This morning the elderly lady demonstrated that she had been practising overnight her Paddington hard stare at anyone who dared to make a mess of her breakfast area. She was not impressed by me using the microwave to make some porridge and kept saying to me – you watch, you watch. I do have to say I made it without making a mess and she didn’t even thank me.
Our aim this morning was to be on the road for a leisurely 10am, we made it with ease and pulled out of the car park by 9.45am and filled with petrol before hitting the road.
It was a 2-hour drive to Chattanooga which was to be the final stop of this road trip. The roads around Nashville were not great and we decided 2 nights was all we needed here as we had done everything that we wanted to. Of course, we said a couple ‘Woo Woo’s’ as we set off.
The big excitement on the journey was waiting for our watches to change as we crossed back over the time zone. In the end it was just before we got to the hotel which was just over the border into Georgia. We worked out that this was the 7 State we had been in this trip and our 8th of the year so far.
There was also a hairy part of the drive as we drove over the Appalachian Mountains again where we had torrential Florida rain whilst coming down a 4-mile decline which was 1:6. Although most cars slowed down, the trucks didn’t and the spray they generated made terrible conditions worse.
I had requested an early check-in at the hotel which happily they sorted for us and so by 1.30pm we were having our lunch in the room.
We set off out again at 2.15pm to Lookout Mountain which was almost next to the hotel. I had booked timed tickets to Rock City an attraction at the top of the mountain. We had wanted to do the worlds steepest incline railway but that had been out of action since a fire last December. An alternative attraction was Ruby Falls which involved a cave visit, but we decided they would be an anti-climax after Luray.
Pleasingly we had to drive under the Chattanooga Cho Choo railway line to get there.
Karen squealed with delight when on top of the mountain opposite the Rock City entrance there was a pretty looking Starbucks which inevitably we would be visiting later.
One of the things Rock City is famous for is the fact that the owner in 1935 paid a painter to paint over 900 barns in 19 states with the words ‘See Rock City’ as an advertising campaign. Today about 250 of them survive.
Rock City was a strange place. It is a mile long walk through unique and strange natural rock formations. Some of the paths are very narrow meaning you must squeeze through rocks. Eventually all this leads to ‘Lovers Leap’ which is the overlook point from which it is alleged you could see into 7 states. It was good but probably only worth half the admission price we have paid. It had been an important strategic vantage point during the Civil war.
As we were about to leave there was a quick shower which caused us to shelter for a while before heading out as I had earlier predicted to the Starbucks opposite.
We sat for a while and looked back on all the photos from this trip which was now drawing to a close. We decided we would recommend anyone else to do the same trip. We had had a great time, but both agreed we were just about ready to go home.
Rather than having to go out again we decided to have dinner on the way back and drove to Logans Roadhouse which was close to the hotel.
The food was good especially the hot bread rolls that accompanied it. I had the usual Steak whist Karen had the Salmon.
Back in our room we spent some time getting ourselves repacked for the drive to the airport and then flight home in the morning.
