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May 31, 2004
Life is strange sometimes. We had planned to go to Charleston to visit my SIL and her husband for Memorial Day weekend, even though we had to return for Sunday evening mass (dh plays percussion in the ensemble for the Life Teen mass and the “leader” is on vacation that weekend, so dh needed to be there). Alas, when we tried to make hotel reservations for Charleston, everything was booked – 16 hotels were checked and the only thing available was a handicap room at the Hampton Inn & Suites for $249/nt. Yikes! So, plan B was to visit one of dh’s friends/former co-workers who just transferred to Nashville. Due to a corporate visitor at that hotel the same weekend, we cancelled those plans. But, we still had the itch to go someplace. Adam checked around and we could go to Savannah (5 hr drive) or Birmingham (about 3 hrs), both places we haven’t been before. We ended up going to Chattanooga, TN (a mere 1.5 hr drive from home).
I was skeptical about spending two whole days there – what could there possibly be to do? I was amazed to find that we could have spent a week and had plenty to do with the kids. What a great little town! We arrived at lunchtime on Friday and went straight to the Choo Choo (currently a Holiday Inn), made famous by the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the 40’s, though the reality is the building was the major rail station in the south from 1909-1970. The great things about this historic landmark are a number of neat shops around the perimeter of the courtyard area, a completely refurbished wood-burning train engine identical to what would have been used when the first non-stop train service was offered in 1880 between Cincinnati and Chattanooga, and a quaint electric trolley ride along the hotel’s 30 acre property. There is also a model railroad museum along with several restaurants on the property and one of the neatest features is 48 rail cars each with two guest rooms inside. We did not have the opportunity to see one of these rooms, but it would be the only way I would stay at this landmark hotel. I felt incredibly sad in the main building as I realized it smelled of staleness and urine; the restrooms off the lobby were disgusting and there were huge chunks of plaster falling off the walls near the huge dome ceiling. This place has the opportunity to be a truly awesome hotel, rich with history and beauty, but I would not recommend anyone to stay overnight there… On the website, it says this hotel is a resort/vacation complex – this was a terribly run-down place and while the grounds immediately surrounding the main building were well-kept, the “complex” was a shambles. Very sad, but onto the rest...
What an odd town! Old, run-down buildings butt up to brand new modern buildings at one end of town and as you go toward the river there is more new and beautifully refurbished old buildings. We stayed at the Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn, where we were greeted by friendly agents and were pleased with the accommodations, not yet even a year old. The hotel staff was great, even offering us umbrellas on loan during the rain one evening on our way out to town. There is a wonderful public transportation system, electric shuttle buses that run all day and the ride is free. Everything is a short walk from a shuttle stop, so it made traveling through town very convenient.
We went to the Tennessee Aquarium, a great place with fantastic layout and home of the world’s largest freshwater aquarium. The girls especially enjoyed the unusual tank that had a space in the center where they could climb under and come up in the middle of the tank – I don’t know if they switch out what types of fish are in this tank, but they had clownfish and blue tang (like Nemo and Dory from Finding Nemo) which were, of course, a big hit with all the kids.
On Saturday, we drove to the top of Lookout Mountain. What a beautiful view! We went through Rock City, a place where they have built paths through the crevices and around the one side of this mountain. There is a spot there called Lover’s Leap where on a clear day one can see 7 states. It wasn’t a clear day, so we didn’t see all the states, but it was still amazing! It was a lot of walking up and down these stone paths and through the caverns, so the girls got a bit tired and we were exhausted from keeping them safe from diving off the edges of cliffs. There is a lot to do up on that mountain and we stopped at the site of a major Civil War battle, a house which was seized in a turning point of that war – Craven’s House.
Saturday night, after a delicious dinner at a local brewery, I went to Warehouse Row which is now a Prime Outlets shopping area. Nothing too exciting, sadly many of the stores I wanted to go into were no longer in business there. I did, however, get a couple new bras (sound exciting?), some socks, Nine West flip flops (who could resist for less than $10?) and a couple prayer books for mothers, and one shirt for Adam. It was nice just to browse around and have a couple hours to myself.
It seems like we did more than just those three things, I guess when you factor meals in and just wandering around looking at everything there is to do, we did fill the 2 days rather easily. We will be going back in the future as we have tickets to go to Ruby Falls (a waterfall in the center of the mountain, you have to go almost half a mile on foot into the middle of the mountain through caverns to get there) and would like to visit the Creative Discovery Children’s Museum as well as a park across the river.
The girls had a great time and I took over 200 pictures with my digital camera – whew, I will have to whittle those down, but it was wonderful to be able to just click away without worrying about the cost of developing – especially since so many times Veronica would not get in the picture and then pout and cry when we would move on to the next thing. Hopefully, I will get a few really good shots out of there, and I took some great once of the scenery on the mountain. So, instead of spending a weekend visiting family or friends, we spent a wonderful weekend just the 4 of us, exploring a new town and doing things we have never done before - really wonderful how life works out unexpectedly.
Onto Veronica and Ana: I am amazed at how much the girls fight with each other. I am amazed at how much they hug each other and kiss each other til their teeth nearly crack. It is a strange thing raising these two beautiful imps – I never know what to expect. Veronica is so moody lately, I wonder if she is a teenager stuck in a tweenie body. She is up and down from minute to minute, crying over the smallest things these days. It is bizarre. And now with Ana; at 26 months, she has been more rambunctious than Veronica was even in her “terrible twos”. Now that she is going through her own "two phase", she is uncontrollable - she jumped on Veronica's face last week when Veronica was lying on the floor watching tv! I have to call on the Lord many times a day to keep myself from throttling the girl. I will tell her not to do something and she will look me right in the eye and do it. Oh, it is exhausting. I have no idea how to curb this behavior – nothing seems to work. Maybe I could deal with her better if I weren’t still coping with PPD…
Talk To Me:
-Where do you like to take your family on weekend trips?
-Any advice on how to encourage a 2 year old to follow instructions that just a couple weeks ago were regular behavior?
-Any advice on how to prevent a mom from going over the edge? Hehe
-Where can one have digital prints made bigger than standard sizes? Something suitable to hang on a wall…
Wishing you all a great week and a beautiful first true week of summer!
Many Blessings,
Holly
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