Chattanooga, Tennessee

Matt and I are travel-hungry. The day after we got back from our honeymoon in New Zealand, as I sat at my desk and stared at my computer, the words blurred before my eyes and all I could think about was: where to next? What are the roots of this restlessness?? Part of me assumed that New Zealand would temporarily have sated our travel greed. Quite the opposite, I found. Traveling is duplicative. The more you do it, the more you want to do it.

It was with this mindset that we found ourselves at the beginning of February, itching to get out of Nashville, even if it was just a hundred miles from our door. We also longed for some uninterrupted time together–ever since we got back from our honeymoon, we hadn’t stopped running. Jobs became overwhelming, weekends were jam-packed, and nights turned into the kind where you get home and fall onto the couch because you’re actually dead. It was time to refocus our attention on each other, to regenerate, and to recuperate.

With that in mind, we landed on Chattanooga for a Valentine’s Day weekend: it’s close enough from Nashville to be feasible for a weekend, and far enough away to give us a change of scenery.

Specifically, mountains. Chattanooga sits about two hours southeast of Nashville, right along the Tennessee-Georgia border in the transition zone between the Appalachian Mountains and the Cumberland Plateau. Unlike Nashville, which has a fairly limited outdoors scene, Chattanooga’s rugged, scenic mountains make it a hub of outdoor activities.

We drove across the plateau to Chatt on a gloomy Saturday morning, with rain lashing at the windshield and fog settling around the car. Not a great outlook for a day in the Scenic City! Due to the weather, we decided last-minute to “See Ruby Falls,” which all the barn roofs we passed on the drive in suggested. Ruby Falls is a waterfall in a cave system 1120 feet under Lookout Mountain. It was discovered by a chemist named Leo Lambert in the 1920s, and ever since, has been a major Tennessee tourist attraction.

Truthfully, the tour was a bit disappointing. Ruby Falls has the potential to be spectacular–the waterfall itself is thunderous, huge, and wild. Allow me to explain my feelings: a typical tour takes huge groups of tourists through the cave system before climaxing at the halfway point–the waterfall. On our tour, Matt and I were disappointed to discover that most of the cave walls were black from decades of people running their hands along the limestone. Signs flapped from stalactites in the ceiling, and the stalagmites on the ground were mostly snapped off, presumably by earlier groups who failed to recognize how long it takes these creations to form.

The least exciting part of the tour was seeing the waterfall itself. Our tour guide led us into a massive cathedral in the cave, where I could easily hear the waterfall thundering around me. As we approached, Disney music started raining down upon us from speakers fastened into the ceilings. Then the light show began, and disco lights of every color lit up the waterfall. It was like being at a club. I couldn’t even think about the wonder that I was viewing. I just stared at the waterfall in dismay–isn’t the waterfall enough? Do we really need to have such a garish display? Fortunately, this light show spectacular ended after about 7 minutes, and I was almost relieved for the silence.

When we made our way out of the cave, Matt and I just stared at each other. In New Zealand, the Maori have a deep, intense cultural respect for the natural wonders of their cave systems. That type of respect brought me to tears in New Zealand and moved my spirit. Here, the natural beauty of Ruby Falls and its cave system was a mere money trap. It made me feel empty.

With that sobering experience under our belts, Matt and I headed to the city center to eat lunch and do some shopping. The rain continued to pour down all around us, so we headed to the hotel to check in and drop our bags off at the Westin downtown. It was absolutely one of the nicest hotels I’ve had the pleasure to visit! It was so cozy to sit in bed with Matt and read and relax, without having to worry about anything.

After taking about an hour to unpack, shower, and change, we needed a quick pick-me-up, so we headed to Rembrandt’s coffee house to grab handmade chocolates, tarts, and “nutella boats” before touring the neighboring art galleries.

Valentine’s dinner found us at Alleia, where we sipped pinot gris (from New Zealand of course!!!!) and cocktails, and then devoured slices of toasted ciabatta bread topped with ricotta and honey. Completely full after a meal of angel hair pasta and shrimp, we asked for tiramisu to go, and then headed back to the hotel to jump in bed and finish the final two episodes of Grace and Frankie.

In the morning, we checked out of the Westin, grabbed a quick breakfast at a local coffee shop, and headed to the Chattanooga Aquarium! I was highly impressed with this place. The exhibits are beautifully done, with several exhibits painstakingly mimicking natural river and oceanic habitats for the animals. Sharks, fish, turtles, stingrays, and other sea creatures floated and swam in a massive tank with a coral reef. We were surprised and delighted to see scuba divers feeding the animals in the tank during our visit–they waved hello to us from the tank and “fist-bumped” some of the kids running around.

The river exhibits were just as well-done: trees, vines, flowers, rocks, streams, waterfalls all combined to create realistic, open spaces for alligators, fish, turtles, and even otters to play. Totally charmed, we left the aquarium smiling.

Our last stop in Chattanooga had to be The Yellow Deli, which is one of my all-time favorite restaurants and boasts a truly fascinating history (feel free to explore the Internet to read more about the Twelve Tribes). The restaurant has a really lovely dining space–a rustic, homey indoor dining area with murals, rope pulleys, and window seats, and a greenhouse-esque outdoor dining area with a covered patio and plenty of plants! We ordered our favorites–green tea mate, the Deli Pesto and Veggie Burger, and a yogurt parfait for dessert!

With full tummies and happy hearts, we departed from precious Chattanooga, revived after a weekend getaway!