Tennessee: Chattanooga (Day 2)

Day 124
No Boat Travel

As predicted we had steady rain today.  Even so, we ventured out for an afternoon of exploration with Lookout Mountain as our target destination.  When we got there, the sales clerk said she would happily take our $30 for the ride up the mountain, but the visibility was 0%.  We decided we did not want to pay that much money for the inclined rail ride to see the inside of a cloud.

0% Visibility at Lookout Mountain!

We had taken the town bus to Lookout Mountain, but once we decided not to see the top of the mountain, we had to find something else to do.   The person working the ticket booth at Lookout Mountain recommended Ruby Falls but told us we had to drive there as it was an unsafe road to walk on.  I have never tried Uber, but other loopers have recommended it, so I decided to install the Uber app on my phone and give it a try.  It worked like a charm and in just 5 minutes we were on our way to Ruby Falls.

We took an elevator that lowered us deep into the inside of Lookout Mountain to the caves containing Ruby Falls.  No sooner did we step off the elevator than the woman in front of us started to show signs of claustrophobia.  He husband convinced her to keep going, but she was clearly uncomfortable. She managed to hang in there long enough to get her picture taken at the entrance and then she bailed out and went back up top.  As we entered the display I thought she made the right decision when she decided to bail out when she did.

Close Quarters Getting to Ruby Falls

Other than worrying about conking my head on an overhead rock or slipping on the sometimes wet floor, I had no concerns with being in the caves.  I found the rock formations and the waterfall itself to be quite breathtaking.  Lights of varying colors were used to good effect to highlight the rock formations to their best advantage.

stalactites and stalagmites 

Ruby Falls - Top

Ruby Falls - Pool

Ruby Falls Chamber

Mirror Pool

The tour took 75 minutes in total.  I enjoyed the whole tour and found the Ruby Falls chamber and waterfall to be so peaceful and beautiful I did not want to ever leave.  They let the tour group stay there for quite some time taking pictures of the falls with the light show before they called quits and told us we needed to follow the guide to exit.

After the tour we were directed to the right to exit through the gift shop or to the left to go up the lookout tower.  We already knew we had 0% visibility but, no surprise, Clark wanted to go to the top for a look.

Top of Observation Area at Lookout Mountain
We did not bother to look through the viewer

Having been successful with Uber to get to Ruby Falls and needing a ride back to town, I used the Uber app one more time and once again had a car there in less than 10 minutes.  I could get real spoiled by the Uber app in a hurry.  The display shows the Uber car as it makes progress towards the pickup site so you know where the driver is and how long he will take to get to you.

The Uber driver dropped us off right at the docks where our boat is located, but once we got there I told Clark I did not feel like cooking, so instead of boarding the boat, we walked into downtown to find food.  Lupi's Pizza came highly recommended, so we walked there only to find it closed on Mondays.  We went to a pizza place across the street instead called the Mellow Mushroom.  The pizza was excellent, so it is hard to believe that Lupi's is reputed to be better.

As we looked for a restaurant for dinner, we passed by the Majestic Movie theater where 12 movies were playing.  Clark wanted to see the Steve Jobs movie - I was not keen.  I wanted to see the Woodlawn football movie - Clark was not keen.  The movie time table worked in my favor.  We could not eat dinner and get back to the theater in time to see Jobs at 6:30.  We finished our pizza dinner at 7;10; the movie, less than a block away, started at 7:15.  Perfect.

Walking from the boat to the downtown area and then searching for a restaurant, Clark and I both got soaked from the continuous rain.  It took the full length of the movie for my coat to start to dry out and it is supposed to be a rain coat.  Before we walked back to the boat from the theater, we both put on our rain paints to keep our legs dry as they were the wettest part of us earlier.

Weather tomorrow is predicted to be as bad or worse than today's weather.  I wonder what we will find to do!?