For our 26 day 9 stop Tennessee Loop, we have travel days and tour days. Chattanooga was our first tour day.
When I began researching things to do, I started with the Aquarium. When our daughter and her family travel to Pennsylvania from Alabama they stop in Chattanooga and the kids love the aquarium. But as I continued my research I came across Ruby Falls. So I made an executive decision. Honestly, I can go to aquariums in different cities. But an underground waterfall? WHAT?
Ruby Falls
Ruby Falls is located just a few miles from our campground and we started out Monday morning with excitement and some trepidation. I don’t love tight spots and I don’t love elevators. Taking an elevator down into the ground to explore tight spots sounded a tad daunting.
We got there well in advance of our ticket time. The web site says the ONLY way to purchase tickets is to purchase them in advance on line but when we got there the lady in the atrium asked IF we had tickets so I am unsure but I would recommend purchasing them in advance. Since we had time to spare she directed us to the stairs to Lookout Mountain.
We climbed several flights of stairs inside and then a few outside. We were on top of the castle and overlooking all of Chattanooga and beyond. It was a lovely clear day and you could see for miles.
Back down inside the castle we perused the gift store and used the restrooms. The cave tour is 90 minutes and there are no facilities down there! There a system that announces what ticket times are to line up. The staging area has lots of great historical information about the Ruby Falls that I found to be quite endearing.
You then make your way down a corridor into a queue, show your tickets and wait for the elevator.
Each group appears to be between 35-39 participants. Yes, I counted. It’s important to me to give you all the details! Prior to loading the elevator we watched a monitor that displayed it’s progress. It appears it reaches speeds up to 600 feet per minute. According to Google that is 6.8 miles per hour. We loaded about a dozen in the elevator and I just prayed. It actually went so fast I didn’t have time to be afraid. It was not terrible at all.
Our tour guide, Heiress, gathered her group from the three elevator trips, marched us past the obligatory staff photo op and then gathered us in a chamber where she gave us the rules and played a video outlining the love story and history I had read about above.
We then began our 42 minute journey down into the depths of the mountain.
Heiress stopped the group maybe 3 or 4 times to discuss different rock formations. We were encouraged to have our phones out and not delay by taking photos. Me, the ever rule follower, barely slowed down so I have a lot of blurry photos. But I would love to share some of them with you.
Ruby Falls
There were times where even I had to duck. The floor was sometimes wet and slippery, there were hand rails and occasional steps. But I feel like it was an easy walk, just a careful walk for people over 6 foot tall.
Eventually we arrived. She prepped us. We had five minutes in the chamber with the Falls. She would give us a one minute warning. There was a light show that went to music. Oh my goodness. God did that!! I was so overwhelmed. Whose idea was it? The Father? The Son? The Holy Spirit? And here is my question….Did They create beauty on the earth for Their enjoyment or for ours? A Waterfall. Underground. Mind blown!
PHOTO OF WATER FALL.
PHOTO OF US AT THE WATER FALL.
Everyone was chatty, often people were offering to take photos for others. It was a great party atmosphere.
Heiress gathered her group and we proceeded out of the cave. I will say, we had a later starting time of 10:10. Tours really start to ramp up at 10, running more frequently. What this meant was the occasional pull over so others could get by. If I had it to do over again I would choose an earlier time.
But no regrets. I am so thankful we did this. It was just over $65.00 for the two of us and it was money well spent.
Our next stop was the International Tow Truck Museum. I know, you didn’t know that was even a thing. Neither did we! This summer we were attending the Wright family dinner (I am fully aware I am not blood related but we are clearly sisters in Christ). Ginger’s dad said, “Chattanooga? You will have to go to the Tow Truck Hall of Fame, I’m in it.” So we did. We arrived at lunch so we sat outside on a bench that looked like a tow truck. We then walked through the outdoor exhibit that is a memorial to all those that have lost their lives in the tow truck and recovery business. That was startling. So many names, so many lives lost while helping others. If I heard correctly, during the video inside the building, there are three times more deaths for this industry than any other first responder career; 15 times more deaths than any other private industry.
The museum is in Chattanooga because the inventor of the tow truck was in Chattanooga and created the first tow truck there. I guess I never thought about it. But he saw a need and got to work. It’s really quite interesting. After the short film there is a large room full of all kinds of tow trucks
INSERT SOME TOW TRUCK PHOTOS.
There is an entire wall of tow truck related toys that have been collected also. Then finally, the moment we have all been waiting for. There are multiple halls of large portraits of those who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Actually, we missed induction weekend by a day. We did find Mr. Wheeler and then found a corresponding book with his bio telling us how he came to be in this honored position. Last there was a lovely store AND a kid sized tow truck. A member of the staff came out of the office to tell ME to sit in it and light all the lights. She also instructed Gary to pick up the controls and make the arm in the back work.
INSERT PHOTO
The moral of this story is, Slow Down and Move Over for tow trucks and first responders. Save a life.
We then headed further into the city to the Riverwalk. We found a lovely art museum and the Walnut Street bridge that was just reopened. This historic bridge over the Tennessee River was built in the 1800s and was used for traffic until 1978. There were plans to destroy it but the city rallied and saved the bridge. Monday the weather was lovely and there were people out on the bridge, the Riverwalk and the adjacent green space. This city does outdoor space well.
My goal was to spend $100 at each stop. This particular stop cost $128. But some of that was campground incidentals - $7.00 for 6 pieces of firewood and a $30.00 fee for a two hour late check out.
I did a campground review that can be found on my YouTube channel. I hope to put together a video of all of this at some point. But today my written word will have to suffice.
Get out there, friends. Explore. Adventure. Marvel at what The Creator Elohim has done.