A Week in Chattanooga

Last week I had to be in Chattanooga for a Caves Association meeting.  I love getting together with my cave buddies from around the U.S. but of course I hate being away from home.  I left on Saturday and didn’t get back home until the following Friday.  That’s a long time for me to be away from home.

Chattanooga is only about two hours from my house but I had meetings during the day and events at night so I stayed in Chattanooga the whole week.  It would have just been too hard to drive back and forth.

I got into Chattanooga on Saturday evening.   Our group stayed at The Chattanoogan.
The Chattanoogan is nice and centrally located. It is very close to downtown with lots of restaurants and shopping.

I had a board meeting on Sunday morning at 8:00 AM so I wanted to be there on time without having to leave my house at 6:00 AM.

So meetings all day on Sunday.  Our official Convention started on Tuesday with an opening event on Monday night.  On Sunday a friend of mine from Pennsylvania arrived at the hotel and we had an opportunity to get together for dinner and catch up with each other.  We ate dinner at Tueplo Honey which I love. Southern cuisine and the best fried chicken and biscuits.  I did not order the chicken I had a barbecue burger and potato fritters.  It was great.

We also went to Warehouse Row, which is a nice shopping area with some upscale shops, but it closed early on Sunday so we didn’t get there in time.

On Monday morning I was awakened at 4:00 AM by a fire alarm at the hotel.  I jumped out of bed and couldn’t even think where my clothes were.  I grabbed my bra because I am not going out without my bra, fire or no fire.  I also grabbed a light sweater I had on the back of a chair.  I grabbed my phone and out the door I ran.  I was on the fifth floor and of course everyone was running for the stairs.  Once I got outside I realized that most people had taken time to put their clothes on.  Luckily I had my good pajamas on  HA HA.  It was a false alarm and after about twenty minutes we were allowed back in the building. It was pretty exciting.  I ran out without my room card and of course I didn’t have my ID so I had to go to the front desk and get another room card.  By the time I got back to my room it was 5:00 AM and I couldn’t get back to sleep.

Monday was a free day until our opening event so my friend Ann and I decided to drive down to the river front in Chattanooga and check out some of the shops there.  There is also a free electric shuttle, CARTA, that will take you all over the city.  A lot of the shops were closed on Monday.  A big disappointment but we knew we would be back within the next day or two to visit the other shops. We ate lunch at a great little place called the River Street Deli.   The deli is small with a limited menu but the sandwiches, Stromboli, salads and soup were more than enough to make anyone happy.

We visited the In Town Art Gallery while we were near the riverfront.  This gallery has a little bit of everything.  I bought a piece for a friend I can’t wait to give it to her.  The piece is called Wild Woman. Wild Woman, Be One, Friend One, Love one. I love this piece.     This is the artist in the picture below.   Charlie Yowell   so much talent in this gallery be sure to visit when you are in Chattanooga.  Charlie came out and talked with us for a long time and showed us several of his art pieces.  You can see the Wild Woman piece below with her hair blowing in the wind.

Later that night we visited Songbirds Guitar Museum.  Songbirds is a world class vintage guitar museum.  There is actually a vaulted room that houses 12,000,000 worth of vintage guitars.  In case of fire the vault automatically closes and becomes fire proof.

This is the vaulted room.  Very impressive.

  This guitar had my sister’s name on it so I had to get a picture of it. 

After visiting the museum and having a great Barbecue dinner we went downstairs where the band Rubiks Groove was performing.  This band is an 80’s and 90’s tribute band and they are awesome!!!!!  We danced the night away!!!!!!

The next day after a morning full of sessions we headed to Lookout Mountain to Ruby Falls.  If you haven’t been to Ruby Falls you have to check it out.  There is a beautiful story of Leo Lambert, who discovered the falls in 1928, and his wife Ruby, you see the connection now, and how he discovered the falls after crawling through small passages for about seventeen hours.  Now that is determinationn.He then went back and got Ruby and they made the journey back to the falls together.   You have to see it  Take a peek here.  Your tour starts with an elevator ride down down down into the caverns, at the bottom of the cave you are about 1200 feet underground.  Your guide will show you a brief video about Leo Lambert and his bride Ruby.  You will then start your trek through the caverns to get to the falls.  Along the way you will see some of the most beautiful cave formations you have ever seen. Ruby Falls is the nation’s tallest and deepest underground waterfall open to the public.

      Beautiful Formations

         This is called Leo’s Passage.  You can get an idea of what Leo Lambert had to crawl through when discovering Ruby Falls.

When you arrive at the falls you wait for a moment in darkness and you can hear the water falling and falling.  Then the waterfall is lit with some of the most beautiful colored lights.  It is just so awesome to see something that far underground. Wow!!!  what else may be underground that we do not even know about!!!

 Ruby Falls is 145 feet high and spectacular!!!!

The next day was mostly meetings and tying us general business with the Caves Association.  A great speaker from he National Speleological Society and some time to share ideas with other caves within the association.

The next morning I was ready to head for home.  I had been gone for almost a week and I missed everyone so much!!!!  It was great seeing my cave buddies and I look forward to it every year.  But it is sooooooo good getting back home.  Now to start all that laundry.

There’s lots and lots of things in Chattanooga I didn’t mention, Rock City Gardens,  Incline Railway,     Tennessee Aquarium.  So if you get a chance go visit this amazing city that has invested so much in their commitment to sustainability.  Spend some time and have some fun. www.chattanoogafun.com

And always remember
Love your day your way!!!