We'd had quite a few early starts and I thought everyone would benefit from a lie in, so didn't set the alarm. The result was that everyone complained about being late for breakfast - I really can't win!

The breakfast at the Hampton Inn was okay - nothing spectacular and a bit of a let down from home cooked food but it did the job.

We didn't have many plans for today - we knew we wanted to have a look at Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain but that was about it. We had a really good view of the mountain opposite our hotel and were hoping to do some walking on it later.



We drove down into Chattanooga and parked up to use the free electric downtown shuttle bus, which is a great service. There is a pretty good aquarium in Chattanooga but I'm the only real aquarium lover in the family and I wasn't sensing any great desire from the others to go and admire big fishes. So we got off near the river front and had a walk to the Tennessee River, our old friend.

We had a walk along the river where there are signs to show the start of the Trail of Tears, where the forced removal of the Cherokee began. They were marched from their lands to Oklahoma and around 4000 died before they got there. It's a sobering reminder of a low point in US history.

It was a very warm and humid day but it was nice to just mooch along the river.



We crossed over Walnut Bridge which connects downtown to the North Shore, with Hannah and me being somewhat more fabulous than Evan.



The North Shore is quite hipster and reminded us a little of Boulder, with quirky shops and cafes. There were quite a few spots with metal footprints in the pavement, showing you how to do various different dances and, of course, we had a go. You can learn the Waltz, the Twist and even the Hokey Pokey.

We found a lovely little ice cream shop and had iced coffees, which left us fully caffeinated and possibly a little hyperactive for the rest of the day.

After this, we wandered back across the bridge and back to downtown.



We were quite enjoying not having anything in particular to go to and it was quite relaxing. We found a Police Memorial and spent a bit of time reading the names of the fallen before going for lunch.

We have never been to Panera Bread before but have always been intrigued by it. We had a really lovely lunch of salads and sandwiches and will definitely add it to the list for the future. And again there were vegetables - hurrah!

After this, we caught the shuttle back to the car park, which was next to the famous Chattanooga Choo Choo. I got quite excited and made the kids do a charleston type pose next to it. You can see from Evan's face how happy he was.



But at least he got to drive it after!



Hannah and I had a perusal of the gift shop, which was quite odd. The first room was all normal stuff - fridge magnets etc - then as you walked into the next room, it was full of replica guns and confederate flags, with signs saying "Heritage Not Hate". We didn't linger!

After playing giant jenga and cornholes by the Choo Choo, we got in the car to head to Lookout Mountain. We had fancied doing some walking but there wasn't any opportunity to just walk. There were some (quite pricey) "attractions" and the parking on the mountain itself was fairly extortionate so in the end, we decided not to bother. We hopped out of the car to get a quick photo and as we drove back down, the heavens opened, so maybe a walk wasn't such a great idea after all.



It was all a bit tacky and disappointing.

Back at the hotel, Paul was still feeling the effects of his cold, so went to lie down for a bit. I went to the pool with the kids - we hung around in the indoor section for a bit, then the rain stopped, so we went outside where there was a slide that was actually pretty good fun.

Once Paul had had his disco nap, he was feeling a bit brighter and we decided to walk down the hill to Logan's Roadhouse for tea. We had some really good steaks and it was a nice evening. You get a bowl of peanuts and are encouraged to throw the shells on the floor - being British, we found this quite difficult to do but eventually overcame our horror of littering and joined in! Our server was lovely and told us how much she "loved y'all's accents". We told her we loved hers too!

We were given a bag of peanuts as we left as well. We were disproportionately pleased about this!



Back at the hotel, Paul wanted to have a swim as he'd missed out earlier. Evan joined in and there was a game of trying to catch the football as he came down the slide. I tried to take a photo but missed him.



Then I tried again.



There were a few more attempts and a few more photos of an empty slide. Then I accepted that I am not an action photographer and stopped. These photos make me laugh every time I look at them though.

After the swim, it was time for Game of Thrones (dragons! white walkers! drama!) and then bed.

It is always nice to have a more unstructured day!

Shame that what should be a natural attraction had been tackisized! And overpriced!

I nave lots of "action" shots that have no action! Part of the fun

Fun day !
shame about the Mountain being commercialised like that though
I did smile - we also found Panera Bread on our last trip and came across a very similar souvenir shop in Lynchburg - its like trip twinning !
Interesting to read about Chattanooga - would like to get there on a future trip
Hope Pauls cold goes away soon, it gets you down after a while when you are trying to enjoy yourself

Glad it's not just me!

There are some very peculiar shops in the south.

The cold did get better and he didn't moan . . . much. But it did make for a lot of snoring and an emergency ear plug purchase!

Lovely day. Good to have a bit unstructured time after the busy holiday so far.