TOTAL MILES TRAVELED TODAY: 28 NM
We were back on the Tennessee River and heading up river by 9:30. It was strangely familiar. Oh yes, we traveled seven miles of this yesterday, up and back again. Now we were seeing it in the morning’s brilliant sunlight. Still beautiful!
We are seeing lots of bass fishermen in the river. I don’t know, the fishing stuff can be pretty boring but I do love the catching part.
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| HOPE HE'S CATCHING |
We pass homes perched on the river’s banks and enter the 32 miles of narrow, twisty-turny passage. The towering rocky peaks were frosted in a colorful pallet of autumnal colors.
TENNESSEE RIVER HOME AND DOCKRIGHT ON THE BANKS WITH THE COLORFUL WOODS
RIVER ROCK AND FALL COLORS
Our wildlife spotting consisted mostly of turtles, clinging to the floating stumps.
A COLONY FOR TURTLES"ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER"
Just after passing into the Eastern Time Zone at MM 451.8 (taking us from 11:45 to 12:45) we sighted the Chattanooga Paddle Boat then passed by the huge Signal Mountain Cement Company. This is the facility that processes the raw materials mined from the quarry near Hales Bar.
CHATTANOOGA PADDLE BOATSIGNAL MOUNTAIN CEMENT COMPANY
As we came nearer to Chattanooga we began to have glimpses of civilization with houses again appearing on the bank, some tour boat travels and the highway skirting the river. We heard the aquarium’s tour boat offering to make a slow passage by A Frayed Knot and immediately thought of Richard Hoffstadt and his corny joke with the same punch line. I know you will appreciate this one, Steven.
TENNESSEE AQUARIUM TOUR BOATA FRAYED KNOT
As we rounded a curve, Chattanooga came in to view and sighted several river cruise tour boats along the way. We made our way to the town dock and tied up before jumping off to explore our surroundings.
THE SOUTHERN BELLEAPPROACHING CHATTANOOGA
Right off we found the Tennessee Aquarium and ducked in for an up-close and personal look at the aquatic life. We adored the seahorse exhibit and spent quite a bit of time there. We saw alligators, butterflies, untold numbers of fish and the charming penguins before viewing their IMAX 3D presentation on the waves of Tahiti.
 Image via Wikipedia |
| TENNESSEE AQUARIUM |
SEAHORSE WITH GRASPING TAILSTICK-LIKE SEAHORSE
COLORED TO BLENDHONEST, THIS IS A SEAHORSE
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| JUDY, FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT |
After leaving the aquarium we continued to wander the streets until we were drawn into the upscale little Blue Waters bistro. We had an early dinner of appetizers and the best margarita ever.
We are docked right near the Hunter Museum of American Art and under the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge. After changing into some warmer clothes we set off to make our way across the bridge. Live music was drifting down in the night air from the museum and the lights were twinkling all around us. This bridge was built in 1909 as a main artery to downtown Chattanooga for the population north of the river. After being declared unsafe for modern traffic and scheduled for demolition in the 1990s, the Chattanooga citizens banded together and fought to keep it open as a pedestrian bridge. We encountered joggers, couples strolling hand in hand and families with children laughing and enjoying the freedom of no vehicle traffic. Nice job Chattanooga!
 Image by Frank Kehren via Flickr |
| HUNTER MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART |
 Image by southerntabitha via Flickr |
| HUNTER STREET PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE |
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