Got to go driving around to play a little bit of tourist in Chattanooga today (well, Connie’s dad was doing the driving, we were playing tourist).
We drove up to Missionary Ridge where there were some nice scenic views of Chattanooga and some very nice looking houses. Lots of Civil War markers, saw a few canons (some of which were pointed at houses). We were on a two lane road with no areas to pull over, so we weren’t able to stop and check out the markers or take pictures. It was pretty nice though.
Then we drove over to Lookout Mountain and Point Park. Point Park is a National Park and was the location of a significant battle of the Civil War. Lots of markers and battle information. Didn’t spend a huge amount of time there, but enough to walk around a bit and learn a little bit of history. Nice scenic view of Chattanooga and the surrounding area. It’s easy to see why it was such a fought over location during the Civil War. From way up there, you can control pretty much the entire area with artillery.
After that, we took a ride down the mountain on the Incline Railway. It claims to have the steepest section of rail around, with a 72% (about 35°) grade.
The photo above is looking down at the track from the observation deck. It’s pretty steep at the very top and levels off towards the bottom. The trip is about a mile long and takes around 10 minutes. A good way to get up and down the mountain if you live there. Not sure how many people do that, but it’s a pretty nice trip.
This is from inside the rail car looking down from the station at the top of the mountain. Kind of like looking down from the top of a roller coaster ride.
The railcar. Seating is arranged so that you’re pretty much upright when the rail car is at the top, but once you’re at the bottom you’re leaning kind of backwards. Going up the mountain, you also end up riding backwards.