When I was 6 or 7 years old my family took a trip to San Diego. I still remember visiting the penguins at Sea World. I even got a stuffed penguin at the gift shop, which I have packed away in my attic.
Because of that childhood event I have a soft spot for penguins. Which is why I am very excited about the news that the penguins are coming to the Tennessee Aquarium. According to Thom Benson’s article in the Chattanoogan, there will be 20 penguins residing at the Ocean Journey section of the aquarium, brought in by refrigerator trucks from the San Antonio Sea World.
The Gentoo and Macaroni penguins will be making their home at the aquarium in an 18,000 gallon tank, and visitors will be able to watch them create their nests and learn about their mating rituals. And of course the educational videos and planned scavenger hunt will add to the experience.
If you can’t wait until May to see the penguins, you can always check out the movie Happy Feet, playing at the IMAX. My family liked it a lot. If you want to get in on the penguin action in May, go ahead and buy your tickets online now.
Or if you really like me, you can buy my family a membership. Then we can see the penguins (and sharks, catfish, sea horses, aquatic life) whenever we want!
Recently I was talking with some out of town friends about conventions and meet-ups. They were all talking about meeting the middle from where everyone lives. I was joking when I said, “Hey! No one has mentioned Chattanooga!” but really, I think Chattanooga would be a great place to get together.
If you have a convention you want to plan we have a really great convention center that is really close to downtown (accessible by free electric shuttle). I’ve never been to a convention there since their big expansion, but I hear their natural lighting is something to admire in a convention center. (This weekend you can check out the custom auto show or the education expo.)
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The first edition of the Southern Fried Carnival is up! Cass has gathered a list of 11 submissions that all represent being Southern: state of mind, not of residence.
If you want to enter next week’s carnival, the deadline is Wednesday, January 24th. Submissions can be made here.
And if you are wondering what entry I submitted, well it is about my new neighbor, the coyote.
In recent months I have been hearing rumors of coyotes roaming certain areas of Chattanooga. The Hunter Museum was the last place that I remember them being sighted. I think that was this past summer.
A few weeks ago my neighborhood email list had several emails about a suspicious animal seen crossing a street near my house. No one got a great look at it, but it did spark speculation. Was it a fox? A very ill dog? A coyote? Rocky the Raccoon? Or even better, a rarely seen chupacabra? (more…)
Cass from Cass Knits is a Christian, Southerner, knitter, blogger, mom of 8, and a friend of mine. She has decided to start a blog carnival for southern bloggers, the Southern Fried Carnival. She states:
If you live Texas or eastward, Virginia or southward, I want to hear from you. If you were a southerner, and have since moved, you can still play. If you are a transplant who plans to stay, you are also welcome.
You can check out the Southern Fried submission page for more information. Deadline for the first submissions is Wednesday, January 17th 9pm. I’ll be frying up my own submission too.
When I read the story this morning about two hikers in the Chattanooga area were missing, I had to wonder if our area would become the next tragic location for bad news about hikers or motorists lost in the mountains. Of course, Chattanooga isn’t covered in snow and the weather hasn’t been extremely cold so the chances were good that they could survive the night. On the other hand, the article mentioned that they were going near some water, which could be the setting for bad news.
So I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that they had been found. (more…)
Well, I rang in the New Year in Dayton, Ohio with my family. Since my dad will be spending the next six months in Afghanistan, we all wanted to get together and celebrate the holidays.
We return to Chattanooga on Wednesday. Since we have one computer to eight adults, computer time is limited. And we have that whole “spending time with family” theme going, so instead of posting, I will be hanging out with them.
When I return I plan on having some resolutions for this blog. While I am away, leave some of your own resolutions in the comments,
Happy New Year!
[tags]Chattanooga, New Year, resolutions[/tags]
We got back from Christmas travel yesterday evening. And my laptop crashed. And then I had to go back to work. And now my laptop is better. And tomorrow we pack it up and head out early Friday to visit the other side of our family.
The funny thing is, this was going to be our Christmas to stay home and start some Chattanooga Christmas traditions. But some interesting things came up on both sides of our family, so we are splitting it up. Christmas in Lake Martin, Alabama with my husband’s family, New Year’s in Dayton, Ohio with my side of the family.
Our Christmas was a nice one and I got what I wanted.
And judging from the news in the past few days, Chattanooga got a really neat gift too- 3 red pandas! According to the Times Free Press article they are having a contest to name to pandas.
The Chattanooga Zoo is hosting a contest to name the three new panda siblings. Entries can be mailed to the zoo at 1101 McCallie Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37404, through Feb. 7. (more…)
Ok gang, I need a bit of help. This blog is part of the Home Turf Media family and they control the theme/ look of this blog. I get to write the content and add cute pictures. Which is fine, I was never great at the programming/ designing side of blogging. I probably could be, but I just don’t have time.
But, I do like to look at nice things and the header (or is it a banner? see… that’s technical) up top is starting to bug me. I would love it if I could get some submissions from ya’ll of pictures representing Chattanooga. Not necessarily all the downtown shots, which I also need/ want, but also pictures representing the landscape beyond Broad and Market Streets. We are the Scenic City, not just the Revitalized Downtown City.
So, if you have a shot or two you would like to donate (I can’t pay, but I would give you credit on the about page), then please contact me via the contact form. I will reply to you and let you know how to submit the picture.
Please note that I will probably have to crop the picture in order for it to fit the size restrictions of the header, but you probably knew that right?
