"Lookout" Chattanooga

DAY 1 Welp, we decided to make this weekend getaway a simple drive away from home. We got 2 more couples and began our journey on Friday afternoon to Chattanooga, Tennessee. We 1st stopped at our Airbnb apartment where we settled in and of course poured our first, maybe not first, drink of the day. It was then time to hit the road to find a place for dinner. To our surprise, there was a small protest #blacklivesmatter taking place at the intersection close to the famous Chattanooga Choo Choo district. After a little back and forth among the group, we decided on The Terminal BrewHouse. Unfortunately, after dinner we realized it's pretty much a city which goes to sleep early. Every venue we looked up was closed by 9pm. Soooo, it was time to turn in for a long day tomorrow.

DAY 2 The day worth talking about. Activities planned starting at noon. Ruby Falls, oh what a beauty, not only the story leading to it's discovery, but the entire journey through the underground cave until the falls was revealed. After that cool and exhilarating tour, we hurried to the Incline Railway for a ride a top of Lookout Mountain. The view of the city was spectacular, unfortunately all telescopes were out of service due to Covid-19. After a refresher in the parking lot, we headed for the final stop of our Lookout Mountain exploration, Rock City. It is as it says...….a City. There are acres of gardens, restaurants, ice cream shop, creeks, several bridges including the amazing swing bridge experience. Make sure you get the full experience by walking with a swinging motion that way you are swinging while walking. Ensure you don't have a scaredy cat in your group like we did LOL. The spot of the mountain where you can view 7 states was extraordinary. 

We ended our day of exploration at approximately 6pm. Now all starving as the main restaurant in the park closed at 4pm. We went home to freshen up and get cute for an evening out. We found a great Louisiana seafood restaurant, BLUE ORLEANS, with a chic and elegant interior. We were honored to meet the owner and her daughter, who was our waitress, they were both extremely attentive and just amazing. We then headed to a cocktail lounge, a speakeasy called UNKNOWN CALLER. Great ambiance and drinks, we couldn't ask for anything better to end our night. They closed at midnight, so another early night in. We went to the apartment where we poured ourselves a drink and restarted a movie on Netflix for like the 4th time. We were hopeful that we would actually watch it in it's entirety this time, of course we didn't. All but one fell asleep before it even got halfway. BTW it was a 2 bedroom and 2 bath apartment, so there was another couple with us. 

DAY 3.....Check out day. We checked out at 11am with the goal of making a slight diversion before heading home. We stopped at Cloudland Canyon National Park right across the state border in Georgia. Unfortunately it began raini

ng and the weather radar had a system which appeared as if it would last all day. Hubby and I were prepared with a backpack including ponchos and windbreakers. Although initially discouraged, we decided to leave it to a higher being, suited up and started on the trail we finally found, West Rim Trail. Although a little daunting, the thought of going all the way down to the Canyon, we did and it was well worth it. I can't not say, the higher being prevailed and the rain stopped about halfway down and persisted the remainder of the day. My apparent trainer, hubby, pushed me to ensure I didn't make too many stops on the way up.

We left the park and found a Pork BBQ spot in rural GA to grab a bite. This culminated our trip and now time to head home and plan the other.

#blackcoupletravel #USAtraveljournal #Nationalparks #Jamaicantravellers