Introduction to Chattanooga

This trip has already been well documented on other blogs, but here are a few of my favorites.

As we went to extreme altitude to top the thunderstorms coming into Chattanooga, we thought we might see some exciting weather during our visit! As it turned out we had one day of much appreciated rain and a few rumbles of thunder.

Drought? What drought? Things looked pretty green around Kate and Joel's cozy home, but the rainfall actually was way below normal.

The day after we arrived, Joel preached a wonderful sermon from Exodus after we checked little Lily into the beautiful First Presbyterian nusery.

Church Picnic at McDonald Farm

After church, we headed out of town to Sale Creek and McDonald Farm where the annual church picnic is held. Lee and Betsy Anderson (the editor of the Chattanooga newspaper and one of the four sisters who inherited the farm) gave us a wonderful tour of the historic nineteenth century mansion

There were hay rides, pony rides, swimming and good southern food--although Kate, Joel and Lily had so many fans who wanted to stop and talk that we hardly could make it to the picnic lines!

We were about the last to leave after a very enjoyable afternoon.

September 10, 2007

We started the day with a bath--that Lily enjoyed--to get all clean and baby-smelling!

Then we visited the historic Cravens House, about half-way up Lookout Mountain, that was the Confederate headquarters at the start of the "Battle Above the Clouds" Then we met Daddy at the "Mountain Fountain" for lunch.

Lookout Point

Janet and I watched the animated model of the Battles of Chattanooga--The Battle Above the Clouds and the Battles of Orchard Knob and Missionary Ridge--that made our subsequent sight seeing much clearer.
The National Park Service had an excellent book store where we bought some books and maps.
Point Park is on the tip of Lookout Mountain just above the Tennessee River and Moccasin Bend and is a beautiful place for a hike and an appreciation of Civil War history.

A Clearer View

The afternoon of September 12 was even clearer, so Kate and I returned to Point Park and took this picture of downtown Chattanooga with the Tennessee River curving around the tip of Moccasin Bend.
This is a telephoto shot of the Tennessee River as it flows north again to the west of Moccasin Bend and the clearing on the west side of the river is Brown's Ferry, where Grant landed the rafts that drifted down from Chattanooga in the moonlight and got a foothold in Lookout Valley.
The domed structure in about the left center of this blow up is First Presbyterian Church and the large white building to its left, just under the trees and the river is the office building attached to the church by "The Connector" and is where Joel's office is.
Kate and me on the point of Lookout Mountain.

Tunnel Hill and the TVRR

We took a ride on the Tennessee Valley Railroad and visited its museum.
"All Aboard!!"
We enjoyed the ride until the engineer blew the whistle going through the tunnel!
This tunnel, built in 1852-1854, gave Tunnel Hill--where General Sherman came to grief--its name in the Battle of Missionary Ridge. This was the one historic site that I really wanted to see on this trip.

Chickamauga

Janet, Kate, Lily and Joel stand by the marker for General Bragg’s headquarters at the beginning of the Battle of Chickamauga, where we walked from our Pontiac,Torrent SUV back on the road.
Here is where the Battle of Chickamauga began as Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry charged into the Federal line of battle, although the forest line was a couple hundred yards farther back on that day.Here is where General James Longstreet made his incredibly lucky decision to charge into the Federal line—at the exact location where there was a gap due to an astoundingly stupid Federal tactical error—and flanked the Federal right and rolled it up.
In this idyllic, rising meadow at the marker in the distant background, General William Rosecrans had his headquarters routed north, from left to right in the photo as everyone ran for his life.

This is the Widow Snodgrass’ house near the top of Snodgrass Hill where General George Thomas made his historic stand that earned him the sobriquet “The Rock of Chickamauga”.

We Saw Rock City

We walked the few country blocks over to the edge of Lookout Mountain and got season passes to Rock City. Lily was excited to go!
Joel, Kate and Lily on the Rock City trail.

The point from which you can see seven states--we surely had a clear enough day for it!
The views were spectacular

Hanging on the Edge

Janet and me on the way to the point.
Looking back at Kate, Joel and Lily.
Lookout Mountain has a lot of waterfalls.

Chattanooga Walking Bridge

Okay--I've switched over to Picasa web albums! Click this picture to view the album.

Chattanooga Walking Bridge

Orchard Knob

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Orchard Knob