Feeling at home in Chattanooga -- April 4th -- Day 23
We awoke Thursday morning to the kind of heavy overcast skies and drizzle that we have come to know and love in western Washington. However it meant that our plan to visit the site for which Chattanooga is most well-known -- Lookout Mountain -- had to be scrapped, given that we can look out at fog banks pretty much anytime. After doing a little research we decided to skip the International Tow & Recovery Museum (whose mission is to recognize outstanding individuals in the towing and recovery industry worldwide, record the history of the industry, and to collect and display industry artifacts and memorabilia and again I am not making this up). Instead we set out for the Tennessee Aquarium, which according to a 2010 survey was the top aquarium in the country in terms of guest satisfaction (8th overall among all kinds of attractions). When we first arrived we suspected that those who had been surveyed had not attended on a rainy day during spring vacation, but we soon came to see why it is so highly rated. After taking an escalator to the glass enclosed top floor, visitors are led along an extended one way ramp gently spiralling downward that takes them by exhibits illustrating the path followed by water falling as rain in the Smokies down the mountain to the river system and ultimately to the ocean, including displays illustrating the kinds of flora and fauna residing along the way. All of this cleverly built around what appeared to be a series of glass water tanks filled with wide varieties of fish and other water dwelling animals (I suspect it may be one big water tank but the architecture of the building made it difficult to tell for sure). We followed up with a 3D IMAX movie about the important role that reefs play in the ecosystem and the threats they face from global warming and the increasing acidity in sea water. It was beautifully filmed which helped soften the depressive nature of the message, as did the hopeful note on which it ended, citing the ability reefs have to regenerate as demonstrated by the recovery of the reefs near the Bikini atoll 50 years after they were destroyed by atomic and hydrogen bomb tests conducted by the U.S. government. After the movie we had lunch at another place Max found on "Drive-ins, Diners and Dives" called Aretha Frankenstein's located across the river from downtown Chattanooga. We were glad it was a late lunch, as the reviews indicated that waits for one of the four tables and six bar stools can be as long as 90 minutes. The place was funky, the food unusual but good, and we had yet another unusual dining experience. As we headed out of town we stopped and took a driving tour through the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, which straddles the Tennessee-Georgia border south of Chattanooga. The park was the site of fierce fighting in September of 1963 between Confederate and Union forces for control of Chattanooga, which was considered to be a key to ultimately controlling the deep south. Although the Confederates won, it turned out to be a classic "win the battle but lose the war" situation because the losses suffered weakened their forces significantly, and two months later a reinforced Union army took control of the city, which then became the base for Sherman's march to Atlanta. And the rest, as they say, is history. The battlefield was the first and largest of the nation's military parks, having been authorized by Congress in 1890 and dedicated in 1895, and is replete with substantial monuments to those who fought here on both sides. Following that we headed south, and were soon settled in at the condo that we will call home for the duration of our trip.
We awoke Thursday morning to the kind of heavy overcast skies and drizzle that we have come to know and love in western Washington. However it meant that our plan to visit the site for which Chattanooga is most well-known -- Lookout Mountain -- had to be scrapped, given that we can look out at fog banks pretty much anytime. After doing a little research we decided to skip the International Tow & Recovery Museum (whose mission is to recognize outstanding individuals in the towing and recovery industry worldwide, record the history of the industry, and to collect and display industry artifacts and memorabilia and again I am not making this up). Instead we set out for the Tennessee Aquarium, which according to a 2010 survey was the top aquarium in the country in terms of guest satisfaction (8th overall among all kinds of attractions). When we first arrived we suspected that those who had been surveyed had not attended on a rainy day during spring vacation, but we soon came to see why it is so highly rated. After taking an escalator to the glass enclosed top floor, visitors are led along an extended one way ramp gently spiralling downward that takes them by exhibits illustrating the path followed by water falling as rain in the Smokies down the mountain to the river system and ultimately to the ocean, including displays illustrating the kinds of flora and fauna residing along the way. All of this cleverly built around what appeared to be a series of glass water tanks filled with wide varieties of fish and other water dwelling animals (I suspect it may be one big water tank but the architecture of the building made it difficult to tell for sure). We followed up with a 3D IMAX movie about the important role that reefs play in the ecosystem and the threats they face from global warming and the increasing acidity in sea water. It was beautifully filmed which helped soften the depressive nature of the message, as did the hopeful note on which it ended, citing the ability reefs have to regenerate as demonstrated by the recovery of the reefs near the Bikini atoll 50 years after they were destroyed by atomic and hydrogen bomb tests conducted by the U.S. government. After the movie we had lunch at another place Max found on "Drive-ins, Diners and Dives" called Aretha Frankenstein's located across the river from downtown Chattanooga. We were glad it was a late lunch, as the reviews indicated that waits for one of the four tables and six bar stools can be as long as 90 minutes. The place was funky, the food unusual but good, and we had yet another unusual dining experience. As we headed out of town we stopped and took a driving tour through the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, which straddles the Tennessee-Georgia border south of Chattanooga. The park was the site of fierce fighting in September of 1963 between Confederate and Union forces for control of Chattanooga, which was considered to be a key to ultimately controlling the deep south. Although the Confederates won, it turned out to be a classic "win the battle but lose the war" situation because the losses suffered weakened their forces significantly, and two months later a reinforced Union army took control of the city, which then became the base for Sherman's march to Atlanta. And the rest, as they say, is history. The battlefield was the first and largest of the nation's military parks, having been authorized by Congress in 1890 and dedicated in 1895, and is replete with substantial monuments to those who fought here on both sides. Following that we headed south, and were soon settled in at the condo that we will call home for the duration of our trip. 
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