Well, yesterday David and I decided that lying around the house and feeling sorry for ourselves was for the birds. So we decided to go and SEE ROCK CITY. For those of you who don't know, Rock City is in Chattanooga, TN, about 2 hours from Birmingham. Apparently, their advertising is more famous than the place itself. You can't drive far into Tennessee without seeing one of their billboards or their famous red barn with a black roof and those words written on the roof. People have been telling us to visit Chattanooga before we move, and we hadn't, so it seemed like now or never. We headed out searching for adventure, and we found a little. I was actually kind of impressed with Rock City. I think it's worth a two hour drive to see. Basically, its a winding walk through huge rocks that make really interesting formations. Some of the passages are very narrow. David is standing by the entrance to Fat Man's Squeeze. You actually have to squeeze your way through that narrow opening. It was a beautiful day, and just being outdoors is really soothing and pleasant to both of us. The place is privately owned, and that means that the owners were able to do weird things that never would have been allowed in any state park. For instance, in some of the passages, you can see statues of gnomes. They also have a Fairyland Cave with scenes from fairy tales. I don't know about you, but there is something fabulously tacky to me about gnomes. They make me smile with their immense tackiness. In the gift shop, they had gnome mugs with your name on them. I found my name, so of course, the mug had to come with me. David and I have a collection of mismatched mugs that we've picked up in different places that have significance for us. It sounds silly, but the mug just about made my day. =) After we left Rock City, we went down to the Chattanooga waterfront and to the Tennessee Aquarium. David and I have this new theory about aquariums. So many people tell us about different aquariums, and they always say, "You have to see this aquarium. It's one of the best I've seen." You rarely get a bad recommendation on an aquarium. It just doesn't seem to happen. Our theory is that everyone has only seen one aquarium, and they liked it, so its one of the best. That is why the Chattanooga aquarium is one of the best, as is the one in Atlanta, as well as the one in Gatlinburg. But, since we took everyone's recommendation, we can now objectively identify the best and worst aquariums in the world. Let us know if you need our services. The Chattanooga aquarium is very nice, by the way. =) David liked the butterfly room, but I enjoyed the otters--who were sleeping out of view when we first stopped by, but we managed to catch them playing after coming back a second time on the advice of a friendly otter expert. After we observed the fishes, we went to the Pickle Barrel for dinner. I wish I'd taken a picture of this restaurant. It was downtown, situated between two streets, and was kind of narrow and shaped like a rounded triangle. We seated ourselves at the only table available, and one of the two waiters, the white guy with the blonde dreadlocks, shortly cleared off the dishes from the last person. The walls were a mixture of wood and stone--with names carved or written everywhere, and the ceiling looked like it was made from mismatched wooden boxes. It was quite eclectic and artsy, and you could order fried pickles if you wanted. We didn't. Your sandwich could come with tater tots if you wanted, and I did. I enjoyed ordering tater tots at a restaurant. While we were there, I thought about the fact that I was eating dinner in Tennessee in my mom's time zone, and she didn't have a clue where I was or what I was doing. Kind of a sneaky, guilty pleasure from college days feeling. It was funny. We had a really nice day together, and I was reminded again why I married my husband. We are a team who can enjoy life's big and little adventures together. I love that he wants to go and do these things on a Saturday. I love that he bugs me to eat at a place called the Pickle Barrel because it has a cool name. We are our own wacky family, the Bragdons, and we're going to be ok.
Well, yesterday David and I decided that lying around the house and feeling sorry for ourselves was for the birds. So we decided to go and SEE ROCK CITY. For those of you who don't know, Rock City is in Chattanooga, TN, about 2 hours from Birmingham. Apparently, their advertising is more famous than the place itself. You can't drive far into Tennessee without seeing one of their billboards or their famous red barn with a black roof and those words written on the roof. People have been telling us to visit Chattanooga before we move, and we hadn't, so it seemed like now or never. We headed out searching for adventure, and we found a little. I was actually kind of impressed with Rock City. I think it's worth a two hour drive to see. Basically, its a winding walk through huge rocks that make really interesting formations. Some of the passages are very narrow. David is standing by the entrance to Fat Man's Squeeze. You actually have to squeeze your way through that narrow opening. It was a beautiful day, and just being outdoors is really soothing and pleasant to both of us. The place is privately owned, and that means that the owners were able to do weird things that never would have been allowed in any state park. For instance, in some of the passages, you can see statues of gnomes. They also have a Fairyland Cave with scenes from fairy tales. I don't know about you, but there is something fabulously tacky to me about gnomes. They make me smile with their immense tackiness. In the gift shop, they had gnome mugs with your name on them. I found my name, so of course, the mug had to come with me. David and I have a collection of mismatched mugs that we've picked up in different places that have significance for us. It sounds silly, but the mug just about made my day. =) After we left Rock City, we went down to the Chattanooga waterfront and to the Tennessee Aquarium. David and I have this new theory about aquariums. So many people tell us about different aquariums, and they always say, "You have to see this aquarium. It's one of the best I've seen." You rarely get a bad recommendation on an aquarium. It just doesn't seem to happen. Our theory is that everyone has only seen one aquarium, and they liked it, so its one of the best. That is why the Chattanooga aquarium is one of the best, as is the one in Atlanta, as well as the one in Gatlinburg. But, since we took everyone's recommendation, we can now objectively identify the best and worst aquariums in the world. Let us know if you need our services. The Chattanooga aquarium is very nice, by the way. =) David liked the butterfly room, but I enjoyed the otters--who were sleeping out of view when we first stopped by, but we managed to catch them playing after coming back a second time on the advice of a friendly otter expert. After we observed the fishes, we went to the Pickle Barrel for dinner. I wish I'd taken a picture of this restaurant. It was downtown, situated between two streets, and was kind of narrow and shaped like a rounded triangle. We seated ourselves at the only table available, and one of the two waiters, the white guy with the blonde dreadlocks, shortly cleared off the dishes from the last person. The walls were a mixture of wood and stone--with names carved or written everywhere, and the ceiling looked like it was made from mismatched wooden boxes. It was quite eclectic and artsy, and you could order fried pickles if you wanted. We didn't. Your sandwich could come with tater tots if you wanted, and I did. I enjoyed ordering tater tots at a restaurant. While we were there, I thought about the fact that I was eating dinner in Tennessee in my mom's time zone, and she didn't have a clue where I was or what I was doing. Kind of a sneaky, guilty pleasure from college days feeling. It was funny. We had a really nice day together, and I was reminded again why I married my husband. We are a team who can enjoy life's big and little adventures together. I love that he wants to go and do these things on a Saturday. I love that he bugs me to eat at a place called the Pickle Barrel because it has a cool name. We are our own wacky family, the Bragdons, and we're going to be ok.
1 comment:
Sounds like loads of fun! Wish we were there.
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