Chattanooga, TN

The first week of April was my Spring Break from school, so we decided to take a short trip to Chattanooga, TN. We left on Saturday and made a brief stop in Atlanta to meet up with my sister, Cassie, and to see the Titanic exhibit. The Titanic exhibit was really interesting. Upon entering, we were assigned the identity of a real passenger aboard the Titanic. My identity was that of a pregnant teenager in second class, and Brian was a poor third-class man traveling with friends and family. At the end of the exhibit, they had a wall with the names of all passengers and their fates listed on it. I survived, but Brian did not.

Some of the more interesting things that we saw in this exhibit were a large section of the hull, recovered china and artifacts from the ship, and perfume samples that you could still smell. They even had a part of the Titanic available for you to touch- which everyone (including Olivia) did. Cassie had already seen the exhibit, so she walked around with Olivia while Brian and I took the audiotour. Olivia's favorite part of the exhibit was the big iceberg that was there for you to touch in order to get a better idea of how cold the water was. When we left, her hands were still cold from touching it so much.

On Sunday, we went to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. This is probably the nicest Aquarium that I have been to. I was surprised by how interested Olivia seemed to be. She especially liked the big tank because there was a lot of action and movement. We saw all sorts of marine life.


At the top on one of the Aquarium buildings there was a butterfly garden. Brian was able to catch a butterfly for Olivia. Olivia likes to put things in her mouth, so I was a little concerned for the butterfly's safety. But, everything turned out okay.

One of the exhibits that Olivia took the most interest was the giant crab exhibit. Those things were as big as she was!

On Monday morning, we rode the Inclined Railroad and visited Ruby Falls. The Inclined Railroad offered great views of Chattanooga, but it was really crowded. Ruby Falls was far more interesting. At Ruby Falls, we went into the heart of Lookout Mountain, walked for about twenty minutes , and ended up in a cavern with a 145 ft. waterfall. It was a really neat experience.


On Monday afternoon we took a tour of Chattanooga on the "Ducks", which are ex-military amphibious vehicules. We rode around downtown Chattagoona for awhile and then plunged into the Tennessee river to finish our tour. The captain of our boat even let some of the passengers drive the vehicle in the water- which Brian and Olivia did.

On Tuesday, we "Saw Rock City". I thought it was going to be a cheesy tourist trap- and there were some cheesy things about it. But, it was much better than I thought it would be. The views from the top of "Lover's Leap" were really good. They would have been even better had it not been so cloudy.

One interest that Brian and I share is that we both love extreme activities. We will try almost anything once. Therefore, we were very excited to learn that Chattanooga was a good destination for hang gliding. We immediatley signed up to recieve tandem training. The glider was towed to 2,000 ft. by an airplane and then released. We glided down with the help of an instructor. Of all of the "extreme" adventures that we've had- this was one of my favorites. It was very peaceful. You really felt like a bird soaring above the mountains. I would definitely do this again!

All-in-all, our trip to Chattonooga was exciting and wonderful. Chattanooga is definitely a kid-friendly destination, which was important to us. I would certainly like to go back one day.