I have been busy the past week, with interviews and appointments. This has been giving me the opportunity to visit and explore more areas.
I was at Greenway Farms, a park in Hixson, Tennessee, which is about 15 minutes from our place. It’s a large park with hiking trails, a dog park, community garden plots, and an old restored cabin.
The cabin is host to events throughout the year. While I was there, there was a type of mommy and me class happening.
The cabin was built in the 1850s by Christian Sniteman. The Snitemans were a pioneering family of the area.
It was originally tucked back into the woods, but was deconstructed and rebuilt again back out in the open.
I have been looking for fall related things to do. I found some you-pick apple orchards that are farther north of us, but I thought those could be saved for next fall.
Closer to home, I found the Fairmount Orchard Apple Shop on Signal Mountain. It is not an orchard that you can visit, but it’s the orchard’s shop where they sell their items that they have produced.
It was a small store, but worth the visit. The shelves were admittedly a little empty, but we had seen a recent post on their Facebook page that this was due to the on-going heat wave. I am sure now that it’s cooled down more apples will be coming in.
There were different apple varieties to choose from, in bags of different sizes. We got a small bag of Jonagold, because it is a kind that we had never had before.
Aside from apples, there was also apple butter and apple cider to sell. We bought both kinds. We had some of the apple cider last night and it was delicious.
The store also carried items like honey, soup mixes and dip mixes.
We will definitely make this shop a stop any time we are up on the mountain.
We live near the base of Signal Mountain, a community on top of the mountain. We have driven up there a few times, and have found some new places to explore and visit. It’s a short drive up there, only a few miles, but since it goes up the mountain, there is a section with some steep hairpin curves.
We first went up the mountain when my parents visited a few weeks ago, when I had only been officially living in Chattanooga for a few days. We drove around to get a feel for the area, and checked out some shops. On the way back down, I took a video of the hairpin section, plus some of the gorgeous views.
I already have quite a few Signal Mountain related things that I would like to write about, but I thought I would backtrack and show readers the drive first.
Yesterday we went to Blowing Springs Farm, a farm that is open Fridays and weekends starting in late September through the month of October.
The farm is located just over the border of Georgia, which added another element of excitement for me. Now I can say that I’ve been to a new state. Everyone does it differently, but I do not count driving through!
The farm is mainly for families with young kids, but that has never stopped us before! However, we did see some groups with just older people too.
The main focus (and also the gift shop) of the farm is the See Rock City red barn, painted to look like a bird house. All though we have not seen any yet, there are advertisement barns all over the southeast on the sides of highways that have “See Rock City” painted on them. This particular barn is the only one you can actually see at Rock City, an attraction on top of Lookout Mountain. It will be fun to go to Rock City, hopefully sometime soon, and be able to look down and see the red barn below.
Admission is $10 per person and it includes four activity tokens. Each activity is one token. You can buy extra tokens if you want to. We picked out three activities (the ones that are more for us old folks.)
We did the corn maze, the hay ride and the critter coral.
The corn maze was bigger than I expected. At first I was disappointed because the corn stalks at the front were small and we towered over them, but once you got in the middle and towards the back, we were quite lost! They did a good job of making a lot of dead ends and turn arounds.
The critter corral had all kinds of smaller animals to pet. There were alpacas, miniature horses, donkeys, rabbits, pigs and cows. The cows had a lot of fluffy hair; they were my favorite.
The hay ride was small and short, but still nice. It entered through a back portion of the corn maze.
We also bought a pumpkin to take home at the pumpkin market. This cost extra so it did not use up tokens. I will use my leftover tokens for scrapbooking.
Some of the kid activities included a cow train, a corn sling shot, rubber duck races, and go cart races.
We had a great morning and I recommend it for anyone who’s looking to have a good fall themed outing.
See Rock City!
Inside the corn maze.
A higher up view of the corn maze and barn from a little wooden bridge.
These fluffy cows were my favorite!
Entering the corn maze on the hayride.
A little section to buy pumpkins.
