Our last stop before we visit our daughter’s place in GA was Chattanooga, TN. We have been here a number of times and really enjoy this city and area. On this stop, our first outing was to see the fall colors along the Tennessee River onboard the Southern Belle. It offers a three hour tour including a lunch and onboard entertainment.
The lunch was fine and we could escape the entertainment by spending time out on the deck. The weather was good and we enjoyed the colors and river traffic. We did get an extra event during this trip. Two of the tour buses managed to miss the departure time and the company agreed that they would pick them up along the river. This was apparently a very special exception to the rules. The captain noted that we would get to see how the real paddlewheel steamers picked up passengers and cargo in days gone by, namely by lowering the bow boarding ramp.
The captain allowed visitors to the bridge and he provided some lively conversation as we moved along. I should mention that he was a retired Coast Guardsman, who was in charge of the navigation aids on this river just before he retired.
It was a pleasant afternoon on the water and another look at the fall colors.
11 comments:
Escape the entertainment? Probably a good idea! :)
Beautiful colors. We haven't spent much time in Chattanooga. We will need to explore that area more. Enjoy the ride!
Looks like a beautiful area. Great colors.
Looks like the fall colors are in full bloom right now - great pics!
That sounds like a great fun thing to do. I've never been on a paddlewheel and to see them take on passengers was a real bonus. Great pictures!
What a fine steamboat excursion! We'd have enjoyed that too, and we know what you mean about escaping the entertainment. Good pictures along the way. We'd have been royally ticked if our bus made us late for the tour, and even more so if the captain had observed proper policy and not stopped to pick us up along the way!
We've been to Chattanooga many times but never took a trip on the river. I can see that this is something we must put on our "to do" list.
What a wonderful day on the water. The fall colors are just beautiful.
Thanks for sharing!!
The Captain was a retired Coastie? No wonder he could handle boarding passengers the old fashioned way. :c)
Nice to see CG skills paying off in retirement.
We love the Chattanooga area. Will have to check out that tour boat.
Beautiful pictures. I hope the fall colors will still be around when we drive through there on our way to Missouri for Thanksgiving!
Candy
Your pictures reminded me of the last time we were in Chattanooga. We picked up a little stray kitten at the top of a mountain at a hang gliding place. Of course we named him Chattanooga (Chatty) and we haven't been back since...10-12 years ago. Still looks beautiful.
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