Posts Tagged With: Walnut Street Bridge Chattanooga TN

Fort Oglethorpe, GA. March 28

A view of Hunter Museum in Chattanooga with a winding bike path.

A young boys’ baseball game goes on across the street from our Bed and Breakfast while we munch on cheese and crackers and other appetizers. We have finally been able to put away the fleece and hoodies and enjoy the warmth. After a short relaxing nap, life feels good again. Sometimes even travel gets a little tiring and you need to slow down the pace. But as I reflect, I am glad we started these travels over five years ago. I find myself slowing down a bit and the knees and hips move a little more slowly and with a few more creaks than they did in 2013.

Americans that we meet seem generally happy, with themselves, with their towns, with their families. Maybe the pool of people we meet is atypical, but it is refreshing to not deal with angry and upset people day after day. It probably helps that we are reading and listening to less news shows.

For the next ten days or so, these posts will be less than daily. Thursday and Friday are drive days, and for the following week we will be in Miami Beach, frequently just walking and laying out in the sun.

Ed and Engine 4501 at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. The 4501 was manufactured in 1911 and has been in several movies before being retired and refurbished for its new role.

After breakfast this morning, we headed south to Chattanooga. The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum offered a noon excursion. The train ride is more nostalgic and educational than scenic. The ride is only a few miles but you go over several bridges and through a tunnel to the museum’s rail yard where they repair old rail equipment from around the country. The engine is uncoupled from our passenger cars and placed on a turntable for us all to view as it reverses direction for the ride back.

From the museum we headed to Chattanooga’s Riverwalk Sculpture Garden. As we parked, we realized we were hungry and for something other than bar-b-que, baked beans, etc. Tony’s Pasta Shop and Trattoria filled our needs with exquisitely flavored pasta. Tony’s is located next to the Sculpture Garden and is part of what is called Bluff View Art District. This small neighborhood has restaurants, shops and art galleries. Hunter Museum of American Art is right next door although we did not stop in today.

Glass bottomed bridge foreground, Walnut Street Bridge background

After lunch we viewed the sculptures and walked over the glass bottomed bridge to the Walnut Street Bridge. This bridge is dedicated to pedestrians and bikers, reminding me of the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis although the Stone Arch is more aesthetically pleasing. The Walnut Street Bridge presents a clear view of the Tennessee River and much of Chattanooga not hidden by the hills and mountains of the area.

Battleview B and B in Fort Oglethorpe GA

It was a short drive from the Bluff View area to the Battleview B and B in Fort Oglethorpe. Fort Oglethorpe was a military training facility from 1902 to 1946. The fort is next to the Chickamauga Battlefield, a NPS Civil War battle site that we visited in the fall of 2016. Our B and B is located across from what was the parade grounds for Fort Oglethorpe and now houses the baseball field mentioned in the first paragraph. During Fort Oglethorpe’s tenure, the B and B was the facility housing the camp band. When Fort Oglethorpe shut down, local leaders successfully petitioned the state to make the area a city, which they named after the fort.

We hope your day was a pleasant one.

Ed and Chris. March 28

Epilogue: Snippets on life in America from Chris
Day 13: The house has usually seen a lot of restoration. Personal touches from collectibles, to hobbies, to theme motifs, to candies are many times scattered throughout. The breakfast menu will have some family specialty. Why people open a B and B area varied; needed to save a building; always wanted to live on a farm; enjoy cooking and home design; wanted a place where the grandkids would come. Try a B and B sometime in your future travels.