Spent the weekend goofing off with a friend who came into town to visit. Had a wonderful time exploring a bit of Chattanooga and seeing some new sights as well as visiting some that I have been to before.

   We explored the Aquarium near downtown Chattanooga on Saturday, as well as took in some of the sights along the waterfront there. They were having a huge collage rowing regatta that day with teams from all over the country. I saw teams from as far away as Michigan and Vermont as well as some big name collages like Yale, Princeton and Harvard. Lot's of really healthy looking young men and women walking around in spandex and hoodies. It did make it hard to find a spot in a restaurant to eat lunch at, but we managed.

     We were out and about on Sunday also. Took in a few more usual touristy type places this time, agreeing to go to 'Ruby Falls', 'Rock City', and the 'Incline Railroad'. Most of the day will be described with the pictures below so I won't repeat it all here. We had a lot of fun wandering around looking at all the cheesy stuff as well as the not so cheesy. It was a very full day and by the time it was over I was pretty tired. Lot's of fun though and I think my friend also had a good time while in town.

Chattanooga Aquarium

First thing on the agenda Saturday was a visit to the Aquarium. Of course the first thing to look at for me are the wooden small boats hanging up right at the entrance.

A very nice 14' Old Town wood and canvas canoe.

One part of the aquarium is billed as the largest fresh water aquarium in the world. Starting on the 3rd floor you start at the headwaters of small streams filled with brook and native trout as well as a couple of really active, and cute, river otters. As you walk down hill you go from a fast small stream to larger and larger and slower river habitats until you finally meet the delta area and the sea.

They also have a whole nother building devoted to salt water species including several tanks of various types of jelly fish. It is fascinating watching them ungulate and pulse as they float around the tank in their brainless search for food.

They also have a lot of beautiful plants and flowers in some of their exhibits including many orchids.

One whole room of butterflies to stare at and chase around trying to get a picture of.

Another nice flutter-by.

Incline Railroad

The Incline Railroad runs from the valley floor near the town of St Elmo to the top of Lookout Mountain. It rises a total of 1,200+ feet and does it in less than 10 mins. Here we are at the lower station.

A wonderful feat of engineering, the two cars run on a single track by alternating their locations. When one is at the upper station the other is at the lower station. They both leave their respective stations at the same time and approach each other as they move up or down the track. At the exact middle of the run is a small section of divided track that allows the cars to pass each other and continue on there way.In this photo you can see the other car in the distance approaching the siding as we are coming up the track.

As you approach the upper station the angle of the track approaches 72 degrees from level. As you can see from the girls expression it begins to feel a bit scary as you brace yourself from sliding down the hill. The floor of the car as well as the seats are set at an angle to help you maintain your footing as well as your seat in the steep sections. The roof of the cars are nearly all skylights so it is a bit disconcerting to be able to pretty much look straight out at the scenery below.

Looking down at a car as it leaves the upper station. Because there are two cars their weight balances each other out so the  electric motor that provides power is not all that big. A pretty neat system all in all.

Rock City

A view of what is known as 'Lovers Leap'. This spot has been used as an observation spot since Native Americans were in the area. Both sides used it during the Civil War to help with troop movements during the Battle of Chickamauga.

Created back in the 30's, Rock City was originally part of the gardens for a large estate on top of the mountain. Like many wealthy people of that era they decided to open up a portion of the gardens to the public for their use. It is very pretty in spots, including this really nice waterfall near the top of the mountain.

This is the viewing platform I took the previous picture from.

The gardens are made up primarily of large granite boulders and hunks of solid rock that have been split apart through repeated freeze/thaw cycles. It has left some really interesting 'holes' in the rocks in some areas.

Some of these cracks can be more than 50 feet deep.

The trees are still turning down in this part of the country.

Another one of those narrow passages. This one was big enough for a pathway..... barely!

So the cheesy part... aside from all the gnomes spotted around the grounds there was also a whole underground portion of the trail that held displays of characters out of old nursery rhymes and poems. As I said, a bit cheesy, but rather endearing also. Boy I must be getting old.

Lot's of pretty little views.

 

Ruby Falls

 

Wasn't really aware that Ruby Falls was actually a cave system until we arrived on Sunday morning. Some of the cave had been known for thousands of years at least, but some of the prettiest parts weren't discovered until the early 1900's. Unfortunately in order to open up passageways and build accessible trails so that the public could view the cave, over 60,000 lbs of dynamite was used to excavate them and an elevator shaft. As a result of that and probably just theft, many, if not most, of the formations have been broken off.

There are a few formations still intact though including this one named for a donkeys butt.

A nice section of flowstone.

Another nice section of flowstone.

The namesake, 'Ruby Falls', named after the wife of the guy who discovered them, it is spectacular even if it is rather garishly lit up like some type of Christmas display. Over 150' tall, it is suppose to be a natural feature.

More formations.

This last one was named 'Elephant Foot' for good reason.