We were in Chattanooga for a few days over the 4th of July before heading further up the Tennessee River toward Knoxville.

While in Chattanooga we made our way to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo which is a hotel where we have stayed in one of the old train cars a few times. The hotel has been sold and some of the train cars have been removed and others have been updated, as they were in pretty questionable shape the last time we were in one. The facility now has a distillery on sight so as it was a long, hot walk from the marina, we stopped in for “lunch”.

On March 5, 1880 the first passenger train leaving Cincinnati for Chattanooga was nicknamed the “Chattanooga Choo-Choo”, and opened the first major link in public transportation from the north to the south. Operated by the Cincinnati Southern Railroad it has the honor of being America’s first municipal railroad system.

The stairs from the street level to the dock were a fun water park like area that drew a lot of people during the very hot days.

We were treated to another fireworks show along the river across from where we were docked with lots of boats anchored in the river for the music during the day and the fireworks later that night. Oh, and the geese enjoyed it too.

Well, the stick wasn’t actually a stick but a ball (ask me abut the ball sometime) that marked the headwaters of the Tennessee River which is the confluence of the Holston and French Broad rivers. The Tennessee River, which flows south-southwest, is a chief component of one of the world’s greatest irrigation and hydropower system and a major waterway of the southeastern US.

We are currently at Volunteer Landing Marina in Knoxville where we had to say goodbye to Bruce and Diane. The entire time they have been onboard it has been excessively hot and pretty miserable to be out in. However, the day we drove them to Nashville to fly home to California, the weather took a drastic turn and we have since then been treated to much cooler mornings and evenings and although the days get up there, it’s not nearly as hot as it has been this past month.

And not to be completely without a chance for an excursion, Diane found this little stop on the way. Yup, we actually got off the freeway and sought this sight out.

We are here for a few more days where my high school friend Kathy will be coming up from Gainesville, GA to spend the weekend with us. We are going to take her to the headwaters of the river and we will anchor somewhere along the way and grill lunch and hang for a while. That will be a lot of fun. We always have a good time when we get together.

We will then start our down river trip and go back to Ft. Loudon Marina for a month, of which we will be in California for 3 weeks. We will catch up with most of you then. Look for the next blog around the middle to the end of August. Love to all, Gina and Mike