Chattanooga Part 3

Here are the last pictures from our Family Vacation to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

I went to Rock City when I was probably about Isaac's age, and I have really vague memories of the gnomes.  When we actually saw them, it was such a funny and fabulous re-living of my childhood, because they are exactly the same as they were twenty-some years ago. 

Here we are about to enter "Fairyland Caverns" -- a place probably best enjoyed... in an altered state. 

The gnomes, on their way to that state...

In the Fairyland Caverns, all the little nooks and crannies are set up with displays of Mother Goose stories lit by blacklights.  It's totally trippy.  The boys loved it, though. 

We left Rock City in search of a picnic spot I had seen on our drive up.  We had actually taken the "scenic route" (i.e. we got lost), despite Zach's obsession with navigating every step we took with his new iPhone, but we were still able to back track and find the right place.  It was so worth it!  Off the beaten path, on the side of the mountain where there were no other tourists, our picnic was gorgeous.  In the grand tradition of VanDusen/Weirckz family vacations, I tried scaring Isaac with bear stories while we ate.  We also got the above picture, which is my favorite one of the whole vacation!

That night we went to Sugar's Ribs, which is exactly what you'd expect it to be -- amazing barbecue and cheap beer consumed on picnic tables, overlooking the city and mountains, and even goats in the back yard which you can feed your scraps to.  The little goat was only 10 days old!

Mmmm, bbq chicken

Corn on the cob is an Izey FAVORITE!

hm, would I be a bad mom if I cropped Isaac out of this picture? 

We were planning to also visit Nashville the next day, but the boys woke up with terrible colds and were CRABBY, so we ended up driving straight home.   We'll have to visit the Music City some other spring break. 

I'd definitely call this vacation a success!