Chattanooga Part II

Well, here is the color on that same mountain side I shared in the last photo.  2 weeks later.  Joann just sent me this as a comparison of color from our trip out to Chattanooga.  DARN!!!! Guess we’ll just have to go back another year.
 
We got to see some pretty color though… you can see the tree behind us (with the Civil War cannon) here at the visitor center for the Chickamauga Battle Ground.

The park is covered with miles of markers for different battles, remembrances from different states.

So beautiful & yet so sad!

Imagine marching days upon days to come to an area you are totally unfamiliar with.  To sneak around in woods like these never knowing who you will meet. 

Thousands of men dead.  Dying…. Wounded…. Brothers fighting brothers.  Family killing family.  Over ideas, over maintaining life as they knew it.   SAD!  Thank God we haven’t had that here in this country again.  Thank you Mike for sharing your vast knowledge of this subject.

Just a tiny bit of personal family history… My Grandmother’s Great Grandfather (on Daddy’s side) was a much decorated General in this battle & there was a lot of information we saw while there at the battle grounds.  His name was William Rosecrans (click HERE to learn a bit more about him).  When I go out to Manhattan Beach for one of Kim Caldwell’s events & stay at The Belamar Hotel, I always marvel at seeing Rosecrans AVE knowing it is named after someone in MY FAMILY!!!

Next on the agenda was a ride on that boat you see docked on the Tennessee River.  It is a jet speed boat (that hydro foils at 56 miles an hour) called the River Gorge Explorer.  It goes so fast that it planes up OFF the water when it is cruising.  Click the blue name/link above to go to the site to get more information.

Leaving port we saw the city views from the river.

Once we reached the Tennessee River Gorge we saw the multi million dollar homes off Signal Mountain.

Here’s a beautiful shot of some of the homes down on the water & if you look very closely at the top/middle of that largest mountain… that’s the signal point.  The Union soldiers would watch Lookout Mountain & signal to the troops on the ground the points of interest to help them win the battles taking place in that area.  The photo below is taken with a telephoto lens so it helps you see the “look out” better.

And the photo below is of “The SUCK”.  It is a fast moving stream coming out of the mountain & before they built the series of damns to help to control flooding on the river (& raised the level of the river over 30 feet), this place was the scene of some terrible river disasters.  In fact, a large paddleboat sits at the bottom here (about 130 feet below now).  It all looks so calm & harmless.   Modern technology is truly amazing.  But, just below this point in “Hell’s Kitchen” there have been 2 sinking’s recently (barges heavily loaded & unable to maneuver the twist & turns).

Hubby & I LOVED the house below.  We could see ourselves living there with our deck boat in the boat house.  Coffee in the morning on that deck… & a glass of wine watching the sun set.  What this Texas girl won’t do to escape the heat…

Speaking of houses…

A YACHT…The second little photo shows it coming up behind us.   WOW It’s name was Freedom.  Our captain said it had multiple luxury staterooms on board, a hot tub, & a full staff.  Now that’s the way to travel in luxury!  Where were they going?  The Tennessee/Alabama College football game that was to be played the following weekend.  Mike says that they don’t tailgate for this game they all come in on their boats & they cookout & party on the boats.  People mooring out in the river & crossing from/through one persons boat to the next to get to shore for the game.
 
Right behind him came a HOUSE BOAT flying the Alabama University flag.

You can see the shadows are starting to fall over the mountain & the homes along it’s bank so it’s time to head back to Chattanooga.

The lights on the pier are so pretty when we get back.

We drove down river to one of Mike & Joann’s favorite places to eat & had a wonderful table on the outside patio.  Thank you for two marvelous days.  So much history & so much natural beauty.  Tomorrow… we’re off to Lynchburg for a tour at Jack Daniels Distillery.    Hope you’ll come back in a few days to see a few shots of that.
HUGS!  Charlene