Chattanooga: More Than a Choo-choo

How memorable was your holiday weekend? Mine was grand — filled with cocktails and conversation, art and baubles, restaurants and hotel rooms, books and movies, quiet and noise — exactly how a holiday weekend should be spent.

I hope my readers to the north and across the ocean enjoyed a lovely spring weekend, even if they didn’t get Monday off for Memorial Day.

One of the highlights of the weekend was an overnight trip to Chattanooga, a couple of hours north of Atlanta. Chattanooga’s a lovely town, surrounded by mountains and the Tennessee River. The architecture is different than Atlanta — more mid-century, Rock-and-Doris buildings.

Chattanooga’s going through a bit of a renaissance, with the Arts District coming to life since my last visit (maybe 1999?). Lots of little galleries and inns overlooking the river.

Bakery in the Arts District, shot from the sculpture garden

Another photo of the Arts District, also from the sculpture garden

One cool part of Chattanooga is the pedestrian bridge across the Tennessee River. The bridge was closed to traffic years ago, and it’s cool to be able to walk across that long bridge.

The building with the glass triangles is the Tennessee Aquarium, which revitalized tourism in Chattanooga. Now you can see fishes and Rock City.

A bridge too far, from the pedestrian bridge

From the other side of the pedestrian bridge

Another funky side of Chatta-boogie: On the other side of the pedestrian bridge, Northside’s Frazier Avenue has bronze dance steps embedded in the sidewalk:

Everyone wants to copy that cool Canadian cat Dale, it seems. Grooviness knows no nationality.

Here's a photo of the aquarium, from the Street o' Dance Steps. It looks like a giant kitty is about to pounce the other side of the river.


I, of course, came home wanting to pack my dancing shoes and move to Chattanooga.

I almost forgot! On the way home, we stopped for a late lunch in White, Georgia:

I don’t care if it was a roadkill burger. That was one helluva great hand-shaped patty.

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