Tuesday, 16 October; Chattanooga

We arose at 7:30, a late start for us, tidied up things around the boat, and breakfasted on pancakes.  The Tennessee Aquarium opened at 10:00, so we joined up with Matt and Colleen and got in the ticket line.  Tickets were $28.00 each, however, they accepted our military discount and reduced the price to $25.00.  The Aquarium consisted of two huge buildings, one was the “Ocean” building and the other was the “River”.  

 

We started out in the Ocean building which had many different venues. I will let most of the photos speak for themselves.

 

 

 
 Now, this one I cannot let speak for itself, Joe, (remember his kissing the buzzard) felt compelled to get up close and personal with this penguin

The exhibits were well designed and flowed effortlessly.  We finished the Ocean building in time to break for lunch.  We walked a couple of blocks to the Big River Grill and Brewing Company.  It really was “Big”. It took up almost half of an entire city block.  While dining, we noticed that across the street was a “Free” City Electric Shuttle Bus that would take you along a route that covered the entire downtown area.  One item big on our list was to go see the “Chattanooga Choo Choo”.  This shuttle took us there electrically.  I really love being green. 

 

Although the Chattanooga’s Terminal Station was significant in its role of the train era with it’s “Track 29”, little was known about the first Chattanooga Choo Choo. Only after Glenn Miller's orchestra made the catchy song popular in the late 1940's did the name become world famous.

 Introduced in 1941 by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the song was featured in the movie "Sun Valley Serenade" and performed by Tex Beneke and the Modernaires. Harry Warren wrote the original music score, while Mack Gordon takes credit for the rhythmic words. The Chattanooga Choo Choo song traveled fast throughout the circles of Europe during World War II, and today it is an international favorite.  The Chattnooga Choo Choo Terminal Site is the home of the Hotel bearing the same name.  You can even check into one of the rooms that is located in original Pullman Sleeping Cars in the Terminal Station.

We greenly returned to the Aquarium to see the “River” Building.  I was really looking forward to this since we are intimately connected to the river ecosystems on this journey.   This is an Aquarium view of the “Grand Canyon” of the Tennessee River. 

 This 26 mile long gorge is very beautiful and our photos do not reflect the wonderful colors present at this time of year.  

 We returned to the docks and Matt and Colleen had a surprise waiting for them.  The “Free” City Dock that they had tied up to was no longer “Free”.  It was under contract to Marine Max for management and fee collecting.  Much laughter was heard by some.We had another task to accomplish before we went to dinner and before we set sail on Wednesday morning.  We needed to reprovision with a few necessities, such as drinking water.  The only grocery store in the area accessible by us (walking) was Buhlers Grocery.  This store catered to the local downtown residents and carried such staples as Chitterlings and my personal favorite;  Chicken Feet.  We borrowed Matt’s rolling cart and loaded it down with important stuff and returned to the boat.  Dining this evening was at the “Blue Water Grille”.  Dinner was exceptional.  We then turned in for an early departure.