The Chattanooga Pics

So as I said before, last Friday we braved the "rain" and went to Chattanooga for a family outing. You can see how rainy it ended up being...but that's okay, because we needed the pretty weather and it's raining now...so everybody wins. First stop was the Chattanooga Zoo...

...which is so much better than Zoo Atlanta, primarily because they call themselves the Chattanooga Zoo and they don't interchange the parts of speech in their title like BellSouth and Team USA and all those other names that people give themselves thinking they sound edgy, but really they sound dumb. Zoo Atlanta being one of them. I also think Zoo Atlanta is waaaay overpriced. When I was a teenager (which was not that long ago) you could get in for $7--which seems about right. The last time I went was two years ago, and it had not changed a bit except they added two pandas which are never in the mood to be seen and the price tag had been inflated in a major way. Boooooo. The Chattanooga Zoo cost $15 for all four of us to go into, and although it didn't have elephants or giraffes, it wasn't like they were trying to show us dogs and squirrels and stuff. It still had enough exotic animals to give my kiddies a major thrill, which of course thrills me. Also, there were like 50 people there...no thousands upon thousands of screaming school children in matching shirts blocking my kids' view. Nope, it was just us and the animals, strolling around at our leisure. Nice.

They really loved it all equally, except the Patrick was totally enamored with the macaws, which he is familiar with because Diego saved one at some point in time. He sat and talked to that red macaw for about 20 minutes, and to give the bird some props, he held up his end of the conversation. He also showed us how he could peel a grape and eat just the pulp with his beak--no hands! It was highly impressive. My favorites were the African crane (the large bird with the crazy hair in the fourth pic), because he was into some wild and crazy antics--all up in your face and such--and the jaguar, who was completely geriatric but still breathtakingly beautiful.

The other great thing about the Chattanooga Zoo is that they have kept up with the standards for animal sanctuaries, but they have still preserved that old-timey zoo feeling. In the early days of zoos, they were kind of what you would see in a Curious George or Richard Scary book. They were built right into the heart of the city, and the design was basically a cement landscape with cages scattered in a circular path around one large central cage (which usually held monkeys). Not so great for the animals, but eventually people wised up and starting building something a little more like a natural habitat. As we walked around, I could definitely see the structure that had once been there...but was now covered with much nicer surroundings. So all in all, I give the zoo two thumbs up, and we'll be going back in a year or so, because they're adding on a new section so that'll be more to see.

Moving on, our next adventure was not quite so cost-effective, but fun nonetheless. We went on the Chattanooga Ducks, one of those old war boat/car contraptions that have been renovated for tours and are now sprinkled across the country taking money from suckers like me. I actually really enjoyed it--it was a great day to be on the water--but I think maybe half of what they charged would've been appropriate for what was delivered. But ya know, wherever boats are involved, there's also a hefty fee...so if you can't escape it, you might as well embrace it.

In the picture of our reflection, I'm the one sitting up front holding the camera out. The driver was babbling about how if someone took a picture, we might end up on the internet (gasp!) and I wasn't going to make a liar out of him. We learned a few things, including the fact that the Tennessee River is actually a lake called Nickajack Lake...something about its flow pattern or whatever...and the guide told us about some prominent residents of Chattonooga who had built fabulous houses along the shoreline. Very informative all in all, and let's face it, who doesn't love a boat ride?

After that, we had an hour to kill before we met up with Luke's brother Adam and his girlfriend Kendall for dinner, so we headed down to the riverside behind the aquarium to play at the park. We had just learned on our boat ride that the city had spent millions renovating the riverfront to make it more accessible to people, so who were we not to put it to good use? Waste not, want not, that's what I always say. Most of the time.

Luke and I were talking about how Chattanooga has done a good job with itself. There's a lot of history and natural beauty there, and they've showcased it well. It's really easy to go for just a day or a weekend and do a lot and learn a lot too. We both think our town could take a few chapters out of the how-to book and do a little bit better. However, since Luke used to work directly under the Downtown Development Director and we both know her work ethic, I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon. But I digress. I'm glad Chattanooga is nearby for all the fun it offers. We had a good day trip and we'll be going back soon.