Lookout Mountain – Page 2 – Seeing the Scenic City

Little did we know …

Four years ago today, July 30, we were half way through our cross country move from Wellsboro, Pennsylvania to Houston, Texas. It was a 24 hour, 1,600 mile drive that took three days.

Our second day was a long 900-mile stretch, from Harrisonburg, Virginia to Picayune, Mississippi. Chattanooga is somewhere in the middle.

My parents had been to Chattanooga before. They reenacted the 150th Battle of Chickamauga (we used to be Civil War reenactors) and while there, they took a quick trip up to Chattanooga, to see the National Cemetery. My dad also loves trains and wanted to see the Andrews Raiders monument.

Tennessee was the first new state that we had driven through, so I think that was why I committed that part of the drive to memory, more so than any other sate.

My dad was driving to Houston with us, pulling the U-Haul trailer behind his truck. We were communicating with walkie talkies. As we were driving around Chattanooga on I-24 West, Dad was pointing out landmarks. From the road, we could see the flag pole on the top of the National Cemetery’s hill. Dad also made sure to point out Lookout Mountain, where the Civil War “Battle Above The Clouds” took place.

I specifically remember being in awe driving around Moccasin bend, around the mountain and the Tennessee River.

We took the Lookout Valley exit and stopped at a Subway for lunch. We ate in the parking lot. And then we were on our way, reaching the Georgia line just a few minutes later.

Little did we know that Chattanooga would be come our home three years later!

This past winter, I wrote an article about a new real estate office opening up in Lookout Valley. I drove past that Subway, and it was fun to reminisce. I think it would be fun to go back there and eat lunch again and think about how different things were the last time we ate there.

Here are some photos from that trip:

Southern Belle Riverboat

When my parents visited last weekend, we asked them what they wanted to do. The thing my mom wanted to do the most was ride on the Southern Belle riverboat.

There are a couple of different rides that you can take on the Southern Belle, which sails from downtown Chattanooga on the Tennessee River. The regular hour and a half sightseeing cruise is the most popular one and runs most frequently during the summer.

If you are looking for something a little more special, there are lunch and dinner cruises, sunset ones, fall foliage cruises and a cruise through the Chickamauga Dam locks. We picked the regular sightseeing one, mostly because that is what we were limited to, pandemic and all.

The sightseeing cruise comes with unlimited popcorn (not really unlimited, but you get a big bag that is plenty to go around) and souvenir plastic cups for unlimited soda. Honestly, we thought the popcorn was stale, and we didn’t get any soda, but we weren’t in it for the food. We did bring the cups home though!

The neat thing about the Southern Belle is that in order to dock, you have to first enter a larger dry docked riverboat. That’s where the gift shop is, where you buy tickets and there’s even the 3rd Deck Burger Bar.

The boat ride first takes you south about half way through Moccasin Bend, alongside Lookout Mountain. It was neat to be able to see the top of the New York Monument in Point Park, a place that Derek and I visited last fall. Then the boat turns back north and goes under all of the four main bridges near downtown. The trip is an hour and a half total.

The trip features narration, where you learn facts about the river, what you see on the shore and some of Chattanooga’s history. We were treated to music from the Southern Belle’s calliope, or steam organ.

We enjoyed our time on the cruise. This is something I would like doing again in the future.

Southern Belle10 — The Southern Belle getting ready to dock.

Southern Belle13 — The inside of the boat, where you would eat during lunch/dinner cruises.

Southern Belle32 — The third deck of the boat. Too crowded for us! We were lucky and found a table by itself on the front of the second deck.

Southern Belle40 — Lookout Mountain from the river.

Southern Belle49 — One of many groups of barges.

Southern Belle67 — The Market Street and Walnut Street bridges.

Rock City

My parents visited us for a long weekend and we did a lot of outdoor activities in an effort to try and stay safe.

Advertisements all across the south say to “See Rock City.” It’s been ingrained in my brain so much that I accidentally call the attraction “See Rock City,” when I’m supposed to drop the See. But now I can say that yes, I have seen it!

Rock City is at the top of Lookout Mountain in Georgia, and it features a 3/4 of a mile trail. The trail meanders through different themed areas featuring gardens and scenic views. You can sort of get a feel for what you are going to experience by looking at the website, but we truly did not know what we were in for until we experienced it ourselves.

Because of the pandemic, and a poorly timed computer update, our experience wasn’t exactly the best, but I can’t see how social distancing at Rock City is even possible. They are offering timed entry every 15 minutes. When I bought the tickets, we were the only four at 8:45. However, there was a computer update which backed up the 8:30, 8:45 and 9 a.m. entries. Even though we went to Rock City on a Friday morning, there were still so many people. At first we tried really hard to keep our distance from others but it was impossible. I wasn’t exactly happy about it, but we eventually just had to let our guard down a little and weave in and out of the other people as best as possible. We wore masks, but hardly anyone else did.