A playground for the kids, with the cow train passing through in the front.
Last weekend was the Hamilton County Fair, located at Dallas Island at Chester Frost Park.
The County Fair was the first event I found when looking up events, right after we announced our move to Chattanooga. There is no county fair in Harris County, which is where Houston is located, (there are some further away in neighboring counties though) so I was excited to be able to go to this event.
It was a good sized event. It was much bigger than what we were used to back when we lived in rural Pennsylvania, though I will say that there were more vendors and entertainment compared to the amount of animals.
We enjoyed walking around and seeing the animals, the prize winning items, and the vendors. My favorite part of the day was watching the pig races. I grew up seeing pig races at the New Jersey State Fair, and I also saw them at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, but Derek had never seen them before.
We also found a new restaurant to check out in the future too. We were figuring out what to eat for lunch, and we noticed the Home Folks food truck. They were selling pulled pork sandwiches, and they were delicious! Derek also got the peach cobbler. It was hands down some of the best food we have ever gotten at an event like that. We looked at the Home Folks Restaurant online when we got home. They are located in Soddy-Daisy, and the menu looks great. It is nice to find new things to do by attending other events.
I would also like to go back to Chester Frost Park as well. The Park starts out on the mainland and then extends out into two islands in the Chickamauga Lake. Because it was on an island, we parked at the mall and took a shuttle over. It seems like a nice park, with walking trails, a beach and a campground too. We checked out some of the camping sites. Maybe that is something we could do in the future too.
Getting outside for sunshine and fresh air is key for me to have a good day, and a good attitude. We found a park that’s just down the road from our place.
The park is small, and isn’t anything special, but it’s good to have a space near by. It’s behind an elementary school. You have to drive through the school’s parking lot to get to the park’s designated lot.
The park has one large loop that goes in and around some trees, and through open green space too. I can do two loops in about 15-20 minutes.
Derek and I went once together, and then I went a second time on my own when Derek was at work, which leads me to a silly little story.
Derek usually leaves for work around 2-3 p.m. I headed to the park at 2:30… and promptly got stuck in the parent pick up car line! There were two lines forming, and cars came in behind me, so I was unable to get turned around. So I sat. And I sat some more. Finally the kids came out at 3 p.m. Not being a parent, it had not occurred me that the school would let out at 3, and parents would line up so early at 2:30.
I have officially been a Chattanooga resident for over two weeks, in addition to the week and a half I spent here throughout August, with one foot in Tennessee, and the other foot in Texas.
I’ve been thinking about the differences between Chattanooga and Houston, and my first impressions of the area, which has grown into a long list.
Even though we moved up north, I feel more in the “south.” Everyone is so friendly, there is a church on every corner, and most everyone I came across in the first few days had an accent.
Grits, grits and more grits! In Houston, I had to make a specific trip to Target when I wanted to stock up, and even then they only had the Quaker Instant kind. At our new local store, Food City, there was a whole shelf dedicated to different kinds of grits, including homemade kinds. Grits are on just about every restaurant menu I’ve seen, and I’ve bought them at the Chattanooga Market too.
The mountains are gorgeous. I don’t think I will ever tire of looking at them. When I left Food City that first morning after we moved in, Signal Mountain loomed over me on the drive home, and I was in awe.
Another Food City related thought: The check out system is different. The cashier takes your cart and unloads it for you on their side. I watched this happening with the customer in front of me and at first I couldn’t figure out who was the cashier and who was the customer. I think my confusion showed because the cashier explained it to me. I told her I was new to the area and then her and the bagger both gave me recommendations for things to do in the area. How friendly!
There isn’t any Chattanooga traffic to speak of, except for some areas that get a little backed up due to construction. We are driving the same amount of miles to get to places (no more than 10-15) but the drive times are shorter.
It is a lot easier to get around in Chattanooga and gain a sense of direction. After three years in Houston we were still largely unfamiliar with the city.
