EBP (Electric Power Board) in downtown Chattanooga has been creating a themed Christmas display in their windows for all to see for the last 60 years.
This year’s theme was “80 Years of Electricity Service.” Previous year’s themes included “The Spirit of Chattanooga” and “Holidays Around the World.”
We spent Christmas Eve out and about since it was a beautiful, warm day. After spending some time at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel, we decided to check out the windows.
The scenes are in the windows on two different sides of the large building, on Broad and Market Street. We were not the only ones there, oohing and ahhing at the different set ups.
The window setups remind me both of the New York City shops at Christmastime, and Disney World’s Emporium shop, on Main Street U.S.A. I am glad that we have our own version right here in Chattanooga, and I am looking forward to seeing what the themes will be in the future.
Merry Christmas Eve! To help Derek and I get into the Christmas spirit today, we went to the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel complex to check out their Christmas decorations, both inside and outside. They were beautifully done!
One thing that we did not expect to happen while living in Chattanooga was a noticeable difference in the timing of the sunrise.
We did not notice anything at first, being that we moved here at the end of the summer when the days are still long, but as we made our way through October, and into the beginning of November, we were wondering why it was so dark out when we got up in the morning.
A few times Derek wondered why I was getting out of bed, because he thought it was still the middle of the night!
By Halloween, and for a few days until the clocks fell back in early November, the sun was not rising until 8:03 a.m.! We have never lived anywhere where the sun rose that late. I didn’t understand why, until we realized it was because we were on the edge of the eastern time zone. About a half hour away to the west in Tennessee, and about a half hour to the south of us in Alabama is the central time zone.
After the clocks fell back the sun was rising at 7 a.m., which was good for about a month or so, but now that we’re just past the winter solstice the mornings are quite dark again. We can also expect this to happen in March, when the clocks spring forward.
I am naturally a morning person, and do not sleep in much on the weekends. I can usually get up out of bed easily, but I now realize how dependent I was on natural light. I have struggled multiple times, and have found myself turning the alarm off and falling back asleep until it was a little lighter out.
We decided to buy ourselves a sunrise simulator, and last night was the first night we used it. It did the trick.
I took this picture when I got up at 7:15 a.m. As you can see from the blinds, it is still rather dark out.
We set the simulator to start lighting up 30 minutes before the alarm goes off, so for us that is 6:45. I woke up naturally when the light turned on, but stayed in bed and dozed lightly until 7:15, when it was at full strength. I felt awake and was able to get out of bed.
I am glad that we found this gadget. I know that it will be beneficial. Even if we move away from Chattanooga in the years to come, it will still be nice to use during the winter months elsewhere.
Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending Wreaths Across America, a national program held at many different cemeteries at the same time, honoring veterans by laying wreaths at their graves.
I was familiar with this program, but I have never participated before. I was there to cover the event for work, but I still enjoyed it and I was glad I got to have the experience.
There was a ceremony at noon before the wreath laying, and it was moving. There was a man who played the bagpipes, which sounded amazing. The ceremony also featured two men playing echoing taps, which brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me of my grandpa, who was in the Navy.
Chattanooga National Cemetery, which is where I was for the program, has about 47,000 graves. About 30 percent were able to be decorated with wreaths, which are sponsored and purchased by the public. I would like to possibly do this next year, sponsor a wreath or two, and then lay them at a Civil War soldier’s grave, because of my interest in Civil War history.
There is an interesting side note in this story.
A Civil War reenacting unit fired a cannon during different times of the ceremony. I got my hands on a program, and I realized with excitement that it was Burrough’s Battery.
A few years ago, while I was still reenacting myself, we fundraised to have a group from Tennessee with six horses come to Gettysburg to pull our original 1863 cannon in the 150th Remembrance Day Parade. I was actually got to ride one of the horses. And I guess you know where this story is going now. The group firing the cannon during the ceremony was Burrough’s Battery.
After the ceremony, I introduced myself to some of the members, some of which I recognized through my photos. They did not remember me, but they did remember that parade. They even tried to recruit me. I said, thanks but no thanks. I don’t even have my uniform anymore! I just wanted to say hi. But it was a small world to be in the same place that morning.
The start of the ceremony.
People starting to unbox wreaths to lay at the graves.
The cannon belonging to Burrough’s Battery at the top of the cemetery’s hill.
I completed a small bucket list item this weekend!
