climbs a 72° sloping track. And we thought Penang hill train was good. This one is even better by far.
Another fascinating site we visited was the Chatanooga and Chickamauger Civil War Battlefields. On September 18 the Union Army and the Confederate Army met in a bloody confrontation. 3 days later on September 20, 1863 The Battle of Chickamauga was over. In its wake were a broken Union army and 35,000 men killed, wounded, missing, and captured. The Chickamauger Civil War Battlefields Visitor centre is featured in the early photos in this second gallery. The collection of rifles seen here is a small part of The Fuller collection on display which is in turn a small part of Mr Fuller’s complete collection. After checking out the museum we drove onto the battlefields. The park encompasses more than 9,000 acres of battlefields, monuments, and forests, and urban landscapes. As you go to the numbered sites on your self guided driving tour there are monuments everywhere depicting individual troop engagements and heroic acts as well as dedications to various military units from both sides. Frankly to imagine a civil war in Australia where say W.A. wanted to secede and the government said ‘no’ is horrifying. The numbers of fatalities and injuries is mind boggling and scary. I can’t imagine fellow Australians killing each other like that. It was a war that seems ridiculous today but obviously not to the US citizens in the 1860’s.
The final gallery here is of what started as a private garden and is now a major tourist drawcard. In the lead up to the 1930’s Frieda Carter built a garden which was to become Rock City. Frieda was German and in the mid 40’s reinvigorated the gardens by adding Fairytale scenes within the caverns. As with the Ruby Falls gallery we have a bit of video for you to see here. Shane and I just loved it and we covered every trail and every rock there was to see. It really is somewhere not to be missed if ever visiting Chatanooga.
Well that almost gets me up to date but don’t miss the next blog post when we’re in the legendary home of country music, Nashville, Tennessee.
Cheers for now
Garry & Shane