One of the side trips that many past Loopers recommended we take was the 374 mile round trip from Joe Wheeler State Park to Chattanooga, TN. We decided to take the time to do this, so instead of continuing on south, we headed east, upstream of the Tennessee River to Chattanooga. We were not disappointed!
The Tennessee River is probably one of the most beautiful rivers we have traveled on. With its many miles of hills and valleys on each side, its limited commercial traffic and almost no floating debris to navigate around, it was truly pleasure boating.
Just one of the many sheer cliffs along the river.
The closer we approach Chattanooga, the more rugged the terrain becomes.
One of the few mansions that dot the ridge lines above the river.
As we round the bend in the river,
famous Lookout Mountain comes into view.
Though this picture is slightly out of sequence, it is still a great picture of ITHAKA while underway. It was taken by one of the marina personnel who happened to be visiting the Shiloh battlefield as we cruised by after leaving the Grand Harbor marina.
Once in Chattanooga, a little nap was in order before seeing all the sites!😃
We rented a car for a few days to travel around and see the many sites. Here we are on top of Lookout Mountain and the Civil War battle that took place here.
The view from the top was spectacular
One of the many monuments commemorating the "Battle Above the Clouds"
Entrance to the Lookout Point.
Approximately eight miles to the southeast of Lookout Mountain, across the state line into Georgia, is the Chickamauga battlefield. The two locations, Lookout Mountain and Chickamauga are all part of the same battle that took place during September thru November of 1863. Chickamauga was the last major victory for the Confederate forces, but though they won this battle, they were not able to keep the Union forces from taking control of Chattanooga. More than 140,000 Confederate and Union troops met on these two battlegrounds, with 34,000 men killed or wounded.
The Chickamauga battlefield was the first site to be turned into a National Military Park (NMP) in 1890.
Today it is one of the best maintained and most well defined Civil War sites in the country.
Every infantry, artillery, and calvary unit has an identifying marker or monument showing where they were positioned on the battlefield.
Our last sightseeing trip was to the wonderful Tennessee Aquarium. Located in two separate buildings, one housing fresh water fish and animals and the other housing saltwater fish and animals.
This picture is of a rare species of Sea Horse.
There is also a section that includes the forest and its streams.
A giant Alligator snapping turtle.
This one is for you Mark. A Russian Sturgeon!
One of the many sharks in the saltwater exhibit.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are appreciated. I changed some settings. Hopefully, you will now be able to see your comments post. Thanks for following our blog.