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| The beautiful Tennessee River |
This is our fourth year boating in the deep South. My family finally came to visit us in Tennessee. On a road trip. Seven adults, two cars, driving all the way from Philadelphia. In five days. Mind you, it's a twelve hours drive, not including rest stops. And of course they wanted to see everything. They cannot fathom coming to Tennessee and not visit
Graceland. Oh no! Not knowing that Tennessee is a state so wide it borders seven other states, and Memphis is at the other end of the state. My sister bribed us by offering to pay for all our admission tickets to Graceland. That's when I gave in. Because
Memphis is also my favorite destination in Tennessee.
First stop was
Chattanooga, where
Mai Thai is docked. We showed them the marina grounds, and after a fellow angler caught a largemouth Bass, they hastily looked for some fishing rods and spent two hours fishing on the docks. Next day, we went to
Rembrandt's Coffeehouse for lunch. Located in the Bluff View Arts District, in a European-style setting, the cafe is surrounded by art galleries as well as a sculpture garden. Its sandwiches, coffee and delectable desserts are just fabulous. We walked off our lunch exploring the area - the Walnut Street pedestrian bridge and downtown - all the while admiring the waterfront and the scenic Tennessee River.
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| Point Park on Lookout Mountain |
Next stop was the
Chattanooga Choo-Choo, a renowned landmark of the South. The 1909 terminal station had been turned into the Holiday Inn, and you can sleep in an authentic railcar! How cool is that? In the late afternoon, we drove up to Lookout Mountain, widely known for its many unusual geological features, of which the most famous are
Ruby Falls and
Rock City. Unfortunately, we only had time for
Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park (Point Park on Lookout Mountain), where the battle for Chattanooga was fought during the Civil War.
Did I mention that almost every boater here has a grill or a smoker? How can we not end the evening with a good ole southern barbecue? So while some were trying to catch a fish or two, the rest of us were grilling boudin (New Orleans-style sausage with rice), baby-back ribs (marinated in Lee Kum Kee's Korean BBQ sauce) and pork chops, marinated in Teriyaki sauce. We complemented our dinner with salad, sweet corn, and cool refreshing
tapioca pearls with cantaloupe (recipe courtesy of food blog Steamy Kitchen. Thanks, Jaden!)
Stay tuned for part 2 -
Nashville
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