Day 125 - 127 October 23 - 25, 2022

Day 125 Sunday October 23, 2022

Sunday morning and we can actually make it to church.  We called  an Uber and Arlene joined us at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.  Beautiful church with many young families in attendance.  The mass was sung - with an angelic children's choir joining the adults.  It was a step back in time as many of the women wore veils and the congregation received communion knelt at the alter rail.  They also administered the eucharist on the tongue and wine if you wanted.  

It was a beautiful morning so we walked back to the boats. 

Arion, Phil-N-Wild and Grand Wazoo all had plans with local friends for the afternoon.   Our plan was to visit the Chattanooga Aquarium.  We really enjoyed it.

 Triple decker alligators

   

                                            Octopus

   

We ate dinner with Joe and Laura at Big River Grille.  Nothing exceptional about it except for the company.  Then, ice cream at Ben & Jerry's, as requested by Joe!  

Day 124, Monday October 24, 2022

Arlene had made arrangements to rent a car for the day; we headed out to visit Rock City.  Only 9 miles away but now we were in Georgia! Phil-N-Wild visited it Sunday with friends and came back with a glowing review so we were looking forward to it.  Rock City first opened in 1932. It is located on Lookout Mountain and started as a backyard project for Frieda and Garnet Carter.  Rock City is a 4th generation business and consists of more than just rocks.  The Carters created a network of paths that go over, under and between rocks and ledges and includes Fairyland Caverns, Hall of the Mountain King, Mother Goose Village, Needle's Eye, Fat Man's Squeeze, Swing Along Bridge, Lover's Leap and other sights.

 

  

You can see 7 states - Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee  

  

 

 

Garnet Carter used an innovative marketing tool for the time.  He painted barn roofs with "See Rock City" for miles around enticing people to come visit.

We visited a local Civil War battleground on Lookout Mountain at Point Place and then tried out the famous local ice cream at Clumpies Ice Cream Co.  The views were fantastic.

   

 

Dinner was at the highly recommended Il Primo Italian Restaurant.  The rental car came in handy again.  Only a 7 passenger vehicle, Jerry volunteered to "sit" way back in the cargo area.  We had a delicious meal from an all scratch kitchen with homemade pastas and awesome appetizers.  We loved the Burrata with blistered tomatoes and garlic crostini.  I had the mushroom ravioli (awesome); Jerry had the Orecchiette Bolognese (also delicious). The leftovers were just as good.

Day 125, Tuesday October 25, 2022

Easy morning with plans for a different type adventure - the Pinball Museum!  For $10 each you can learn some pinball history and play for 8 hours.  It was fun with a lot of vintage machines to try.  We went with Susan and Danny from Phil-N-Wild, and Al and Arlene from Arion. 

 

The power fuses blew while we shared docktails with Beyond, Moonshadow, The Grand Wazoo, and Phil-N-Wild.  The marina manager arrived in no time to address the problem. He didn't know why the main breaker was off but handled the problem quickly.  Erwin Riverfront Marina has been great in regards to location in the city but we have been affected quite a bit by the river current and wakes from inconsiderate boaters.  We have had to adjust our lines multiple times because of it.

Dinner at Puckett's for BBQ and then back to the boat between raindrops.