Chattanooga Choo-Choo

Once upon a time, we thought that it would be easy to plan a spring break trip to visit family and friends in Arizona and California. Flights had been relatively cheap, and schedules aligned to make it seem like a slam dunk of a trip. We excitedly told the kids about the plan and got them appropriately hyped up.

Then reality set in.

Flights were not as cheap as they had been the last time we'd looked, and it was going to cost as much for one ticket as we had anticipated paying for the whole family. Sadly we had to scrap the entire plan. It was one thing for Jon and me to be disappointed as we are (supposed) grown-ups and can handle such things, but we were worried about how the kids would react.

Well. They totally surprised us by not only being okay with the change in plans but also coming up with an excellent alternative. Without a moment's hesitation, Elsa declared that we should go to Chattanooga instead. And you know what? That's exactly what we did.

Driving across the state was a much more feasible and easy trip to plan, so we found an Air BnB and started researching activities in the Chattanooga area. We knew we wanted to go to the aquarium and found some other promising indoor and outdoor activities to keep us busy.

Tennessee is a very long state, so we took the opportunity to stop in Nashville on the way. We talk all the time about how we need to go there as it's not far and we have some good friends to visit, so we used a raffle prize from pre-pandemic days as an excuse to stop by our friends' house. This porch drop-off turned into an afternoon-long visit and invitation to stop by on our way back to Memphis, so it was definitely worth it.

After our serendipitous afternoon, we hopped back in the car and drove the rest of the way. Our first stop was the legendary Chattanooga Choo-Choo train station. We didn't actually go on a train ride on this trip, but it was fun to see the way a train had been set up as a hotel. Thanks to a solid recommendation from our Air BnB hosts, we had a great dinner and then went to the house we'd be staying at for several days.

Always up for a photo op

We were not as smart as this "smart house," but we did eventually figure out how to turn the lights on. The kids had no trouble figuring out Disney+ though, which was probably their favorite part of the trip. Everyone was pretty tired at this point so it was off to bed in anticipation of a day of adventure.

On our first full day of vacation, we had a big breakfast before heading off to Glen Falls for a hike. This proved to be a great family hike as it was not too challenging for all the kids to walk, and it also had the reward of some waterfalls and a great view at the end. It was also a reminder of just how flat Memphis is because there were some serious hills.

Happy Hikers

Like any good hike, we went out for ice cream afterward. We also drove around a bit to check out the city before returning to the Air BnB for dinner...and Disney+. In all honesty, Jon and I also enjoyed showing the kids some classic Disney movies and were reminded just how funny the Disney version of Robin Hood is. 

The next day was rainy, which made it a perfect day to go to the Tennessee Aquarium. Years ago, Jon and I, along with Baby Elsa, stopped in Chattanooga for an afternoon and poked around inside the aquarium gift shop. While there, Jon picked out a small purple stuffed penguin, which he named "Topenguin," pronounced like Topanga from that 90s TV show (and the canyon in California). Eight years later, this is still a favorite stuffed animal, so she came along on the trip as well.

The massive aquarium did not disappoint. We touched stingrays, walked through a butterfly house, and saw giant tortoises and sharks. We watched otters playing and of course visited the penguins (although not the purple variety). There are two buildings, the ocean side and the river side. One side would have been more than enough to see, but obviously, we did both and were appropriately exhausted as a result. It was therefore necessary to refuel with pizza and beer from a local brewery (because it was Mom and Dad's vacation, too).

 

This was our last night, so we soaked up a little more Disney+ before collapsing into bed. The next morning we packed up, and on our way out of town, stopped at Ruby Falls where a cavern trail inside Lookout Mountain opens up into a magnificent underground waterfall. It truly was breathtaking (and not just because of the super-cool lighting effects, although they certainly helped).

So many cool cave formations along the trail

 

 

Thus ended our Chattanooga vacation. But spring break wasn't over yet, and we still had that invitation to return to our friends' house for an extended visit. Even though the kids hadn't seen each other in years (and hadn't even met each family's third child), they hit it off very quickly. Trampolines are good for that. It was so nice to reconnect for the adults as well, and it felt like we picked up right where we left off, which seems to be a characteristic of most Army friendships.

We'd planned to make a quick stop for coffee with another friend on our way out of town...but that also turned into an invitation to stay the night, which we gratefully accepted. These were our first friends in Memphis, and even though they only moved a few hours to the east, it had still been too long since we'd last seen them. We hadn't met their youngest child either!

But thanks to their warm hospitality (and another trampoline), everyone had a lovely afternoon and evening catching up. We were happy to be an excuse for them to prepare a delicious creole recipe for dinner as well. We enjoyed a leisurely morning full of good friends and good conversation.

It was finally time to return to Memphis and back to reality, but what a fun spring break we had! It didn't happen as we'd originally envisioned, but the added bonus of seeing some dear friends made it a most excellent vacation.