Chattanooga River Cruise and, Yes, the Choo Choo

Copyright 2014, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

(There are a few more reports from our trip home in April after the winter spent in Florida.)

We spent another day in downtown Chattanooga.  We took a river cruise, visited the National Cemetery and, yes, we saw the Chattanooga Choo Choo.

The day started with a river cruise on the Southern Belle.

Wow, we thought, she is rather large.  HAHA, jokes on us.  This side is a dock/restaurant, gift shop, offices, restrooms, etc.  The real "belle" is hidden behind what you see here.

Our cruise fee included a nice buffet lunch, cold cuts, salads, breads, etc.  After our meal we boarded the Southern Belle and the cruise began.  Here you can see the other side of the dock/restaurant, etc.  Pretty fancy dock, eh???

The calliope.  They do play it for you while you are cruising.  Want to hear??  Sure you do.  Here!  Personally, I think it sounded better in person than on this 16 second sound byte.

We got to see Point Park, part of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Parks, on Lookout Mountain from the river.

Barges take cargo up and down the river.  From this Wikipedia page we learn about amounts of cargo, fascinating numbers:

These tows can move "about 22,500 tons of cargo as a single unit. A single 15-barge tow is equivalent to about 225 railroad cars or 870 tractor-trailer trucks."

The cruise goes westerly for a while, and then turns around and you go east back past the docking area, under the Walnut Street Bridge (the walking bridge), past the Hunter Museum of American Art.  Just a bit further and you turn around once again and go back westerly to the point of origin, the dock.

Below, the Hunter Museum.  That colonial looking building in the middle of the photo according to the signs is the site of the Battery Smartt Confederate Work Gen. Cheathams Division.

Now, this gal has no idea what that this Battery Smartt Confederate Work is all about, but, wow, look at this building from the front.  I do know a good looking building when I see one!

Some artwork on the banks below the Hunter Museum.  Wonder if the fellows caught any fish?

Peaking at the Tennessee Aquarium as we cruise under the Market Street Bridge

Yes, they ARE sliding down that hill.  Cardboard sleds, economic, recycling, and fun by the looks of it.

Every one knows if you go to Chattanooga, you really must go see the Chattanooga Choo Choo

And, so we did!  The passenger first train (March 5, 1880) leaving Cincinnati for Chattanooga was nick-named the "Chattanooga Choo-Choo".  This trip opened the first major link from the north to the south.  The Choo Choo was operated by the Cincinnati Southern Railroad.

That wrapped up another wonderful day in Chattanooga Tennessee.  It was time to head back to our campground, where we visited one more Civil War monument.

This monument was not in the middle of one of the National parks, it was right in the campground we stayed in.  We actually were camped on the site of a battlefield which served as a skirmish site in 1863 preceding the Battle of Chickamauga.  (You can read about the history of the 84th Indiana Volunteer Infantry on this Wikipedia page.) We found the monument by walking a few feet on a foot trail that was marked, but not terribly obvious. It was a quiet place to reflect for a few minutes on all Man and I had seen during our visits to the battlefields around Chattanooga.

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Downtown Chattanooga, What a Wonderful Easter Sunday

Copyright 2014, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

(This post is a bit graphics heavy, of course, most of my posts are.)

We spent Easter Sunday afternoon wandering around a bit in the downtown area of Chattanooga.  It was a great day, low key, and full of surprises.

We parked very near the Walnut Street Bridge.  We took our time walking from the south side to the north side, crossing the Tennessee River.  The bridge was well used, we saw walkers, baby strollers and families, bikers, people walking dogs.  All enjoying the beautiful weather, each other and the bridge.

From the bridge you can see the Hunter Museum of American Art.

Turning and looking north west, there is the Market Street Bridge and the Delta Queen.  The Delta Queen, we understood, was undergoing rehab and was not open.

Turning and looking pretty much due west.  The Market Street Bridge and beyond.  The building with the glass roof peaks is the Tennessee Aquarium, a fresh water aquarium.  We did not visit, so, it is on the bucket list for a return visit to Chattanooga.

As we come close to the northern side of the bridge we look down and see the most delightful park, and that blue roof.  This is Coolidge Park, with a interactive water fountain and the 1894 Dentzel carousel.  I shared the carousel with you at the end of April.

Man, always finds great places to have lunch, he spied this one from the bridge.  He was right, it was fab, and the beer was pretty good too!

After lunch we wandered down to Coolidge Park where I had the opportunity to get close and personal with some beautiful pink dogwoods.

Here is the Walnut Bridge from Coolidge Park.  Did I tell you it is reported to be the world’s largest pedestrian bridge?  I have no idea if that is tallest, longest or maybe widest??  Sure is pretty, no matter how "largest" is defined.

We wandered around, talked to some family back home on the cell, people watched, enjoyed the park.  Soon it was time to cross the Tennessee River again.  By the time we reached the southern side of the bridge, Man was looking for ice cream.  First I saw this sculpture by Louise Peterson of Guffey, Colorado, it is called "High Four", it is a bronze.

The ice cream was over priced and just marginally delish, our treat devoured, it was time to cross over to the Hunter Museum. This walking bridge goes over several lanes of traffic.  There is a sign nearby that says:  "Careful, Glass Bridge, Slippery When Wet".  Goodness.

OKKK, let's go.

