Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Visiting the Turtles

We made a last minute decision to go to Chattanooga and meet up with friends.  These are the most fun trips when you don't really have plans and just go.  There was six adults and six kids, all 9 years or under. We decided to go to the Tennessee Aquarium. I've always heard it was a great aquarium and the best in the area before Georgia Aquarium was built.  It was rated top US aquarium by TripAdvisor and top 10 from FamilyFun. The riverfront area was very cute, there were artist tents selling all kinds of jewelry, home décor and more. There was a small mock river that the kids were all splashing around and playing in. It was nice and kept them cool. There were two building for the aquarium which was confusing at first. The staff was very nice and helpful and suggested we go to the Ocean Journey building since that one closed first. The kids enjoyed petting the stingrays and fish, it was fun to see the small shark in that tank too. 


The butterfly room was very pretty thought very hot and tropical.  We all loved the penguins, it was fun to stand up to the glass and watch them swim under water. They were diving in and jetting back and forth, even the babies loved watching them.  We spent well over two hours in this building. We all took a quick break for snacks and drinks and kids playing in the mock river then headed to River Journey. This building we spent another two hours and kind of were rushing through parts because the kids were getting restless, they needed lunch and naps. It was great to be able to stroller through all the levels as it spiraled down. We liked the turtles, alligators and catfish. Its a great accessible place for wheel chairs or strollers.

It was getting late for us, my 14 month old needed to get going.  We were so hungry since we had not eaten since the morning. We all stopped for a quick dinner and then the rest of the group went to the Incline Railway.  The pizza place across the street was surprisingly good. Mr. T's Pizza at the base of steepest railway in the world. We'd like to go back to Chattanooga for sure. Our friends raved about the Incline Railway saying it was amazingThey said there were scary steep parts of the ride but the view at the top was so beautiful. It's the highest overlook point on Lookout Mountain.  The brochure says on a clear day you can see over 100 miles to the Great Smoky Mountains.

 

We'll make it back to visit Chattanooga and hopefully spend more time.  In our plans would be the Incline Railway, Rock city and Ruby Falls.