This may be my favorite place on the planet although my allergies say it's trying to kill me and the little bears I brought with me as well. Shameless plug here for Tylenol Severe Sinus (even though you all know I bought the bobo brand!)
One of my favorite things about Chattanooga is when you first drive in and see the water and mountains surrounding with these amazing bridges. I believe I have brainwashed the human bear to love it just as much as I do and Beast Mode has been on the Chattanooga train (haha) since back in the day when the adventures looked a LOT different (prove it!).
It's almost the middle of June and it is breezy and feels nice...what is this air you speak of?
There's just something I love about this walking bridge...such a great idea for a bridge that was no longer workable for heavy cars so they made it a place where people could still utilize it and work out. LOVE LOVE LOVE Chattanooga.
Just a few skips away from the bottom of the bridge is our FAVORITE shop! TANGERINAS: My friend Nicole started this with her aunt almost TEN YEARS AGO! They recycle materials to create amazing art. Keeping any business opened for 10 years is no small accomplishment and watching her do something that she loves is fun to see. If you know Nicole, you could probably guess she was the human bears favorite! We missed her on this stop but keep scrolling and it all works out in the end!
I didn't do a very good job of getting picture in the shop but I love this one. Anyone who has seen the cool 'Wesley' art in our house...this is where it came from! They also had earrings that were half cat and half mermaid. If the human bear wasn't reading a series called Purrmaids right now, I would not have believed that was a popular thing! Hilarious.
I do realize that I am counting all of these as different stops but they are all within a few feet of each other. haha It makes it seems like we are having way more adventures than we are but the big bridge in the back ground is probably a giveaway.
I was told I needed a picture on an animal so I decided the best one for me was a turtle.
Frolicking in a field because you can...
All of this fun already and we haven't even made it to the place where we are staying! Thank you to the gracious Ben Tucker for allowing us to stay in his "frat house" as he lovingly referred to it and boy did it live up to all of our expectations. We drove in ready for a pool party but the rain was trying to steal our joy: but then there was Unicorn Island and all was well.
The human bear insists that this is a water buffalo and you can NOT convince her otherwise! Either way it is hilarious and apparently this is very difficult for adults to stay on...she does not have trouble at all.
Jumping on to Unicorn Island proves to be a difficult task...but she will not give up!
This is just funny every time...
So, at this point, you may question my parenting abilities. The human bear was told that this pavilion is the "diving board" and, of course, she began begging to jump off...I insisted we "discuss it later," which in parent terms really means (please lord baby jesus let her forget about it and soon it'll be time to get out of the pool) but while in deep important conversation (eye roll), she snuck away while I was talking and climbed up to the top. Once you are on the top of something like that, I think the safer way down is to actually jump. So, here you go!
Off to dinner at a place called Drake's, where they have a little bit of everything and the human bear is always happy when she can play grown up games at a bar...she said the real Drake would NOT hang out there because she feels like she knows his preferences somehow.
Of course everyone in the "frat house" was still asleep at 6 AM so we snuck out for breakfast. You know those people that try to make kids happy instead of listening to said kid's parent? I told the human bear she could not have coffee b/c she didn't need any more energy in her life so she and the waitress worked out this cup of decaf for her while I ran to the restroom...uhm what? This is the face you get when she wins.
There's a market you say? We will be there! We got to check out a Teen Cookoff and some good food trucks:)
The Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel is another really awesome spot where something old has been turned into something really functional and fun. We saw workout classes, an old train car turned into a bar, lots of outside games in between the tracks and just a fun atmosphere.
We made our return on the second day to Tangrinas and Nicole was SO sweet to let the very non subtle child make her own art. The human bear said it was a crafting mansion and she may have a new career path in life.
I tried to give Tangerinas some money for allowing her to do this but (if you know Nicole this makes sense) she said she would accept the payment of 1 dance...and the human bear did NOT disappoint. I'm pretty certain I saw Katie in Chattanooga with similar moves a decade ago! haha
I was looking for healthy food and the vegan restaurant was closed while the human bear simultaneously sees a GIGANTIC hotdog...it was over. I will say they did offer veggie dogs and the option to wrap it in lettuce instead of a bun so I can't be mad.
We found that Nicole also does accept ice cream so I felt better about taking her a treat after the human bear invaded the shop.
Back to pick up the finished product.
We headed to an old battlefield location turned museum on Lookout Mountain for the 20 minutes the clouds actually parted and we were able to see some beautiful views!
Love the art work!