10/24/18 Wednesday: A lazy, sunny, cool, crisp autumn morning. Kennedy and I strapped on our walking shoes, and set out for adventure. From the Bluff dock, we went up to street level, via this beautiful sweeping garden ramp. This was a little different, because it appeared to be the entry way into an amphitheatre under the highway bridge. Huh? It was a little bit uncomfortable under there for us. Why would you have a dirt terraced amphitheatre under the highway? We come from a place where all sorts of undesirables live under bridges – and I’m not just talking trolls. But this zigzag ramp garden was very pretty. It is at the edge of the “Art district”.
This was part of the Hunter Museum of American Art. There were three buildings here, representing three ‘generations’ of art and architecture. I liked this one the best. We did not go in, but continued on our outdoor walkabout.
This whimsical bronze statue was called “Free Money”. The characters kind of look like turtles that just won the lottery and dancing for joy on top of the money bag.
This Walnut Street bridge is now just for pedestrians (& bikes). It was built in 1890, and was the first bridge to span across the river to the north side of Chattanooga.
The decking is good old sturdy WOOD! It’s a neat old bridge! I liked the brick footings, which always makes me ponder how such a thing was built, back in the day, without all of the technology and machinery that we have now.
This is looking back at the Bluff dock. It was a nice secure gated dock. We didn’t get nearly the rocking and wave motion that we thought we would, being right along the river. There was some road noise from the highway bridge going across the river, but it wasn’t bad at all.
This is looking through the cool railing on the Walnut Street bridge toward the motor vehicle bridge that crosses the river. The Bluff dock is right between these two bridges, so it’s easy to find!
We found another cool old brick building! This one is the Signal Mill. It was originally built in 1916 as a knitting mill. It has been and continues to be redeveloped and repurposed, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. At one end was a barbeque restaurant that smelled wonderful! At this end, we found a nice shop with all kinds of fun home decor items.
This shop was so fun. After having been in a similar building in Nashville, I looked up at the ceiling to see what? Yes! There are the old pulleys that ran the length of the building, just like in Nashville! Some sort of power engine turned the entire ‘drive-line’, and rotated all of those pulleys that likely had large bands connecting them to pulleys on machinery on the floor. Way cool! I love this old stuff!
I spied this sign, and though it to be perfectly wonderful wisdom for living.
As we made our way back to the boat, so that Kennedy could prepare for her departure, I got another picture of Island Girl and her friends. What a beautiful day! That is Lookout Mountain in the distance, where we visited Rock City.
Sadly, we took Kennedy to the airport mid-afternoon. Her trip with us was cut short due to responsibilities back at work. We sure enjoyed having her aboard and sharing our Looper Lifestyle with her, even if only for a few days. Since we don’t have great weather coming our way, we’ll head back down the river tomorrow. Another reason for not staying is that on Saturday, the river will be completely closed for some sort of rowing event or something. I guess it’s best to get moving along! Thank you Chattanooga, for a wonderful visit. You are a great town!
