It's been five years since Donald and I vowed our love and commitment to one another in front of God, our family and friends. We decided to celebrate by heading back to the city where we got engaged-Chattanooga, Tennessee.
We left Thursday morning after grabbing a healthy satisfying Chick Fil-A breakfast and arrived just before noon and were able to go ahead and check in to our "hotel."
We stayed in a sleeper car at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel. It was precious and perfect for us. I told Donald that since we got engaged on the Delta Queen Riverboat and we had the ability to possibly stay here, we had to. I mean, why go sleep in a regular hotel when this is an awesome option?!
The inside of the train terminal was spectacular.
This domed ceiling was probably 60+ feet high.
Our train car.
And our adorable room!-Instagram shot.
Our car was #764/Phil Whitaker (whoever he is), but the 7 was missing off of ours.
The beautiful courtyard view!
We got a miniature model of this in Christmas ornament form for our tree.
Not much space between cars or privacy. Sound travels well through the metal. The guy adjacent to us had a sneezing fit and you would have thought the guy was in bed with us. We could also hear his TV and kids through the walls. Donald turned our TV up really loud to hopefully let the guy see how easy it is to hear others. Luckily his kids didn't make much racket after that or in the morning.
Yes, I know my feet are big. They won't even fit on the step to the train car.
We walked all the way from the hotel down to the Tennessee Aquarium to buy tickets for their River Gorge Explorer tour at 2 pm. Their website only showed the one afternoon tour, but it was sold out. Turns out they had another tour at 4:30 so we got tickets and took the free electric bus back up to the hotel.
To kill time and since we were a little munchy, we headed over to this place for lunch-Terminal Brewhouse. It's right next to the Choo Choo and they had a great patio up top and out back. It was a perfect day for sitting outside.
We enjoyed the pot roast nachos for an appetizer. I had the short rib Sandwich, Donald had the John Deerman's lunch-cheese, cured meats, crackers, fruit and nuts. Everything was fantastic, even if I ordered a manly lunch and Donald ordered like a French woman on vacation who also happened to be on a diet.
Look at this sexy man of mine!
Checking out supposed bald eagles way up high in the sky.
The boat can go upwards of 40 mph and slam on brakes pretty much instantly. It's really cool, but you really have to be paying attention.
This one is a favorite shot from the trip.
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Great Blue Heron
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Gorgeous Fall Leaves
View of the aquarium from the river
We got up level with the pier and then the boat did it's trick-a 360 degree turn all from a remote. We got to stand on the deck while it spun.
Watching the sunset from the pedestrian bridge-the spot I just knew we were going to get engaged over 6 years ago. Nope. He waited and asked on the riverboat to keep the ring safe. Good idea.
We walked over to the The North Shore and had a drink at Heaven & Ale for their Thirstday special. Donald had a sour beer and I tried the Blue Indian blueberry ginger kombucha. It smelled horrible, but tasted fantastic. We sat outside on their patio watching a few people play corn-hole and just hang out. There was supposed to be the Grilled Cheese Emergency food truck but unfortunately we didn't get to taste it since it never showed up.
We walked down the street to Beast & Barrel-a Gastro Smokehouse. I was telling Donald as we sat down that I believe we ate here the night we got engaged, it was just different restaurant. They have big garage door windows that open and I specifically remember those.
We ordered onion rings with jalapeño infused honey as an app. I got a peach mojito and honestly? It was not good. Like at all. I drank it but really didn't want to. It didn't taste like a peach at all. I was very disappointed in it, but the meal more than made up for it. I had the
Pork chop churrasco with peach & ginger preserves, goat cheese mashed potatoes and broccolini. Donald had the antipasto platter as he wasn't satisfied with his platter from lunch. It consisted of hand made sausage & meats, pickles, mustard, crackers, house jerky. Once it came out and he tasted it, he said that was exactly what he wanted from his lunch meal. My meal was spectacular. I just kept eating and eating to the point of being miserable because it was so good and I knew we couldn't take it back as we had nowhere to store it safely. The chef came out and I complimented her and told her that her meal was in my Top 10. She was very nice and appreciative.
After requesting several hand-trucks to help us out of the restaurant and being denied, we finally managed to roll out of there. We determined after all of the food for the day, it was probably a good idea to stop at the conveniently located Walgreens across from the restaurant and pick up some Tums. We made that small detour and then slowly made our way back over the bridge and waited for the bus to bring us back to our Choo-Choo.
After that ridiculous belly stuffing, I showered, D watched a little TV and we both passed out hard. We discovered the next morning neither one of us had taken any Tums the night before and neither of us had any heartburn or indigestion. We were shocked but happy.
