By Lambert standards sleeping in was in order after the long, hot day yesterday. Erik was concerned that after rising a little before 6:30am a huge portion of the day was wasted. lol
The weather forecast had been calling for some rain and thunderstorms this morning so we had planned to hang around the boat to work on Renee's thesis and catch up on the travel blog. As it turned out the weatherman was off and the rain forecast now showed a nice morning and early afternoon with the rains not moving in until later in the afternoon. When we were here several years ago we enjoyed the local downtown attractions; the best aquarium we had ever seen, the Chattanooga Choo Choo and some nice dining at a local Italian restaurant. We had also visited Ruby Falls which was very cool.
One attraction that we did not make it to last time was to go up to the top of 'Lookout Mountain'. It is the mountain which is across the river and about 5 miles away. 'Rock City' is a park/attraction that is probably the biggest tourism attraction to the city. In order to get to that we would really need to take an Uber or Lyft since there is a 1100+ foot rise in elevation to get there. Erik really wanted to feel the burn and give it a try to ride up but Renee wasn't feeling it (bahaha....even Erik is smarter than that!). We decided instead to make the 4.5 mile modest ride to the base of the mountain and take the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway up to the top. While Erik readied the bicycles Renee worked on some school work. Walking the river walk wall Erik brought along with him a dozen of the 60 fresh eggs that were given to us by our friendly dock mates at Ft Loudon to use as enticement to find an air pump to borrow. The eggs went to the boat docked directly behind us, 'Final Draft' with Eric and his wife aboard. We had gone through the lock with them yesterday and met them when docking. They are a young couple aboard a 57' Gibson houseboat. They just moved to the Chattanooga area six months ago from California. They now live aboard their new to them boat along with their three rescue dogs. They manage a portfolio of 8 AirBnb properties that they own in California and Mexico. Unfortunately, they too did not have an air pump or compressor. On up the wall a bit was a couple of other boats that we locked down with yesterday. One was a very nice Carver and the other was an old hooptie Four Winds with a very interesting character as captain. We didn't get his name, but for our purposes we are calling him Sanford (as in Fred from Sanford and Sons). Readying the bikes was more of a hassle than was expected. We were able to borrow a small air compressor from one of the neighboring vessels, but, as it turned out an air compressor doesn't offer much assistance to a bike tire with a big hole in the innertube. Erik called searched around and found a bike shop on the other side of the river about 1.5 miles away. He walked the bike across the bridge and over to the shop where he was able to get a new tube and have it installed. Ready to roll now, he headed back toward the bridge only to get 1/2 mile away and have the innertube that was just replaced blow out AGAIN! ugh. A quick walk with the bike back to the shop and the new, faulty tube was replaced.
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| View of Happy Destiny tied to the aquarium wall We are the boat in the front |
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| Another view of where we are docked from further across the bridge |
Back to the boat, Renee was finishing up the necessary school work and it was shortly after noon. We grabbed a quick bite to eat before venturing out. We rode the riverwalk trail all the way to the base of Lookout Mountain which was mostly flat except for a couple brief leg burner inclines. The bicycles were allowed to ride up on the incline train with us so we did that rather than locking them up. The incline has a long history being in operation since 1887. It is the steepest of any incline railway in the country rising up the mountain 1 mile.
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| about 1/2 way up Lookout Mountain on the incline railway We were sitting in the back of the train because our bicycles were strapped into the wheelchair spots in the rear |
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| incline railway car heading down the mountain from the lower observation deck |
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| View from the upper observation deck at the railway station We just can't take pictures that do scenic views justice |
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| Panoramic pic gets a little more, but warps the frame of reference |
At the top there are several observation decks that offer great views of the city and river below.
Just a few blocks away from the upper railway station is Point Lookout Park. It was the first war memorial park in the country. Along with many amazing lookout views it offered multiple monuments and explanations of the Civil War history of the area. Very well done national park.
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| Civil War cannons perched atop the mountain Placards all around the national park shared great information about the battles and history of the mountain |
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| We had to imagine that cannon balls dropping from almost a mile high had to increase their trajectory greatly! |
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| Many breathtaking views From different sides of the mountain top you can see 7 states on a clear day |
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| Renee on some rocks at the edge There were three trailheads going out of the park, but they were long and had MANY steps that our already tired legs weren't up for today....maybe next time |
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| A huge mural (40'x30') depicting 'the battle above the clouds' at the mountain was commissioned and completed in 1863 |
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| Just outside of the park there were a good number of very cool old homes with fabulous view and cool architecture This one had a large stone wall surrounding it that was built in an interesting way and had pink roses all around it |
The weather radar was indicating that strong storms would be moving in within a couple hours so we descended the mountain and had a nice, much easier, mostly downhill ride back to the boat. We arrived just in time; the last mile or so was windy with dark clouds moving in. The storms were creating white caps on the river and the boat was rocking. It was a nice evening to stay indoors and try out an Instapot quiche recipe we had found....remembering we do still have 4 dozen more eggs to eat! The quiche did not cook in the timeframe that was indicated on the recipe so it was finished off in the toaster oven which actually ended up bringing it to perfection :-) Very yummy! Light rain continued through the evening so we sat in our recliners and partook in the virtual world of FB, blogging and school work for the remainder of the night before showering and laying our heads down for a good nights rest. It was another day of Chattanooga not disappointing us. We have found this city to be very active with lots to do and see.
Tomorrow we will be departing and heading further down river toward either an anchorage or possibly for a long haul down to Guntersville
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