We have arrived in the land of the Choo Choo! Chattanooga. The name is synonymous with Glenn Miller and his big band from the 30’s, so I expected to see a small town with an Art Deco station. How wrong. Chattanooga is a large industrial town, built on the Tennessee River. It is a crossroads for east to west and north to south roads and rail, as well as being a port. The traffic is awful. Because of its position it became the focus for an important battle in the Civil War. Once the town had fallen it was the supply depot and starting point for Sherman’s attack on Atlanta and his March To The Sea. It is, however, good to know that the famous railway station is still there and preserved as a hotel. We spent a pleasant afternoon riding the electric trolley from the Riverside area to the Choo Choo Hotel and exploring its shops, antique carriages, which are now hotel rooms, lobby and restaurants. The whole building and railyard had been renovated as a very posh hotel. It very nicely reflected the mood evoked by Glenn Millers music.
We started our visit on Saturday by going to Lookout Mountain, which is a 2000 ft finger of a mountain that stands above Chattanooga. There is a National Memorial Park on the point as a memorial to the ‘Battle above the Clouds’ which formed part of the battle to break the siege a couple of months after the battle of Chickamauga. The view of Chattanooga is quite amazing, you can see the Tennessee River snaking away to the North, the flat uplands of the Cumberland Plateau to the West and North. Across the North East you can dimly see the Blue Ridge Mountains. They say you can see 7 states from there, however I think we could only see four. Alabama to the left, Tennessee in front, Georgia to the right and those blue ridge mountains of North Carolina way in the distance.
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