We slept well in our little train car. The sun was shining and it was a bit cool out. Donald had to do a bit of work so he found me a coffeehouse that served breakfast. I got ready, then walked down to Mean Mug Coffeehouse.
I had a decaf vanilla latte and the meat, caramelized onion, goat cheese and tomato quiche with a side of lightly dressed greens. I did a little browsing in my new Food Network Magazine outside on their patio and just enjoyed the alone time along with good food and drink.
After requesting several hand-trucks to help us out of the restaurant and being denied, we finally managed to roll out of there. We determined after all of the food for the day, it was probably a good idea to stop at the conveniently located Walgreens across from the restaurant and pick up some Tums. We made that small detour and then slowly made our way back over the bridge and waited for the bus to bring us back to our Choo-Choo.
After that ridiculous belly stuffing, I showered, D watched a little TV and we both passed out hard. We discovered the next morning neither one of us had taken any Tums the night before and neither of us had any heartburn or indigestion. We were shocked but happy.
We slept well in our little train car. The sun was shining and it was a bit cool out. Donald had to do a bit of work so he found me a coffeehouse that served breakfast. I got ready, then walked down to Mean Mug Coffeehouse.
I had a decaf vanilla latte and the meat, caramelized onion, goat cheese and tomato quiche with a side of lightly dressed greens. I did a little browsing in my new Food Network Magazine outside on their patio and just enjoyed the alone time along with good food and drink.
This artwork was right across from our "hotel". Loved it!
I walked to the StarLine Bookstore and chatted with the owner and her daughter about The Delta Queen and the Chattanooga Choo Choo since they were listed as haunted in a book she was featuring and we had stayed/were staying in both. D met up with me at the bookstore and we saw a card for Koch's Bakery and the owner recommended it so we walked down for fresh, homemade doughnuts.
We drove up to Signal Mountain which is one of the mountain tops viewed from our River Gorge Tour the day before. I'd read about the Signal Mountain Farm and wanted to check it out, but turns out, they aren't open to the public, they just sell at several local farmer's markets. Butttt....our trip up wasn't in vain. It was a gorgeous view.
Chattanooga to the left...
And just around the river bend are some pretty dangerous rapids.
Touring the river in the river boat.
A young guy asked me what kind of camera I had. He said he used to work at a camera store which was why he was asking. Since he was familiar with our camera, I made him take our picture a few times. Most people are scared when they look at it, make a face and hand it back. It was nice to get some decent shots of our entire body.
Donald brought his pipe to smoke at the cabin, but was all out of tobacco. We found Burns Tobacconist in Chattanooga and stopped by for a smell.
We drove to Champy's Fried Chicken and dined on yet again, another fabulous meal. We got an order of the Mississippi Delta Hot Tamales which came with slaw. I'd never eaten tamales, but I liked them and even more surprising, the slaw. I found out (as suspected) they make their own homemade ranch so I had a fried chicken salad. Champy's cuts up dill pickle spears and adds them to the salad. I thought this was weird, but remembered most people dip their fried pickles into ranch. It was sooo good. In fact, I made a salad the other day with ranch and cut up a few to add to my ranch coated lettuce leaves. Donald went with a tried and true- 2 PC mashed potatoes with gravy and green beans.
After lunch, we began our slow-paced drive over to Andrews, N.C. We stopped at Morris Vineyards out in what seemed like the middle of nowhere for a wine tasting. We bought two bottles of wine to enjoy at the cabin.
I'm really proud of this one!
We stopped at Shoebooties Cafe in Murphy, N.C. for dinner. We sat upstairs in the Shoebooties Martini Bar. The food here was good, but the service was horrible. I felt stressed just being there and wanted nothing more than to leave as quickly as possible. Not the way we wanted to spend our actual anniversary.
They had a special-2 dine for $28. 1 appetizer, 2 entrees and 1 dessert. We went with the bruschetta, chicken with butternut and sage ravioli, mushrooms, cream sauce (me) and the chopped steak, baked potato and green beans (D) and the raspberry cheesecake dessert shooter. The app and entrees were good, but the cheesecake was so overcooked and not good at all.
Friday night we got in the hot tub and I basically slipped into the most relaxed state I've quite possibly ever been in. Seriously. It was meditative and I felt near comatose. Something about the food, the sound of the water bubbling, owls hooting and the crickets/cicadas making their music that just put me out. I must have just sat there with my head propped up and eyes closed with my arms floating for over an hour. Right at the end I dosed off because my head dropped to the side a little. I had my chin basically floating in the water too and Donald said he kept waiting my me to just slip under the water and come up choking. The next morning he told me he was wide awake the night before. I'm thankful he just let me be.
