Mark's Notebook

Pardon me boy, is that the ...

I haven't been feeling too well this week. I've been very tired, and on Monday I caught a cold. I was pretty messed up on Tuesday, and we bought some medications to stop the coughing and help me sleep. Mary has been doing more than her usual share of the driving, but she's still found plenty of time to read her Bible when I am driving. She is reading about two hours each day, trying to finish her Bible before we return by more than doubling the pace.

Sunday, May 14

Today we went to church at Calvary Chapel Rivergate here in Goodlettsville. It was a much larger church than we were expecting, and we didn't really get to talk to anyone. We were a little disappointed.

We didn't really have a plan today. I told Mary we could just relax or do whatever she wanted because it is Mother's Day. She got to talk to both Matthew and Aaron, which was a real treat for her.

We just drove down to near Chattanooga, then we drove down into Alabama just to see what is there. Basically just a Sunday drive. We saw a sign for a Cast Iron Outlet but we got there just after they closed up for the day. Most everything was closed up on Sunday after 5 pm. We did have a real nice drive, then I got real tired. My intention had been to head east from northern Alabama into northern Georgia, not coming back into Tennessee again. But when I got tired, we decided that we were just a little more than an hour from Chattanooga, and we'd be best to stay there for the night. This was definitely the right decision, as we ended up staying two days in Chattanooga, and it was definitely one of the more interesting places we have stayed on our trip.

After checking into the motel, we wandered across the street to Cracker Barrel to have a late dinner. I said, "Mary, they are playing hymns on the sound system." As we left, I remembered that at Grand Ole Opry they mentioned that CB sponsored a CD of hymns sung by Amy Grant. I asked whether this was the CD they were playing in the restaurant, and we found a copy to buy right there in the store. We haven't listened to it yet. The folks at Cracker Barrel are definitely the friendliest servers we have met so far.

Not sure if I mentioned that at Grand Ole Opry, several of the songs were Christian in nature and several of the musicians were Christians, and several of them made mention of it. I remarked to Mary that we'd never hear comments like those in California.

Monday, May 15

Today we ran a marathon. We started the day by sending a birthday package to Matthew. We bought a bunch of stuff for him at the Cracker Barrel store last night, and today we visited the post office to fill out custom forms and whatnot. Then Mary had to check out a Hobby Lobby store since she has heard of them but never visited one. She did buy a bunch of stuff but did not spend a lot of money. She really liked the selection and the prices. I whiled away the time in a Best Buy store next door. I found a CD of hymns recorded by Johnny Cash, and the Passion CD recorded by David Crowder Band having the song "How Great Is Our God,", which Mary really likes. Then we went on a shopping spree at the local Chattanooga health food store. The selection was very good and one of the stockers there was very helpful, but the guy who checked us out was rude. We found some gluten-free pizza crusts that we hope to heat up later in the toaster over. Mary found pre-shredded cheese and I found a small bottle of pizza sauce.

Our first attraction was the Incline Railway on Lookout Mountain. This rail line rises about 1000 feet over the course of a mile, or an average 18 percent grade. You can view the valley below as you rise. When we bought tickets, we bought a package that also includes a gardens called Rock City and a waterfall called Ruby Falls.

At the top of Lookout Mountain there are two very interesting attractions. One is the Battles For Chattanooga Museum, which includes the "Electric Map." This is sort of a large relief map of the Chattanooga area populated by armies as they would be positioned during the Civil War. The lights dim as in a theater, then the map lights up with all the action that took place during the war. A running commentary tells you everything that is going on. I liked the fact that it was done on a map. Mary liked the fact that it was a "visual" presentation. She still questions why the schools don't present history in interesting ways like was done here.

At the top of Lookout Mountain, there is also a National Park devoted to the Chattanooga battles. The museum there was closed, but the park makes for a nice little walk, and the views are outstanding. There are some Civil War cannons posted around the park, and another couple took our photo, then I took their photo.

Back down the mountain and halfway back around we found Rock City. I thought this was just going to be a scenic view from a high overlook. But it was much more than that. It is a natural pile of very large stones that you can walk between like city streets. The owners built a path that goes down through the rocks then comes up to let you walk on bridges over the rocks. They claim that you can view seven states from the overlook, but I don't believe it. It is a very pretty walk and the owners have tried to make it interesting by adding "fairyland" sections and whatnot for the kids.

We still had tickets for Ruby Falls, but no time to use them today, so we decided to stay here one more day. We drove to a downtown area to see the Chattanooga Choo Choo. We did not even know what to expect. Turns out this is an old train station converted into a hotel and conference center. There are some shops and stuff too. We are too late to shop, but we had dinner in the hotel. They were really not prepared to serve any kind of gluten free meal, but we made the best of it.

On the way back to our hotel, we found a Staples store and I bought a refill for my favorite pen. It has been out for weeks, but we haven't seen a Staples until now, and they are the only store that carries refills. (It is the PhD Multi, which also has a PDA stylus.)

Tuesday, May 16

Today we went to Ruby Falls. It is an indoor underground waterfall over 100 feet high. You have to go down in an elevator, then take a guided tour that lasts about an hour. The whole thing is quite over-hyped, but the waterfall is nice. They played obnoxious music at the waterfall (Mary does not agree that the music was obnoxious). They did have the waterfall lit in a nice way. They let us go "underneath" the waterfall which was the best view. Along the way, we had to walk through a cave that had lots of formations identified. Since we had already been to Carlsbad and Mammoth, this cave had nothing new to offer us. But it did allow very close-up view of some interesting formations like drapery.

We went back down the Chattanooga Choo Choo, got some ice cream to soothe my sore throat, then bought choo choo hats in the gift store.

Tomorrow, we want to visit the Ave Maria Grotto in northern Alabama. We head south and with Mary driving we make it to Cullman, Alabama. We settle into the motel and make our homemade pizzas, which don't taste half bad.

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Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008