Chanukanooga

Chanukah came late this year, and it was sort of a bummer because I wanted to go to Chicago, but wasn't feeling up to it.  (A nasty cold kinda kept me miserable for two weeks.)  Here's Malachi singing to himself in the playroom... click the image to see the video.

To get out of town, we ended up going to Chattanooga for the last couple of days of Chanukah.  It's a nice town that's only two hours away, and has some fun stuff to do.  Our first stop was, naturally, the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, where the highlight was the trolley ride.  (The trains don't move anymore.)

We went with the Seeman family, many of whom can also be seen in this video:

The next day we went to the Tennessee Aquarium, which was pretty impressive.  Not as good as the Atlanta aquarium, but the freshwater "river" section was much better.

 

Both Hannah and Bru got to hold a snake.  Though by the time Malachi had decided he also wanted to cuddle with the reptile, it had slithered back into its pillow case.  Seriously, the guy carried it around in a pillow case.

Here's one thing I haven't seen at any other aquarium: authentic mountain music!  Click the image below for some tunes and some dancin'.

 

AND there was an IMAX that still played Happy Feet Two!  My trip was made.

Another thing they had was a butterfly enclave, which apparently was kinda blah.  I stayed behind with the stroller, the memories of my last encounter with a butterfly still fresh in everyone's minds.

We also hit Chattanooga's childrens museum (not its real name), which I thought was better than its Atlanta equivalent.  There was dino digging, cars, and all sorts of creative activities.

Art by Rachelle

And finally we got to...

Rock City is a true landmark of the South.  And it didn't disappoint (though most of our pictures turned out sorta blurry).

 

 

 

 

 

Our last stop was at the Memorial for the Battle of Chattanooga, which was apparently erected by the State of New York.  Bet ya didn't know that tidbit!

And here was our view on the way home.  For some reason, that's Beruriah's expression when she watches TV.