We made it to the cabin after dark so I took these shots the next morning.
"His" bathroom- walk-in shower
Friday night we got in the hot tub and I basically slipped into the most relaxed state I've quite possibly ever been in. Seriously. It was meditative and I felt near comatose. Something about the food, the sound of the water bubbling, owls hooting and the crickets/cicadas making their music that just put me out. I must have just sat there with my head propped up and eyes closed with my arms floating for over an hour. Right at the end I dosed off because my head dropped to the side a little. I had my chin basically floating in the water too and Donald said he kept waiting my me to just slip under the water and come up choking. The next morning he told me he was wide awake the night before. I'm thankful he just let me be.
We made it to the cabin after dark so I took these shots the next morning.
"His" bathroom- walk-in shower
"Her" bathroom, complete with antique vanity and soaking tub
The living room had a cello, grand piano and some other musical instrument. on top of the piano. We found a guitar in the bedroom and when we arrived, music was playing throughout the house on the TV. These people really like their music.
This guy kinda freaked me out!
View of the bar and kitchen area from the living room
Dining area
Adorable porch. Hot tub is just beyond the screen door.
I thought the shape of the patio looked like a guitar pick.
It would make sense with these people.
Unfortunately we didn't get to nap on this.
Her bathroom was on the left, his on the right and the bedroom was at the end of the hall.
View of the sitting area in the bedroom from the bed.
The colors on the leaves this weekend were just spectacular. We drove down the hill from the cabin and saw this. This picture doesn't do them justice. Up on the mountain each tree was a different shade. It was just gorgeous and exactly what we were looking for.
We headed down the road to Calaboose Cellars/St. Andrew's Brewery . This place was supposedly an old jail and now its the smallest free standing complete winery in America. We sat outside and chatted with a couple and their 9 month old from Mississippi that we had seen just earlier at The Burger Shack. Donald did the beer flight and I tried a few samples of wine. We left with two bottles for later.
We headed out for The Cherohala Skyway. It's called this because it spans from southeast Tennessee into southwest North Carolina and if you are in Tennessee then the national forest is called Cherokee National Forest, but once you drive into N.C. it changes to Nantahala National Forest.
Breaking in my new boots
We headed out for The Cherohala Skyway. It's called this because it spans from southeast Tennessee into southwest North Carolina and if you are in Tennessee then the national forest is called Cherokee National Forest, but once you drive into N.C. it changes to Nantahala National Forest.
Breaking in my new boots
We got up pretty high in elevation, but the leaves weren't as pretty.
We stopped on the side of the road for a bathroom break and Donald took off hiking. He could hear the creek and wanted to find it. It was a bit of a search but definitely worth it. I could have sat beside that babbling brook for days. It was so quiet and serene. This sounds exactly like the stream option on noise machines. Just perfect.
Donald's bootsI said that the meal I had in Chattanooga on Thursday was in my top 10, but this meal may be in the top 3. Hell, it might be number 1 if I could only remember the other truly amazing meals that have made it into the top 10 in the past decade or so.
I had the pumpkin soup with curry crema to start followed with a salad of maple roasted pumpkin, arugula, honey vinaigrette, pine nuts, goat cheese. My main course was the pecan crusted Carolina mountain trout drizzled with a sage beurre blanc, roasted potatoes and seasoned raw spinach.
Donald began with the house made pork rinds with spicy vinegar sauce and Spanish paprika then had a small plate of the fried catfish over gruyere grits and red-eye gravy. His main course was the braised beef short ribs plated with maple and horseradish smashed potatoes and honey and thyme glazed carrots.
I can't say enough great things about the food and this place. Highly, highly recommend to anyone.
I drove us home and we got back into the hot tub. It drizzled on us a bit, but no big deal. We drank some wine and had a really fun night.
We had some of our leftovers for brunch as we packed and then hit the road. We stopped at Harrah's Cherokee Valley River Resort on the way back home. Donald said whatever cash we had leftover from our trip we could spend. I "played" for all of about 3 minutes and he did everything else. This was something I didn't really care about doing but he wanted to so we spent our money and left about an hour later.
We drove through Blue Ridge on the way back and stopped downtown for a late lunch at The Black Bear Bier Garten. We weren't starving so we just snacked on the sausage sampler- bratwurst, garlic knockwurst & espresso brat, German potato salad, kraut and a HUGE pretzel with beer cheese.
This was such a good trip. I can't believe it's been five years since we said "I do!" I loved that we finally made it back to Chattanooga where we got engaged and got to discover a new town afterwards. Good food, of course always helps make our trips memorable.
