Two Towns and Montgomery Bell

In Chattanooga we opted to forgo the more touristy attractions, of which there are quite a few. Instead we spent a few hours walking downtown in the Bluff View district, visiting the sculpture garden, bread bakery and art gallery.

We walked across the Walnut St. pedestrian bridge for great views of the Tennessee River and bluffs and walked along the riverfront in stifling heat. People were setting up for the Riverbend Festival and a band was practicing.








The following morning it was pouring rain. We went to Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and by the time we left the visitor's center, the rain was just a drizzle. The park is similar to others we've been to, like Vicksburg, but not as big or as compelling.

The battle itself was a rather confusing affair, also very bloody, the 2nd bloodiest battle of the Civil War (after Gettysburg) with over 34,000 casualties. The Union lost but retained control of Chattanooga.









That afternoon we went to Point Park on top of Lookout Mountain, a tall, steep mountain on top of which is an upscale community. It was also part of the battle and afforded great views of the city and river.






In Nashville we stayed at the fairgrounds, which had full-hook-up and the most convenient campground to downtown. It was set apart on a bluff, overgrown with weeds and devoid of other campers. You feel a little funny when you're the only ones there. Trashcans were overflowing with trash and covered with flies. By the time we finished setting up, it had started pouring rain. We found the office to pay for the campsite and went downtown.

We took an excellent tour of the state capitol, visited nearby Bicentennial Mall State Park with its interesting depictions of TN history and geography and drove up Broadway, famous for live country music. Tourists were out and about, but the good stuff doesn't start until later at night. Our untrusty GPS directed us north of town while our campground was south, so we got to experience a double dose of rush hour city traffic. Fortunately I had a city map. We're finding paper maps extremely useful on this trip.
Back at our campsite, we met our newly-arrived  neighbors, a young, friendly Venezuelan couple now living in Miami. They said they wanted to go RVing because it was a very American thing to do, but they were concerned about riding their bikes around town, especially at night.

The next day we visited Gaylord Opryland to see the vast, lush, indoor gardens.

We also saw the outside of the Grand Ole Opry and a river showboat and went back downtown to see a few things we had missed the day before,

 including a full-scale replica of the Greek Parthenon in Centennial Park (doesn't have quite the same impact).

The highlight was a performance that evening of four bands at Music City Roots, a small, inexpensive music venue around 18 miles south of town. When the last band started playing bluegrass, all the young people and some of the older people in the audience rushed onto the dance floor and danced or just stood, enthralled, for the rest of the performance. The band was great.

Next stop was Montgomery Bell State Park, which had a bike trail David had read about and wanted to ride. The adventure started with the GPS, which kept insisting we drive down narrow, gravel roads into areas no RV should go. We kept ignoring it until finally it directed us down the proper road, which also happened to have a park sign, always reassuring. Our site was pretty, beside a river and a nice contrast to our previous location. We had lunch and David assembled the bikes. The trailhead was not close by, but we didn't want to take the time to unhook the truck, so we rode our bikes to the park entrance, rode a short distance on a busy road and then about a mile or so up a steep country road to the trailhead.

The trails here are rated from easy to advanced, but the so-called easy trail was by no means easy. There were more roots, rocks, dips, turns and narrow passages than on Tsali. Not only that, where it was narrow was lined with poison ivy. At one point we took a wrong turn and ended up on the intermediate trail with some ridiculously steep bridges.

I kept slipping and had to walk several places. Maybe the rain had washed dirt from the trail, exposing more roots and rocks. In any case, it wasn't my idea of fun. David had to lift our bikes over a couple logs. Right before we rejoined the easy loop, I rode through a short, steep dip and fell, right into a thick patch of poison ivy, banging my shin on my bike. After I stopped screaming in pain, we got out the cryptic black and white color-coded map to try and figure out where we might be and my bike fell (because we each thought the other was holding it up). When David stooped to pick it up, he ended up tumbling backwards into an even thicker slope of poison ivy. We made it back to the trailhead, and I returned to the campground. David decided to go back on the trail to find the branch that said "Danger, Expert Level Only."

When I got back I put my poisoned clothes inside out in a plastic bag and took a shower. I tried to take Neptune for a walk, but he was scared of the stream. He couldn't figure out what kind of animal it was. In Bryson City he was afraid of a couple of quacking ducks that came to visit and dove head first behind the couch to hide. In Chattanooga he was afraid of golf carts. Now streams. Plato simply doesn't want to leave the trailer. When we open the truck door, he makes a mad dash to the trailer, jumps inside and won't leave until we carry him back to the truck.
When David returned, he said the advanced trail was very steep up and down, slick, muddy, rocky and rooty with hills he slid down trying not to fall. Some places were so rocky and steep he had to walk up. The trail went through washes and ravines and crossed two streams. I asked him if he liked it. "I liked the fact that I made it back without busting my posterior. I'm glad I did it because my curiosity is satisfied. I wanted to know what it's like to go on an expert downhill run and what it is is extremely difficult." I'm going to take his word for it.
Next stop Memphis.