Oh, MY!  Yes, it is glass.  Yes, you can see right through it. There was a portion in the middle that you could not see through.  Carol walked on that part.  The rest was just a bit too creepy for me.

We did not go into the museum, it was late in the afternoon, we were tired and decided to just stay outside and enjoy the art in the fresh air.

This is called "Free Money", a bronze by Tom Otterness.  The figures represent every day working people dancing on a sack of money.  Tom uses humor to comment on social issues.

This is "Pregnant Whale", by Alexander Calder, it is painted steel plate.  The signage indicated it had been freshly repainted, rehabbed if you will.

This is part (the pitcher is missing in this photograph) of "Full Count" by John Dreyfuss, a bronze casting with brown patina.

Man and I had a delightful afternoon in Chattanooga, people watching, food, a bit of beer, carousel, walking bridge, art work, and so much more.  And, to think, Man and I had never stopped in Chattanooga before, and now, we are asking ourselves, why not??  Given the opportunity, we will gladly stop again.  We still have a bucket list!

*Man was holding the camera for me, while I took a few photos of Coolige park on the iPad.  Lookie what I found when I downloaded the camera photos.  I was really concentrating, eh??  Thinking I should have had on the pink bling hat, it would have matched better than the blue, just sayin - - or maybe the white hat - - must be color conscious - -

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Point Park, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee

Copyright 2014, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

After our delightful visit to Rock City, we drove over to Point Park at the very northern point of Lookout Mountain.  Point Park falls under the umbrella of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Parks.

Here is a map from GoogleMaps showing Lookout Mountain.  Shows fairly clearly that Lookout Mountain was strategic, a very important land mark to hold.  Lookout Mountain comes to a point that over looks the Tennessee River and Chattanooga, as my later photos will show.

The entrance to Point Park:

A view from the point, looking down on Chattanooga.

As you can see from this Google Earth image, the New York State Monument stands almost to the point of the Mountain. The monument cost over $100,000, dedicated Nov. 15, 1910, it stands ninety-five feet high.  It features a Northern and Southern soldier shaking hands.  You can read more about it in this article, dated 2010, written during the centennial year celebration.

Cannons and spring bushes blooming and the monument in the background.  Due to lighting conditions, I could not get a photo from the front.

Check out this view of Chattanooga from the very point of Lookout Mountain.

This is what the cannon saw.  And, yes, that rock in the lower right portion of the photo, well, that is the top of the mountain and there is a significant drop off, straight down.

We walked around the park, but, did not wander far, we were tired from our visit to Rock City.  Several days later we would take a river cruise on the Tennessee River.  We had a great opportunity to see Lookout Mountain from a different view point.  There on the highest spot to the right is the New York State Monument.  If you look very hard at this photo you can see what appears to be a tall singular tree, that is the monument, all 95 feet of it.

Putting Sony Too to work, zooming to the max.  There are the two soldiers of the New York State Monument, standing guard over Lookout Mountain and the city of Chattanooga.

While researching for this post, I found an exciting and fun web site covering the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Parks, a PointsMap product, you really must have a look if you are interested in Civil War history.  Photos, data, all tied to a map.  Very interesting.  HERE.

More can be learned about the battle and Lookout Mountain at this Wikipedia page.  (You be the judge of the quality of Wikipedia articles, they may lead you to further research possibilities, see the References, Further Reading and External Links portions of the page, near the bottom.)

Point Park was established in 1905.  The point was the location of the headquarters of the Lookout Mountain Battlefield (over 3000 acres).  The Confederate troops occupied this point until November 24, 1863 when the Union army drove out the Confederates, therefore setting up Sherman with the position he needed to carry out his march to Atlanta.  Many historians and Civil War students consider this to be the "battle" that turned the tide of the Civil War.  Some call it the "Battle Above the Clouds"





* Now, here is the disclaimer, I struggle to understand war stories and reports of battles.  Therefore, I make no claims as to my understanding or my representation of it here.

**Thanks to GoogleMaps and GoogleEarth for the images of Lookout Mountain.  They maintain all rights and copyrights and all that stuff.  They offer free maps for use on the internet, and, yes, I do use them.

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Chattanooga Horse Weathervane - - The Rest of The Story

Copyright 2014, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Heather Wilkinson Rojo loves weathervanes.  She has a LONG running series of photos on Wednesdays of weather vanes.  I have shared two with her recently, the second being the horse weathervane from Chattanooga Tennessee.  Here is a different view from what is on her blog.
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And, here is the building it sits atop, but, from the ground level.  This is Coolidge Park on the north side of the Tennessee River.

A sign I found outside the entrance of that building, well, my my, a carousel.  Alrighty now!

Inside that building we find the 1894 Dentzel carousel.

From that web site we learn that "The antique carousel was restored by local master wood carver Bud Ellis and a devoted team of craftspeople and volunteers at his studio "Horsing Around" located near Chattanooga."

The carousel has 52 whimsical hand carved animals, a calliope band organ, and ornate between gold leaf benches.

A pig, a giraffe and a horse (behind the pig).

Man's favorite, was the frog, with another giraffe nearby.  If you look beyond the frog, you can just pick out the ostrich with a "Uncle Sam" hat.

And, that is the rest of the story, a weathervane in the shape of a horse, and tucked under that roof, a wonderful carousel.




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