2014 Summer trip, continued: May 31st - June 2nd

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Today we drove back down into Georgia to see the Lookout Mountain area and specifically Rock City. We weren't sure what to expect, other than there were suppose to be fantastic views.

Rock City is a commercial enterprise, where the natural beauty of the rock bluffs as been redesigned (for lack of a better word), to include pathways through the rocks crevices, nicks and crannies.  Different paths at the beginning, just after entering the park, take you to different overviews. All the paths wander through the natural vegetation of the mountains of Georgia. It’s all very pretty and interesting the way the paths have been designed, but the view at the end of each path is what you are paying for. It is absolutely spectacular!!

An Eagle Statue at Rock City

The view from the Bluffs at Rock City

One of the wood swings at Rock City

From the bluffs, they claim that on a clear day you can see seven states!

Not today, too hazy and cloudy, but even at that the view was amazing! There was a breeze coming across the valley and up the bluffs that cooled the 80 degree day down enough to make it comfortable enough to sit at a table in the outdoor café and enjoy a wonderful burger while still enjoying the view and for our listening pleasure, a couple of guys on a guitar and fiddle playing some of the old mountain music. It was a very enjoyable afternoon!!

 Monday, June 2, 2014

Today we went back down to Lookout Mountain to ride the Incline Railcar. Starting at the bottom of a part of the mountain, the Incline is pulled up the mountain. The steepest part of the ride is a 72% climb! The railcar is designed so that at the steepest part you are sitting upright, so getting on and off of the car is somewhat interesting!

Our turn to ride The Incline Railcar

Nita, looking up to the back of the car

Just about at the top of the mountain

A gopher plays in the grass at the top

Going back down, sat at the back of the car

Looking back to the top

At the top, we are once again treated to a wonderful view of the surrounding countryside. On the ride up there are a lot of houses built into the mountain, and of course, the higher you go, the bigger and more expensive they get.

We had left the campground early this morning with the intention of doing the railcar and then going out to lunch. Phil decided he was in the mood for a burger today (I always am), so he looked on his trusty phone and found a Cheeburger-Cheeseburger, and off we went.  Where we ended up was downtown Chattanooga, just before the bridge going over the river. Amazingly enough, right next door to the restaurant there was a parking lot, empty and big enough to get the truck into and parked!! As we exited the parking lot, we looked up and noticed that the Aquarium was right across the street. So, we had our burgers, which were delicious, then walked over to the Aquarium.

Chattanooga Aquarium

One of the many butterflies

This aquarium is designed a little differently than most we have been in. After entering on the first floor, you ride an escalator up to the top floor of the building, then simply walk along the display windows observing the huge variety of salt water dwellers, and you are slowly going back down to the first floor. There are the occasional bump outs where you will find special displays, like those of the various kinds of Jelly Fish or Sea Horses and Sea Dragons.

Jelly Fish Display

Sea Horses, the picture washed the colors out

Blown Glass inspired by Jelly Fish

At one point during our journey down, there were a couple of scuba divers in with the fish, answering questions from those of us sitting there. The kids of course, were most fascinated by the sharks swimming freely by the divers.

We eventually worked our way to the ground floor, to be directed to the next building where the river dwellers were kept. This was especially interesting because there were several different river settings on display, starting with the water life found in the great Tennessee River, then onto the smaller types of rivers and swamps found in the delta areas.

The escalator in this building was the very longest single escalator either of us have ever seen and the steepest as well.  I believe it travelled up 5 floors! At the very top was the Butterfly enclosure, with the beautiful flowers  of the tropical’s and the butterfly’s who feed off of them. Butterfly’s come in all different shapes and sizes, and colors. They are also very difficult to photo as they don’t sit still very much.

Next in our journey came the River Otters. These little guys are much more active and playful than the Sea Otters, also thinner and longer. They were playing and chasing each other around when we first walked in, but it must have been close to feeding time because before long they were all banging on the door hidden high in the wall of the enclosure like they were expecting great things to come their way.

Now we begin to walk our way slowly back down to the first floor. Not only are there the large tanks containing the larger river fish, but many smaller displays with tortoises, turtles, water snakes, frogs, alligators, just life in general in the delta.

All displays, in both buildings, were clean, well cared for, and properly maintained. This dual aquarium gets a “10” from us, one of the best we have seen!

Outside the Aquarium, along the Riverwalk