It still feels just as hot as Houston does, but the mornings and evenings are cooler. It is also less humid too, which is doing wonders for my hair, haha.
It is quiet here at night. Almost too quiet. It is strange to not hear the Metro whistle, cars whizzing by, and the occasional loud group of people walking on the sidewalks.
I love the Civil War history everywhere! We have explored a lot of downtown and riverfront areas, and there are plaques everywhere, detailing what happened over 150 years ago.
Derek teaches a night class, and I’m at home for now until I find a job, so we have the morning and the early afternoons together. It’s nice that he has the time to spend with me, instead of when he was a busy student at the University of Houston, so we try to put most mornings to good use.
Last week I looked online for free things to do in Chattanooga, and we found Sculpture Fields at Montague Park.
According to sculpturefields.org, the park is 33 acres, and is the largest sculpture park in the Southeast. There are a couple of paths that go around over 40 large sculptures.
With both of us having art backgrounds, it was a place that we both enjoyed visiting
“Anchors” by Peter Lundberg
“Red Tree” by Ruth Midgal
“Temple Mayan” by Linda Howard
A wider view of the park and the paths, with Lookout Mountain in the background.
“The Least Amount of Space” by Jason Kimes
“Star Center” by Linda Howard
“Duke” by John Clement in the foreground, with other scattered sculptures in the background.
Chattanooga has quite a few farmer’s markets. Each one is held on a designated day and location. The Chattanooga Market is held each Sunday from April to November at the Tennessee First Pavilion.
During our previous three years in Houston, I yearned for community type events such as these markets. While living in Pennsylvania, we alternated back and forth from the Mansfield Grower’s Market and the Wellsboro Farmer’s Market. I found one such labeled market in Houston that was each week during lunch time in front of City Hall. We went once, and left disappointed. It was less of a market, and more so food trucks and pop up booths from restaurants set up for downtown workers to grab a quick bite.
The Chattanooga Market exceeded my expectations. It is very large with hundreds of vendors. According to publicmarkets.us, “The Chattanooga Market is a producer-only market. Vendors have made it, baked it, grown it or sewn it themselves.”
The front half of the Market is produce, and the back half of the Market is crafts. Some mainstay purchases of ours have become honey, grits and apple cider. A local apparel store also sets up there, and I picked up a few t-shirts. Not to be missed is the Frios Gourmet Pops cart, which was a hit for everyone in the family. Mom got a coconut popsicle, Dad and Derek got blueberry cheesecake, and I got pink lemonade. We also picked up mini pumpkins and squash to decorate our front walkway. In the back of the market is always some kind of entertainment stage with a bunch of seating.
I have already made note of a lot of things I would like to buy for myself once I am working. Mom and dad also oohed and ahhed at some booths too. You could easily do Christmas shopping for your whole family there.
While the Market season ends in November, it moves indoors for three weeks for a special holiday market. I am looking forward to that!
The Bluff View Art District is a small section of Chattanooga next to the Tennessee River, filled with historic homes.
There are a few inns, art galleries, restaurants, a bakery and a coffee shop, to name a few, and there are sculptures scattered throughout the properties. There is also a sculpture garden as well.
We ended up at Bluff View because I picked out Tony’s Pasta Shop and Trattoria, an Italian restaurant, for my belated birthday dinner. The reviews are in and Tony’s will become a favorite place for us. I had the shrimp scampi, and there was plenty more on the menu that I want to try. The portions and prices were both reasonable. I recommend making a reservation though! The place was packed, but that is always a good sign.
While waiting for our name to be called for a table, we took a quick walk to the sculpture garden and the bluff overlook. After dinner, we walked around the entire district (it’s only 1.5 blocks.)
View of the Tennessee River from the overlook.
Sculpture Garden views
Tony’s, where we had dinner. Delicious!
A sculpture titled “Grandfather.”
This alley felt like it belonged more in Italy, not Chattanooga.
One of the inns. That front porch looks inviting!
The front of Rembrandt’s Coffee House. This is another place that we will have to check out in the future.
