This post is long overdue. Back in November, I had an awesome adventure up to Chattanooga, TN. Also known as the “Scenic City” and I have to say that I think that’s the perfect name for it. Not only are the mountains and views surrounding the city beautiful, but the downtown area is beautiful in it’s own right. I was thoroughly impressed the entire time I was there.
I started off on my three day trip last Sunday behind the wheel of my Kia Soul with four hours of open road between Augusta and Chattanooga. My main goal during the stay was to go hang gliding. I’d been planning to go for weeks by this point and had already paid for it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find anyone to go with me, but it’s all good because the experience was worth everything!
I didn’t leave Augusta until around noonish and figured that the hang gliding on Monday was only going to last around an hour or two so I needed to figure out what else I was going to do while I was up there. The morning of the trip I was searching around for some events online and saw that Alton Brown was having is last show on his tour “Eat Your Science”. (If you don’t know who Alton Brown is then I’d say you don’t love food).
When I was younger I would watch him all the time on the Food Network. He had his own show called “Good Eats” and he also hosted Iron Chef America along with making appearances elsewhere throughout the years. Anyways, as luck would have it there were still tickets left so I bought one right away! Now I had plans for Sunday night.
A couple hours later I was on the road!
With all of my trips lately I’ve been trying not to spend a ton of money, because you all know I have that goal of saving $25,000. So I try to save money where I can without sacrificing too much fun. With the hang gliding I could only save so much, however I did happen to get a $50 discount so it turned out to be around $250 instead of $300 that I was expecting. I also stayed at an Airbnb and I definitely got what I paid for. That’s not to say it was a bad stay though! I had my own private apartment and it was in such a great area of town, located right across the river and within an easy distance to whatever you needed to get to, not only by car but I could have also ridden a bike or walked to wherever I wanted to go. I would have loved to walk around some more, but it was literally freezing outside and got well below 32 degrees during my stay there.
That first day I arrived I couldn’t believe how beautiful of a city it was, honestly. Not too big and not too small, Chattanooga just seemed like the perfect place to be filled with activities that normally come with larger cities such as an aquarium and top notch entertainment, but with the feeling of being a small town. I was in love.
The first thing I did was check into my Airbnb. I didn’t have to meet or greet anyone. All I had to do was grab the key out of the lockbox and I was good to go. I had a couple hours left before the show at 7pm so I just relaxed for a little and grabbed a shower then got on my way. I headed downtown, only a 10 minute drive at most and that’s pushing it. This may seem like a small thing, but Chattanooga absolutely nailed it when it comes to the amount of parking in their city. There is parking everywhere and it truly brought me joy! I think there’s a huge parking problem in many cities including Augusta, where I live, and it can just really suck trying to find a spot and going in circles for quite some time, but in Chattanooga I just found a lot and parked in it no problem then walked the rest of the way which I was happy to do even if there was plenty of parking spots and lots along the way.
I hadn’t ate all day so I stopped in at Mellow Mushroom and just got a small personal pizza before the show. I finished the pizza and my beer then started walking down Broad Street, trying to take in everything. I was headed to the Tivoli Theater. When I saw the marquee and stepped inside I thought I was going back through time. The Tivoli Theater is absolutely beautiful.
Alton Brown’s show, for those who weren’t able to see it was both filled with information and hilarious at the same time. Alton has always been able to bring a scientific approach to food without it ever feeling like you’re in a science class. He makes it fun and approachable. You’re able to relate and have a better understanding of how things work when it comes to food. I honestly couldn’t have been happier after the show! I had always wanted to see him since I was really young and I finally had.
After the show I headed back to the Airbnb and rested up for the big day.
My day wasn’t full to begin with but from the time I woke up, I started finding more and more to do. I hadn’t scheduled my hang gliding until around noonish so I had some time to spare.
I got up, got ready and headed to a cute little coffee shop in the art district of Chattanooga called Rembrandt’s Coffee House. An adorable place that would have been even better had there not been a screaming child inside, but nonetheless I had a pleasant experience with their cozy atmosphere, delicious breakfast biscuit, and hot coffee to warm me up from the brisk morning air.
With some time left I headed back to the Airbnb to get ready and get my sense of direction to start heading to the hang gliding spot. It was around 30 minute drive to get there through the mountains. Going though winding roads and going up steep mountains, I loved it. Even the drive itself was a blast to do! At the end of the drive, I arrived at their offices that are perched on top of the mountain.
The morning was chilly. Maybe even a bit more than chilly. To give you an idea the temperatures were around 40 degrees with the sun shining. There was a slight breeze and the sweatshirt I was wearing was putting up a fight to keep me warm. Regardless it was a gorgeous day and I was excited to see the world in a new way.
The folks at the hang gliding company were extremely friendly and it was awesome to me that most of them were working their dream jobs. The company has their own cabins that you can rent and stay at while you’re then, but some of the staff actually live there as well.
The one girl who was helping me with my gear in the beginning said that she loved hang gliding and that she does it full time and lives in one of the cabins.
When I was up in the with my instructor, Mike, I asked him how long he had been hang gliding and he told me for eight years. He said on his 40th birthday he went hang gliding for the first time and absolutely loved it. He went on to say that after that first flight he ended up going back home, sold his house, and has been hang gliding ever since. He also lives up in the mountains in one of the cabins. I just find that story to be incredible and extremely inspirational. These people were doing exactly what they wanted to be doing.
The flight itself was more than amazing. Words cannot described the feeling you have while flying. Your view goes on and on. For miles and miles, there was nothing but forest. Beautiful mountains going on for as far the eye could see. Fog still in the valley far away. The sun shining down on everything. And to make the experience even better, they teach you a bit on how to fly the glider. Just a truly spectacular experience that I think anyone should try. I hope to write a blog post by itself just on the hang gliding experience.
Once I was back safe and sound on the ground with a huge smile on my face, I talked to them all for a bit and got all of my photos that were taken, thanked them all and headed out on my way. The day was still young so I had to figure out what to do next. I found just the thing.
On my way back towards Chattanooga, there was a tourist attractions called Lookout Mountain that I ended up stopping out. There were a few things to check out. The overlook, where you can see seven states at the same time. Ruby falls which I believe is the largest cavernous falls in the states at least. (I could totally be wrong). And Rock City, which is all around and you walk through it with plenty to see, as your walking your way towards the lookout. Unfortunately, I didn’t check out Ruby Falls, but everything else was great. The lookout provides a stunning view of the seven states (maybe not as stunning as the view I had hang gliding as I was 3500 feet in the air, but still stunning nonetheless).
One I felt like I had seen everything I wanted to at Rock City, I went across the street and enjoyed some coffee from Starbucks then decided to head back to town and relax for a bit. I was feeling pretty accomplished and tackled everything I wanted to do along with a few last minute things as well. For the rest of the day I just took it easy, had a little dinner and relaxed.
Early the next day I packed up my things and headed back home, where I was greeted by Barkley with excitement.