Chattanooga Choo-Choo

Friday I accompanied Clark down to Georgia to pick up his son, who is staying with us for a week. On the way home we stopped in Chattanooga for dinner and to walk around the Chattanooga Choo-Choo. It is one of those situations of history where I know the famous song which makes me aware of the history, where in truth there was the history which inspired the song! According to a plaque, the Chattanooga Choo-Choo travelled from Cincinnati to Chattanooga beginning on March 1880 and was the first public transportation between the North and the South. We arrived too late to go through the museum, but did get to tour the model railroad display. Clark is a big fan of model railroads and I am fascinated by the details in this particular exhibit. One of the trains had more than ninety cars! After spending a good amount of time here, we headed over to a dining car for pizza. Through the windows from our seat, we could look into another dining car, which had linens and flower arrangements, definitely the romantic dining experience. The pizza, although thin crust, was quite tasty. Next we went into the ice cream and candy shop to get Hunter an ice cream cone. I am happy to report that for the first time in my memory I left a sweet shop without getting *any* sweets! While the fudge looked quite tasty as did the ice cream, I’ve been suffering from severe headaches for a while and sugar seems to be a trigger for those headaches. I just didn’t want to end a nice day with a headache. By this time, evening had set in and the temperatures had dropped enough that the walk through the garden area was quite pleasant. They have a nice koi pond with neat fish fountains which squirt water to oxygenate the pond. There were other statues and fountains sprinkled throughout. Before leaving we headed back into the main building to use the restroom facilities before beginning the trip back to Nashville. For those who are not aware, the Chattanooga Choo-Choo is a hotel created in an old railroad depot. Using the restroom reminded me that at one time this was a public facility. I love airports just for the people watching opportunities and here in this old depot, I could imagine the people who congregated on the platform through the years… businessmen in suits, mothers with their gloves and hats herding their flock of chicks, newlyweds heading to the big city for a honeymoon, soldiers being deployed. The history. The memories. How nostalgic it makes me feel! All-in-all the visit was a very nice experience. I think some day Clark and I should go back and stay in one of the railroad car hotel rooms. I definitely would like to go through the museum and learn more of the history.

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N