Chattanooga Fans

This past Easter we decided to head to Chattanooga a day early (we go there every Easter to hang with my cousins and family) and visit some of the places we've been meaning to check out for the last several years.  Chattanooga's Tennessee Aquarium is a great place to spend an entire day (www.tnaqua.org), and though it was a perfect day to do just that, we had other adventures in mind.  We made our first stop at our hotel to drop off the Easter 'goods', it was Easter weekend  and we were prepared! Didn't want those happy's to melt! Then we went straight to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (www.tvrail.com) and bought tickets for a short, but sure to please, train ride.  While waiting for our train we wandered around the parked cars.  The girls climbed around those that they could get on.  Ty was just in awe, he walked around and around stopping at times to check out the 'wheels', or to pat the cars.  He just loved it all!  Trains and Trucks and Cars.. makes his heart happy!  

The ride was great... lots of information was shared by the conductor (who worked an 'r' into Chickamauga every time he said it..'Chickamargua'), we went through a man-made tunnel (impressive), the car was air conditioned (always a bonus), we were able to avoid any seat belt complaints as there are none (this IS a big deal) and it was less than one hour from start to finish.  We're fans!

After the TVR tour we headed to the Chattanooga Zoo.  Our last trip to the zoo was about 4 years ago.  It went something like this:  We followed detour signs to find the entrance..under construction.  We pulled up to the ticket counter..literally our car was parked in a gravel lot beside the free standing ticket counter.  Our expectations begin to sink.  We entered, walked the entire zoo in 30 minutes (all animals in 70's cages that we swore we were reporting to PETA... again another sign they were remodeling...probably thanks to PETA) and ended at the 'petting pen'.  In this pen there were goats... who wanted you to feed them.  Brian (he's such a city boy) allowed Kendall to climb the hill in the middle of the pen...and she was curtly met by a ram who head-butted her right off his mound.  Lesson learned.  As we were leaving we noticed the lonely camel and snapped our list pic of him as we carried our dazed and confused 4 yr. old to the van..which was a very short walk.  Here..let me show you a pic of the camel...

Wait..this one is better..without the top of someone's head blocking the view:

Yes.. if you are an observant viewer you'll notice the train car behind the camel. That is a popular 'f' slang there, right above his nostril.  We feel certain the goats left it for us.

So you see, our expectations were .. well there were no expectations.  We knew they had bunny petting stations and it was Easter, so there you have it.  I am happy to report however that the zoo has been re-vamped..it now takes about 45 minutes to walk it.  The lot is paved with a beautiful entrance, and you have to walk 1/4 mile to reach it which is pretty standard for most zoos I do believe.  They had a great Easter themed day at the zoo and my kids loved petting the bunnies and enjoyed the egg hunt, etc.  Though it is a small zoo the price is appropriate for the experience and they have an indoor carousel, so who cares about the rest!?  And yes.. my girls pet the goats..this time Brian was wise to their ways and steered clear of the hill.  The camel was still there too.  Interestingly enough, the train cars were not.  All in all our Chattanooga Zoo experience was very enjoyable and we will return!  (www.chattanoogazoo.net) 

By this point the kids were BEGGING to go 'home', they were pretty exhausted.  But check-in time wasn't for another 1 1/2 hours so we had time for one more adventure.  We 'Yelped' ice cream and the best ratings were given to The Ice Cream Show only minutes from the zoo.  To our delight the location was right at the pedestrian bridge, so we parked..ordered the MOST AMAZING ice cream and walked half way across the bridge (over the river) and enjoyed the river views.  We also checked out the Art Museum, though it was closing there were still some really cool exhibits outdoors.  Really a beautiful, beautiful area (the art district).  Our day ended at the hotel where the kids got to swim, eat pizza, sleep on a fold out couch with their own t.v. and wake to the Easter Bunny happy's!  What a great success! 

If you are planning a trip to Chattanooga I must also recommend:

Chattanooga Duck Tours (www.chattanoogaducks.com) - this is a great way to get off your feet and enjoy a different view of the city!

See Rock City and Ruby Falls (not for young kids though)...ride the Incline Railway if you can!

My friend Nancy said they went white water rafting with their 6 and 9 year old..so much fun!

Grab lunch at Tony's Pasta Shop and Trattoria then jump into Rembrandt's for chocolate treats, both found in the Bluffview Art District.  

Kids love the Chattanooga Discovery Museum, within walking distance of the Tn Aquarium.

At the Tn Aquarium purchase tickets for the IMAX 3D..it's totally worth it!  And if the weather is right, go ahead and let them wear their suits..there's plenty of water play around the aquarium.