Chattanooga is a hidden gem

June 18, 2005

Chattanooga is a hidden gem along the banks of the Tennessee River

Chattanooga, TN – On a balmy Saturday night, Chattanooga's Walnut Street Bridge stirs with activity.

A musician plays his saxophone as passers-by toss coins into an open case. Walkers and joggers hustle along the wood-planked street as lovelorn couples gaze from the railing that overlooks the Tennessee River and offers a view of nearby mountains in the distant dark horizon.  A vendor prepares snow cones as a crowd gathers around his stand.

Once a railroad viaduct, the Walnut Street Bridge is a vital element in the renaissance of Chattanooga. Renovated into the longest pedestrian walkway bridge in the world, the 2,370-foot structure spans the Tennessee River, connecting the north and south shores of this southern Tennessee city.

Thirty years ago, Chattanooga was no longer known for its famous choo-choo and nostalgic Rock City. Instead, the city was renowned for its filth and pollution. Downtown workers brought changes of clothing and motorists drove with their lights on during the day. The Environmental Protection Agency declared Chattanooga the dirtiest city in America.

Today, after an $850 million riverfront downtown revitalization plan, not a sign of that clouded past exists. Nestled in the Tennessee River valley below Lookout Mountain, the city that gave America the "Moon Pie" and miniature golf is now a destination where families and couples have a multitude of options - so many that a weekend is not long enough.

Chattanooga's Riverwalk, a 22-acre pathway that follows the banks of the Tennessee River, is an ideal starting point to explore the city's riverfront attractions. On both side, the riverwalk leads to the Walnut Street Bridge. On Chattanooga's north shore, Coolidge Park is home to a fully restored 19th century carousel. Salvaged from Atlanta, the relic features 53 hand-carved animals refurbished by Chattanooga's Horsin' Around, the nation's only carousel carving school.

Situated on the banks of the Tennessee River – overlooking the bustling Riverwalk – Boathouse Rotisserie & Raw Bar is one of Chattanooga’s most popular dining destinations. The restaurant, which opened in 2002 and specializes in Gulf of Mexico cuisine, is adorned with unique features like an ice chute which extends from the ceiling and empties the ice into a bin in the center of the bar area and an innovative woodburning grill for restaurateurs that innovative owner Lawton Haygood developed three decades ago.

Boasting a serene riverfront view, the Boathouse menu is composed of husband and wife Lawton and Karen Haygoods’ favorite selections from their travels around the Gulf of Mexico. Amid a décor of palm trees, nostalgic Rock City and Ruby Falls post cards, and a new mural that depicts where the restaurant’s menu items originate from, the restaurant features favorites like Lotta Lotta Garlic Chicken, Matagorda Fire-Roasted Oysters, El Scorcho Shellfish Stew and Fried Tilapia. 

It’s Haygood’s passion for grilling that gives the Boathouse its’ identity. Grilling is a practiced in restaurants and backyard barbeques across the United States, but it is a technique that was pioneered and perfected in Texas. So it is appropriate that a first-of-its-kind wood-burning grill for restaurants was developed by Haygood when he was operating a restaurant in Dallas.

Most of Chattanooga's downtown attractions are found on the river's south shore. Ross's Landing Park and Plaza serves as an entry point to the south shore walkway and leads from the river to the downtown's edge yards away where the architecturally striking Tennessee Aquarium beckons.

The world's largest freshwater aquarium showcases more than 9,000 aquatic creatures and shows the paths of rivers from rippling mountain streams to raging whitewater and reservoirs that wander to the sea. A spectacular 60-foot canyon, two living forests and recreations of the world's great rivers co-exist within the aquarium walls. River otters play in a lush mountain woodland at Cove Forest, where a cascading waterfall sprays those who stroll by. Piranha dart among anaconda and boa constrictors in the Amazon river exhibit. Sharks and stingrays glide amid hundreds of colorful tropical fish at the Gulf of Mexico display.

The Tennesee Aquarium's IMAX Theater, where viewers wear 3-D glasses to watch scintillating animal-themed films like "Into the Deep" and "Wings of Courage," and the Creative Discovery Museum, where children search for lost dinosaur bones in a science lab and compose musical scores in a state-of-the-art studio, are worthwhile family destinations after leaving the aquarium.

A block from the IMAX theater, recently opened BellSouth Stadium is home to the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Cincinnati Reds' Double-A affiliate.

South from the river, Chattanooga's downtown streets are lined with new retail shops and restaurants, which are crowded with locals and out-of-towners are weekend nights. Parked in front of the aquarium, Chattanooga Horse Trams offer horse-drawn carriage rides operated by tuxedo-clad guides with Dalmations by their sides.

For a quirky downtown sidetrip, stop by the International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum. In 1916, native Chattanoogan Ernest Holmes Sr. helped a friend retrieve his car with three poles, a pulley and a chain hooked to the frame of a 1913 Cadillac. Holmes patented his invention, and the towing industry was born. The museum displays early model tow trucks and towing memorabilia and the hall of fame wing honors individuals who have advanced the industry.

Of course, no adventure in Chattanooga would be complete without a visit to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, popularized by Glenn Miller's number one song in 1941. At the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Holiday Inn, families can sleep in converted train cars, marvel at a vintage train and ride a 1924 trolley. Waiters sing the "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" as they serve steaks and seafood at the Station House Restaurant.

East of the Walnut Street Bridge, accessible by the riverwalk, is a haven for arts and culture connoisseurs. The Bluff View Arts District is a neighborhood with a European aura. A blighted area just a decade ago, it was revitalized by Dr. Charles Anthony Portera and his wife Mary, who saw potential for a neglected corner of Chattanooga situated near a bluff overlooking the Tennessee River.

The trendy neighborhood now has several boutiques including a coffee shop, a bakery, a chocolate shop, an art gallery and two lavish restaurants. Sculptures dot the neighborhood streets and a sculpture garden offers the site for a leisurely stroll. The Bluff View Inn is a bed and breakfast consisting of three old houses laced with character and decorated with art. The Tudor-style Maclellan House overlooks the river. The Thompson House, a 1908 Victorian mansion, has four rooms and two suites, and a front porch with rockers and swings. The C.G. Martin House, a 1927 Colonial Revival home, has three rooms with gas fireplaces and whirlpool bathtubs.

Perched on a 90-foot limestone bluff which overlooks the Tennessee River on one side and downtown Chattanooga on the other, the Hunter Museum of American Art is a showcase of more than 1,500 paintings and sculptures. Across the street, the Houston Museum of Decorative Arts, originally a Victorian-style home, has what some critics have called the finest collections of antique glass and ceramics in the world.

With its topographical features and its role as a railroad hub, Chattanooga was a strategic location during the Civil War. The city was a gateway for supplies to the Confederate Army, and General William Tecumseh Sherman needed control of Chattanooga for his infamous "March to the Sea." A trip to Chattanooga can be centered on Civil War sites alone, there are so many.

The Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park commemorates the battles which led to the eventual Union control of Chattanooga. Composed of sites in Chickamauga, and on Lookout and Signal Mountains, it is the oldest and largest national military park.

Actually in nearby Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, the Chickamauga Battlefield Park Headquarters and Visitor Center details the Battle of Chickamauga, which was won by the Confederates in the fall of 1863. Other sites closer to Chattanooga describe the Battles for Chattanooga and the Battle Above the Clouds on Lookout Mountain - all Union victories.

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