Chattanooga Weekend

I am going to take you back...way back to the end of January. Mac and I traveled to Chattanooga to celebrate the engagement of our friends, Sarah and Mike! We had never spent an entire weekend in Chattanooga, so I had a long list of things to accomplish while we were in town. 

We left Memphis on Friday afternoon so we could be in Chattanooga in time for dinner.  As soon as we arrived we joined Courtney and Will for dinner at Urban Stack Burger Lounge. I had read about this restaurant in Southern Living, and it was quite delicious. We got there pretty late, but it was a cool atmosphere and I wish we had more time to hang out and visit. They were definitely waiting on us to close up, so we headed home.

Mac and I got up early to get our long day of sightseeing started. After a pretty hefty wait, we had breakfast at Aretha Frankenstein's. It. Was. Delicious. Their pancakes were seriously some of the best I have ever had. Their biscuits were two biscuits stuck together, so they were huge as well. I took a few photos, but the sun was beaming in on our table, so you can't really see the magnitude of this food.

After breakfast, we headed over to Sophie's, the adorable shop where my friend Jessie works. After torturing Mac with that for a little bit, we headed up to Ruby Falls. I know that this is definitley a tourist trap, but Mac and I had a great time! The tour lasted a little over an hour, but it was really informative and was an impressive sight to see. I have a few pictures below from our time in the mountain.

I need to set the scene for the next two photos. So we have walked about 30 minutes into this mountain through a cave system. You get to a big opening and all the lights are off.  You can tell you are at the fall because you can hear the water and feel the huge gush of air. All of the sudden this classical music starts booming and they light up the falls with different color spotlights. Cheesy? Definitely! Impressive? Oh yea!
 

Our nice camera was getting wet from the mist, so the next two photos are from our cell phones. P.S. My hair was curled when we entered the caves. It was a tad bit damp in there.

When we walked back through the cave, they dump you at the top of the welcome center. You get a great view of Chattanooga. As you can see it was a beautiful day!

After our trip to Ruby Falls, we headed down to see the Chattanooga Choo Choo. We had heard that it was great to get a drink in the hotel lobby, but since we got there around 2 p.m. the bar was not yet open. We walked around the grounds of the hotel for a little bit and then walked next door to the Terminal Brewhouse, a local brewery and restaurant. They had half pints of beer, so we were able to sample several of their delicious concoctions. I just loved the little glasses!

After the Terminal Brewhouse, we decided to head down to the Frazier Avenue area. We hit up Clumpies ice cream for a famous local treat. As we were heading to our next stop (a hot dog store) we ran into Courtney and Will! After a hot dog, they joined us at a very small local brewery, Chattanooga Brewing Company. We sampled a few beers then headed home to get ready for the engagement party.

And what a party it was! Mike's parent's friends hosted the party in their beautiful home. The food was amazing and a great time was had by all. I can't wait to celebrate again with Mike and Sarah in June. Apparently it is a "rite of passage" with this group of friends to dance on the coffee table. Us girls had no issue with that, but it took the boys a little longer. You can see Will, David, Mac and Mike's mom on the table below.  

We had a great weekend in Chattanooga and I hope to visit again soon!