Tennessee Summer Vacation PART TWO // CHATTANOOGA
Despite living in Tennessee for over 5 years Jordan and I had never spent a lot of time in Chattanooga. Its gained popularity over the years with a cool downtown area that has a small town feel. We had plans to check out downtown, but first on the list was Ruby Falls and Rock City.
If you’ve spent time in the great state of Tennessee you’ve undoubtedly seen signs that look like this:
Whether on the side of an old barn, billboards or bird houses this is a very familiar site in Tennessee. Apparently an American sign maker by the name of Clark Byers painted over 900 barns in 19 states from 1935-1969. It’s said that fewer than 70 still survive today, however if you ask me it seems like a lot more than that.
Despite all the advertising we had yet to check it out. Since it was basically on the way to the Smokies from Nashville we planned to visit this right after leaving Jordan’s parents house.
The plan was to do Ruby Falls, a 145 foot underground waterfall first. You can read more by clicking here. I had been searching the Instagram hashtags for photos all week leading up to it. I was super excited to see this natural phenomenon. Unfortunately, as soon as we stepped out of the car we could see that something was wrong…
Holden was not having ANY of it. He was super fussy, and that just increased while we waited in line for what was to be our guided tour throughout the cave. At about an hour in length, with no way to leave before then we thought that the cave tour might just be too much for our little guy that day. Reluctantly we left the line and made peace with the fact that we wouldn’t see the waterfall - at least not this day.
Bye Bye Ruby Falls!
We got back in the car and made the trip further up the mountain to Rock City. Rock City’s major draw is the High Falls, and Lovers Leap, in addition to the claim that from the top you can see 7 states.
Initially Isla was probably most excited about the Starbucks on the premises
Needles Eye
Stone Witch… Look carefully!
Fat Man Squeeze
Rock City is basically a leisurely hike through rock formations including bridges, waterfalls and creeks. It culminates with a walk across a bridge ending in The High Falls and Lovers Leap. From here you can also see the Seven States (Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama in the distance), that Rock City is famous for.
Lovers Leap is the Tip of the cliff with the man-made High Falls directly ahead
The waterfall is 140 feet high and empties into a small pool.
Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama in the distance
This is what we expected to find; the gnomes and Fairyland Gardens was an unexpected and very interesting and unique surprise.
Mushroom Rock // Goblins Underpass
There are 100s of gnomes throughout the park. Some in plain site, and some hidden. Isla had a great time trying to find the hidden gems.
I think the Moonshine Still was my favorite…
We ended our journey in the Fairyland caverns and Mother Goose Village where things got really weird…
After our adventures at Lookout Mountain were complete, we headed to downtown to grab some lunch and explore some more. We ended up having pizza at Mellow Mushroom (which we don’t have near us in Texas), and walked around Chattanooga for a bit before heading up to the Smokies.
just a little tired…
Isla’s modeling debut - LOL!!!
We were able to avoid any real rain, just getting a couple of sprinkles as we were walking across the bridge and back to the car. Luckily this was a trend that held throughout our WHOLE Summer Vacation in Tennessee - What good luck!!!!
All in all we had a fantastic time in Chattanooga and highly recommend it and Rock City/Ruby Falls to anyone in the area. It’s a must see for SURE!
ON TO THE SMOKIES!!!