One of my favorite Christmas songs is “Christmas in Dixie” by Alabama. It has been my favorite song since I was little. I cannot explain why, seeing as I was born and raised in the northeast! More recently they have become one of my favorite bands. The band members are from Fort Payne, and so at the end of the song they sing, “And from Fort Payne, Alabama… Merry Christmas tonight.” We went to Fort Payne for the day and I got to spend a “Christmas in Dixie.”
I never knew much about the boys from Fort Payne, that is until we literally drove past Fort Payne, Alabama, when we were moving from Pennsylvania to Texas, over three years ago.
Living in Texas, there were more country stations on the radio, including a country classics one, which became my favorite. I was introduced to a whole new (well, new to me) section of country music. I kept hearing Alabama song after Alabama song and I enjoyed all of their music.
When we moved to Chattanooga, I realized that Fort Payne was only an hour away from us. I knew that going to Fort Payne during Christmas time would make the trip extra special for me, to make my favorite Christmas song come true for me personally.
We ended up having an activity packed day, and we learned a lot about Fort Payne’s history.
We arrived at lunch time and started out at The Spot, a cafe in downtown.
After lunch, we walked up and down the street. We browsed in a few shops, and admired the Christmas decorations. Seeing all of the banners in town that said “Christmas in Dixie,” was a treat for me.
“Christmas in Dixie, it’s snowin’ in the pines Merry Christmas from Dixie, to everyone tonight.”
James Dean is an artist from Fort Payne. He is famous for his Pete the Cat work. Pete was all over town!
We walked down a few blocks to the City Park, where there are Alabama statues. We stopped to take a few photos and then we scoped out the park, where a Christmas event would be taking place later on that night.
Me with Randy, the lead singer of the band.
We walked across the street from there and checked out the Depot Museum. The Depot was built in 1891. Admission was $3 and there were a ton of interesting artifacts donated from Fort Payne residents inside.
A wedding dress from 1903.
A collection of old items.
An old newspaper press! I was excited to see this and learn what it was.
Did you know that Alabama was known as the sock capital of the world? We learned at the free Hosiery Museum that during the height of the sock boom, one out of every eight pairs of socks was made in Fort Payne. The Hosiery Museum had machines that made the socks on display, as well as old historical photographs of the town.
An old photo of the historical DeKalb hotel (named after DeKalb County) which burned down.
From there we walked next door to the Fort Payne Opera House, where we also got a free tour. The Opera House was built in 1891, and still holds performances today, including Alabama! The woman who talked to us at both the Opera House and the Hosiery Museum was wonderful and full of knowledge. I wish I had remembered her name.
Then it was off to the Alabama Museum, the whole reason for the trip. It is a small museum and gift shop, but it is filled to the brim with items from the band members. We ended up buying a Christmas ornament from the gift shop.
After that we checked out the Big Mill Antique Mall, housed in the old hosiery mill. Also in the mill was Vintage Cafe, where we had a mid afternoon light meal.
When it got dark we headed back to the park for their annual “Christmas in the Park” event. There was a bonfire, free concessions, music and a tree lighting.
We had a nice day exploring a new area in a new state. I am glad that we found a lot of different things to do and learned some history of the area. I had worried that Derek would be bored with a whole day devoted to the Alabama band, and it ended up being much more than that!
Holiday Cheer at the Pier is a Chattanooga riverfront event that signals the start of the Christmas season.
There were lots of food vendors and craft vendors (we did not check out the craft vendors though.) Derek had a hot apple cider and I had a hot chocolate. We enjoyed our drinks for a few minutes in front of a fire pit.
The two main parts of the event are a lighted boat parade and fireworks. Santa was also available to take photos with kids.
I was happy to be able to see the lighted boat parade. There was one on Galveston Bay, about a half hour from Houston, but we were never able to make it in the three years we lived there, due to the timing of Derek’s classwork. It is nice when things work out in a different way.
The highlight of the boat parade for me was seeing the Southern Belle riverboat in the lineup.
After the parade, we walked a few minutes towards the Bluff View Art District, where we had a nice view of the Walnut Street Bridge, and the fireworks.
Fireworks are one of my favorite things to photograph. I am always happy to be able to take photos of them in different spots with different backgrounds.
I’ll admit, Thanksgiving is not one of my favorite holidays, for various reasons that I won’t go into detail here. Judge me as you will, but I can do without it.