Some of my favorite parts of Rock City were the swinging bridge, the rainbow room and of course the view from Lover’s Leap. There are different shops and restaurants at the beginning of the trail, and some in the middle as well, around Lover’s Leap.

We went on a cloudy morning, and the Saharan dust cloud was approaching, so we did not have the best, clearest views. This is just an excuse to come back, maybe in the fall. Rock City is definitely something I would do again, and my parents agreed. They offer different types of events throughout the year. I am most looking forward to Enchanted Garden of Lights, which is their Christmastime event. You go at night and walk through the trail to see the Christmas lights.

Rock City33 — There were a lot of cute, whimsical doors to walk through, which signified different sections of the trail.

Rock City42 — The swinging bridge. There is an alternative, stone bridge if you are scared!

Rock City57 — We probably did not see all seven states on this cloudy day …

Rock City62 — At the top of Lover’s Leap.

Rock City86 — Posing with Lover’s Leap in the background.

Rock City109 — Fairyland Caverns featured scenes from fairy tales. Here is Little Red Riding Hood.

Rock City114 — Mother Goose Village, featuring scenes from different nursery rhymes.

Rock City72 — Can you make it through “Fat Man’s Squeeze?”

Lookout Lavender Farm

My first job while living in Chattanooga was working for a start-up newspaper in Dade County, Georgia, which is just over the Tennessee/Georgia state line. One day this past winter, while searching for article ideas, I found Lookout Lavender Farm. While the farm is not in operation during the winter, it would make a great story come summer time. Well, the paper has since shut down, so no article could materialize, but that didn’t mean that Derek and I couldn’t check it out for ourselves!

Lookout Lavender Farm is located on Lookout Mountain in Rising Fawn, Georgia. Every year the farm opens up for a short two-week lavender season. People are invited to pick bundles of lavender, but if you don’t want to pick, then you can just come up to enjoy the fields.

It cost $10 to get in, $5 a person, and a u-pick bundle is $7. They were also selling their own line of lavender products. We bought lip balm.

It was a lovely morning, and the lavender fields smelled amazing! We spent some time picking our bundle, and then we just enjoyed walking through the lavender. We made sure to get a lot of photos! The fields are the perfect place for portrait photography.

Point Park

One of the attractions on top of Lookout Mountain is Point Park. It is part of the Chattanooga and Chickamauga National Military Park.

The Battle of Lookout Mountain was fought November 24, 1863. It became known as the Battle Above the Clouds. It was a part of a larger few months long campaign to take over Chattanooga.

It was important that Union forces take control of Chattanooga because Chattanooga was the gateway to the deep south, and many railroads converged there.

History aside, Point Park has some beautiful observation points that overlook the mountains and downtown Chattanooga. There are some hiking trails on Lookout Mountain, but the paths that we saw seemed more difficult than we were willing to take on.

Incline Railway and Point Park37 — The New York Peace Memorial

Incline Railway

A few weeks ago, Derek and I found a place to eat lunch in the St. Elmo neighborhood of Chattanooga. We ate outside on the patio, and we happened to be across the street from the Incline Railway station, which goes up Lookout Mountain.

I was aware of the Incline Railway, but I had honestly not given it much thought. Seeing the funicular railway for ourselves though had us curious enough to look it up on our phones while eating.

Through our research, I found out that once at the top of Lookout Mountain, Point Park, a part of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, was only a three block walk away. Being interested in Civil War history, Point Park was near the top of my Chattanooga to-do list.

We thought that instead of just driving up the mountain, it would be more fun to combine the two activities.

We were both surprised to find that the Incline Railway has been operating since 1895! It is also the steepest grade for a funicular railway in the United States, at 72.7 percent. The track goes up the mountain for approximately one mile.

I was not nervous, nor did I think to be nervous, until we got almost to the top, and it was very apparent just how steep we were. I felt like I was going to fall forward and keep falling down! Going up, the car faces backwards, which did not help that feeling! But we made it safe and sound. The whole way up took maybe 10-15 minutes.

Up at the top, there is an observation platform, a gift shop, and a small spot to get food such as pizza, ice cream and pretzels.

The view at the top was impressive. We were able to locate downtown Chattanooga and the Walnut Street Bridge, the highway that we take north to get home, and Signal Mountain. The mountain views all around were incredible too – rows and rows of blue ridges.

I am glad that we ended up doing this because it was a different type of activity that neither of us have done before. It was more fun than just driving up and doing Point Park on its own. Stay tuned for a Point Park post!

Incline Railway and Point Park24 — A close up of downtown Chattanooga as seen from Lookout Mountain.