Chattanooga Is Home

Living at the base of Lookout Mountain gives me so much visual pleasure during the changing of the seasons. Now that fall has arrived, I have been eagerly waiting for the explosion of reds, oranges, and yellows to take over the landscape I see out my back door.

According to weather.com’s fall foliage map, the Tennessee Valley is nearing or at the peak of fall color. Personally, I don’t think the peak has arrived since I still see more green than anything right now. I see a lot of leaves on the ground though, so I am lead to believe due to the dry summer we may not get the great burst of fall colors we have had in the past.

Tennessee was listed on Peter Greenberg’s list of 8 Great and Unusual Fall Foliage Destinations. He called Tennessee a “true foliage state” and mentioned different ways to view the fall colors:

“By road, you can drive along the Cherohala Skyway and the Ocoee Scenic Byway. This is an especially popular time for motorcycles to drive along the skyway or byway. By rail, you can ride the Tennessee Valley Railroad on restored vintage trains in Chattanooga. In Knoxville, you can take the Three Rivers Rambler Train and explore east Tennessee. By boat, you can ride the Southern Belle Riverboat and enjoy lunch or dinner while viewing the fall foliage.”

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Rock Point Books
401 Broad Street
423-756-2855

Each month, Rock Point Books hosts the Southern Lit Book Club. Anyone is welcome to come and discuss a selected Southern author, to explore his/ her life and the book of the month.

The Southern Lit Book Club met this evening to discuss Salvation on Sand Mountain. Now you can get ready for the next month’s book. Each months’ selected title is available for purchase to participating members at a discount of 10% off of the regular price.

September’s book is All The King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren. The next gathering of the Southern Lit Book Club will be on September 24th, at 6 p.m.
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Creative Discovery Museum
321 Chestnut Street
Chattanooga, TN 37402

We have really enjoyed the Creative Discovery Museum this past summer. It allowed for our son to have somewhere cool to go and lots of activity to keep him occupied. The bonus? It is so educational.

During the summer, the Creative Discovery extended its hours. It allowed for more visitors and family fun all summer long.

And now that Hamilton County Schools have gone back into session, CDM has reduced its hours again, until spring:

Creative Discovery Museum’s extended hours ended Sunday, August 12. We are now back to our regular hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. We will still be open Wednesdays until Labor Day, after which we will be closed Wednesdays until Spring.

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When I was in college, my parents were stationed in Charleston, South Carolina. I visited there on school breaks, but never really felt the city was mine to call home. (But anywhere my parents live, their house is definitely a home for me.)

One Christmas my sisters and I received a book of tickets to local tourist attractions. The Charleston board of tourism sold these books of discounted tickets to residents and called them “Be a Tourist in Your Hometown.” For the rest of Christmas break my sisters and I toured historic homes and other tourist spots in Charleston. And we have some wonderful memories of just being together.

I keep thinking about that Christmas break every time I drive by something that is rather touristy here in Chattanooga- from the Choo Choo to the Aquarium to the Chattanooga Ducks. I really want to experience them, but often feel like I have to have an out of town visitor accompanying me in order to make it appropriate.

Well, I decided I don’t have to wait for visitors, I can just take the time to be a tourist in my hometown. I don’t necessarily get a discount for being a resident, but I do get to spend some time with my son and understand my hometown a little better.

And if I write about my experience here, it might help someone who is coming to visit know what to expect as well.

I want to start with the CARTA Electric Shuttle. To me, the shuttles are one thing (out of many) that makes downtown truly special. First, they are free transportation around downtown. Second, they are electric, which is great for the environment. In fact, Chattanooga runs the largest fleet of electric vehicles in the world. If you want to know more about them, you can go to the Electric Vehicle Information Center, located at Shuttle Park South (the Chattanooga Choo-Choo).

While I know that it is not strictly tourists who use the free shuttle (I used it often when I worked downtown), but I think that some tourists may not know what it is all about.
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Join the Hunter Museum of American Art this Wednesday, July 4th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. as the art of Grandma Moses comes to life with music, pie baking contests, petting zoos and more. This event is Free to all.
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New to the area, Susan asked where to see fireworks on July 4th. And this is where I admit, that in the eight years that I have called Chattanooga home, I have only been in the Chattanooga area once over the 4th of July holiday.

Every year our family heads to Lake Martin, Alabama to spend the time with my husband’s family. The 4th is almost bigger than Christmas in the hierarchy of family get togethers. I think my mother-in-law gets more upset when we can’t come for the fourth than she does when we tell her we are going elsewhere for Christmas.

But there was that one year where the 4th of July fell on a Wednesday and I couldn’t get the time off on the days surrounding. So we stayed here in Chattanooga and experienced the festivities here.

We took a picnic dinner to Coolidge Park and listened to Pops on the River, followed by fireworks. We went with a bunch of friends and played Frisbee on the greenspace while we waited for it all to begin or it got too crowded to safely throw the Frisbee. I remember being slightly disappointed by the fireworks display, but that is because I still think the Riverbend fireworks are the best ever.
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The Creative Discovery Museum celebrates the Fourth with Red, White, and Blue Days, July 1st through 4th. Every day from noon to 4 p.m., kids make noisemakers, hats and other patriotic crafts, then parade around the Museum at 2 p.m. Check out the parade for a spectacular display of “pedestrian pyrotechnics.”

For more information, call 756-2738, or visit CDMFun.org.

I have a few favorite things I like to mention when I tell people about Chattanooga: free music, restaurants downtown, and free fun for the little ones.

This morning/ early afternoon my friend and I got to experience some of the best free fun for little ones in Chattanooga: the aquarium wading pools.

I don’t know if that is actually what they are called, but since they are only about a foot deep, you can’t exactly call them swimming pools.
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This week I finally paid a library fine from 1999 and was reissued a library card for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library. I’m excited that I get to use the library again, and look forward to checking out my first book. But since I have a two year old, I will be even more excited when I get the time to read the book.

But besides the benefit of checking out books, I get access to other services the library has. Such as the Rosetta Stone language series.
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One of my favorite digital photography blogs is Picture This, written by professional photographer Tracey. She hosts Monday’s Best Shot and today she started Thursday’s Theme.

The theme today is spin. I wanted to take it a step further and show off spin in Chattanooga. And the obvious place to go would be the Coolidge Park Carousel.

Our family spent an evening at Coolidge Park last February, so this is an old picture, but I think it represents the theme. I like how the horse is actually in focus and the rest, including my son and husband, are moving with delight. Even the gigantic carved animals look like they are having fun.
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