This year felt a little different though. Three weeks ago, I got a job.
Thinking that some form of a job needed to happen soon, I decided to post on Craigslist. I wrote a short post saying I was an editor and a designer seeking employment, with a link to my resume.
I am thankful that I decided to think outside of the box. I thought that Craigslist would mostly attract scammers, and it did, but it also landed me a job.
That night, my now boss emailed me. He is the publisher of the Trenton Daily News, a new paper that was started last spring in Trenton, Georgia.
I am both reporter and designer for the paper. It is a small magazine sized paper that is printed in our office on a large printer.
The first week on the job was a tough adjustment period. While I have always written in some capacity, I have not had to cover meetings and events full-time, for some time now. This means that I have to cover evening meetings and some other evening events that come up from time to time. After working an 8 a.m.-4 p.m. shift for the last three years, and only writing 1-2 stories a week, I found this to be difficult.
My first meeting was a commissioner’s meeting, and it lasted until 8:30 p.m.! Everyone told me that it went an hour longer than usual. Because this job is in Georgia, I had to add a half-hour commute home on top of that. I was not happy to get home at 9 p.m., eat a bowl of cereal for dinner, and go straight to bed. I understand that this will happen from time to time, but it was almost shocking to me that this happened my second day of work.
Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the meetings got pushed up a week. Also, I went to the mall one evening to report on the high school students gift shopping for underserved children. So, to summarize, my first week I worked late three nights in a row. Since then, it hasn’t been like that though. I just need to take it day by day, and be thankful for the days when I can work an earlier shift.
My boss is impressed with my work, and has said so many times. It’s nice to go in to the office, do my job as I normally would, and have someone be thankful for the work I’ve put in for the day.
We also have a sports reporter and video guy, and we’re going to get two interns from UTC next semester. Things are looking up.
My desk area at the office.
The issue of the paper that we put out this week.
We were originally not going to do anything on Thanksgiving. Normally, I will try to make a somewhat special meal, like butternut squash soup or a gumbo, but I did not have the time to get the groceries or prepare due to being busy with the job.
I suggested Cracker Barrel, and it ended up being a good decision. The food was delicious and it made the day seem a bit more special. I have missed going to Cracker Barrel; there were not any nearby in the Houston city limits.
My plate at Cracker Barrel. Not pictured is a big slice of pumpkin pie that I took home.
I am also thankful to live in Chattanooga, especially now that I have a job (in my career field no less), because it was the last part to be filled in order to be truly settled. This is what I posted on social media on Thanksgiving morning:
“This year I am thankful for finding a place to live that truly feels like home. I am thankful that Derek loves his job at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. I am thankful that I recently found a journalism job. I am thankful for the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge, I am thankful for the abundance of grits and I am thankful for drive times through the mountains. I am thankful for Clumpies Ice Cream and thankful for Coolidge Park. I am thankful for Tony’s Pasta Shop and Trattoria and I am thankful for hikes on Signal Mountain. I am thankful for Civil War history sites, the Mountain Opry, and the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel. I am thankful for chai teas at Milk&Honey. I could go on and on! Happy Thanksgiving everyone.”
Derek and I were settling in for what was to be a long, boring Saturday. We had nothing planned. Derek was binge watching a show, and I was browsing the internet.
I came across an advertisement for the HoHo Expo, a holiday gift shopping event, held today and tomorrow at the Chattanooga Convention Center. There was free admission and free parking. We figured we might as well go since it wouldn’t cost us anything but our time.
The HoHo Expo is hosted by the newspaper, the Chattanooga Times Free Press. They had a booth in the middle of the expo where they were giving out cookies and apple cider.
There were about 150 vendors selling all kinds of items. There were lots of things that I would have liked to buy, but I didn’t necessarily need any of it. I want to save money so I’m trying my best to be good! However, we did buy a loaf of maple pecan bread from the Dutch Maid Bakery and Cafe, from Tracy City, TN.
Santa was also there to take family photos, and there were also Disney princesses too! At one point my three favorites, Moana, Rapunzel and Ariel were all posing for photos together. I would have gotten in line for a photo, but I think that it may have been frowned upon. This isn’t Disney World!
We enjoyed the opportunity to get out and walk around and see the different items. Now that we know that this is an annual event, I will probably plan to do some Christmas shopping there next year.
One of my best friends Dawn, and her family, live in Sevierville, Tennessee, near the Smoky Mountains. We used to work together in Pennsylvania, and have stayed close. We moved to Houston in August, and her and her family moved to Tennessee that November, so it had been over three years since we last saw each other.
When Derek found out he got the job at UTC, I texted Dawn and said, “Best friends will be reunited again in the great state of Tennessee!” It is comforting to know that I have a friend relatively close by.
We spent the day with her two weeks ago, and we got a good preview of the Smoky Mountain region, and some of the things to do in the nearby tourist towns of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.
We got there early in the morning and all headed out to breakfast at Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin. I had heard that this part of Tennessee was known for their pancake houses, so I was happy to experience one. I loved the decor inside!
Dawn with her twin daughters at Flapjack’s. Not pictured is her husband Brian, who was also with us.
Strawberry pancakes for breakfast.
Our first stop after breakfast was the Dolly Parton statue, in front of Sevierville’s court house. Dolly was born in Sevierville.
We drove down the Smoky Mountain Parkway, on the way to Gatlinburg, and Derek and I were amazed at how many tourist attractions there were. Most of them looked quite cheesy! I knew that was what the area was like in general, but I didn’t expect so much of it.
An example of one of the tourist attractions: The Hatfields and McCoy’s dinner feud.
We drove through Smoky Mountain National Park for a few miles to get to Gatlinburg on the other side, and we were shocked at how much traffic there was. We had thought we would miss the foliage crowd by going in November, but it was a sunny, mild day, so that was probably the last of the tourist rush.
A quick shot through the windshield while driving through the National Park.
We were initially planning on finding parking in Gatlinburg, and then getting out and walking around for a little bit, but it was a madhouse. We quickly abandoned those plans. However I am glad that it ended up happening that way, because now I know what to possibly expect when we vacation there, hopefully next year.
Scarecrows lined the streets in Gatlinburg.
We ended up going back towards Pigeon Forge. Gatlinburg seems to be the most popular of the towns, so the traffic died down considerably.
While in Pennsylvania, Dawn and I would get together on Friday and Saturday nights at our houses, and enjoy cups of tea together at our kitchen tables, while chatting about anything and everything. Many, many hours were spent together with cups of tea. Therefore it was important to us, and symbolic as well, that we get drinks together during this visit.
We stopped at Espresso Yourself, a small coffee shop in Pigeon Forge. It was great to continue our chats as if no time had passed at all since we last saw each other.
Chatting and drinks at Expresso Yourself.
Then we headed to the Apple Barn in Sevierville. It is a large complex that consists of two restaurants, a general store, a winery and more. What a nice store! I could have bought a lot more than we did. We bought red and white plaid table place mats with apples on them, plus some apple butter and a big jug of apple cider.
Dawn and I at the Apple Barn.
Inside the Apple Barn general store.
After that we got a quick mid afternoon bite to eat, and then we headed back to her house to say our goodbyes. We had a great day together. They will come visit us in Chattanooga next, sometime after the holidays.
We have found a gem of an event; an authentic Tennessee experience – the Mountain Opry.
The Mountain Opry takes place each Friday night at the Walden Ridge Civic Center on Signal Mountain. Musicians have been gathering here each week since 1979, and it has been written about in the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.
Music starts at 8 p.m. and doesn’t end until 11 p.m., which is way past my bedtime, but we did stay until 9:30, so we saw two full sets.
The two groups we saw were the Scenic City Ramblers and Barefoot Nellie and Co.
The music was a mix of gospel, bluegrass and country. Some numbers were just music with no lyrics, too. Most of the songs were unfamiliar to me, so it was nice to hear something new. I was excited to hear Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors though! The next morning I looked up some of the songs we heard and listened to them on YouTube. I am sure if we keep going to this event, my country music catalog will grow!
The event is low key, and makes for an inexpensive night out. It’s in an old auditorium room. Lots of groups were there and everyone was saying hi to friends and chit chatting. We were the youngest there by at least 30 to 40 years though! There is no admission, but they pass around a paper bag for donations. There is also a concession stand with popcorn and soda.
It was a great evening and I can’t wait until we go back again!
Scenic City Ramblers
Barefoot Nellie and Co.
The building where the Mountain Opry is held.
Click to play video.
Performing Coat of Many Colors – click to play video.
Performing Little Georgia Rose – click to play video.
