Cross one off, near the top of The Bucket List. After sixty two years, I finally followed the exhortation plastered on the roofs of barns to birdhouses across the Southland and Americana. I Saw Rock City. Jackie and I walked the whole Fairyland Trail. We started up the Grand Corridor and through Needle’s Eye. We then went under the Gnomes’ Underpass, past the Lion’s Den, Shelter Rock and through the Cave Of The Winds. We decided to throw caution to the wind (literally), and crossed The Swinging Bridge out onto Lover’s Leap. From there we saw Seven States and took a lot of pictures. We don’t take very many selfies at all. But, this was one time we wanted one, and that particular feature on the stupid iPhone decided to not function properly. A nice lady took our picture with seven states in the distance behind us and on either side. On the way back down we went past Tortoise Shell Rock. We made it through Fat Man’s Squeeze, even with Jackie’s camera hanging around her neck. Then it was through the Goblins’ Underpass and Fairyland Caverns. We finished up at the Gift Shop, where I bought a See Rock City birdhouse. A tourist all the way, all I needed was a pair of Bermuda shorts, sandals and a Hy-waiian flowerdy shirt with a See Rock City Guide in the pocket. I didn’t care. I was beginning to think that I may not see Rock City in my lifetime, so I was thrilled.
Please don’t laugh. As far as traveling, I really don’t get out very much. There are great chunks of the world outside of the southeastern United States I have never seen. I have never seen the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful, Disney World, the Giant Redwoods or the Pacific Ocean. I have seen Ruby Falls, and now Rock City. I rode the original Starliner Roller Coaster in Panama City. I have been to the United Kingdom thrice, where I saw St. Andrews, Loch Ness and Land’s End. I have played golf in Scotland. I have snorkeled in the Caribbean and fished in the Gulf of Mexico. I have ridden in an airboat across The Everglades, where we also saw some guy who was a few balls shy of a bucket stick his head into the open mouth of an alligator. There are a few other things here and there, but that is pretty much the short list.
When I was a kid, the family vacations my parents and I took always consisted of one of three things. We either went to Dallas, Texas to visit my mother’s family. Or, we went to Fort Pierce, Florida to visit my aunt (my mother’s sister), uncle and cousins. We went to New Orleans a couple of times because her daughter lived there. At times, on holidays we would remain close to home. We would stay in a cabin at the City Of Atlanta Firemen’s Recreation Area at Lake Allatoona. We didn’t didn’t do that very often, though, because my mother couldn’t swim, hated boats and was afraid of the water. Beginning to see a pattern here?
We never went to Panama City, Gatlinburg or Washington, D.C. We never went on a train trip or a cruise. I was fifty-plus years old before I ever saw Savannah, and a young adult before I crossed the Mason-Dixon line. I went to Trevose, Pennsylvania for a work-related seminar in 1978. I have crossed that line exactly twice since. We went to Indianapolis in 2010 to see the 500, and this summer flew into Newark, New Jersey to go on a cruise. From what I can tell, New Jersey is all that it is cracked up to be. I saw New York and The Statue of Liberty from the deck of the cruise ship. We then sailed to Maine and Nova Scotia. Maine is indeed all that it is cracked up to be, absolutely gorgeous. Nova Scotia, not so much. Atop the bucket list now is taking a driving trip through New England.
I had only been to Chattanooga twice before, both day trips. It is beautiful. I love the small city atmosphere. We stayed in the Hampton Inn downtown and became fast friends with Tina, the manager who checked us in. The downtown area is very clean, with a lot of restaurants and shops. We walked to dinner each night and never once felt threatened. We also walked to the Hunter Museum of American Art. We then crossed over the Tennessee River via the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge to Coolidge Park and rode the carousel. The gentleman who ran the carousel told us that it was built in 1894 and was in Atlanta’s Grant Park before going into storage and eventually being moved to Chattanooga. The carousel featured a lot of unique animals including a fish, a frog, a seahorse, an ostrich, a rabbit, two different cats, a Scottie dog and a brontosaurus. I rode Otis The Pig, while Jackie opted to be more conventional and rode Jordan The Pony.
Our first morning in town, we got up and turned on the local news before heading down for breakfast. When the traffic report came on, we both fell out laughing. There were a few cars going by on the Traffic Cam, all at a speed limit ride. No pile-ups or overturned tractor trailers. None of the sheer volume congestion like the nightmare that is Atlanta traffic. I woke up in the middle of the night several times, and it was very strange. We were in the middle of downtown, and it was still and quiet. No sirens. No gunshots. No honking horns. No loud music. No screaming or yelling, although we did hear the street cleaners come by a couple of times.
As our newfound friend Tina was checking us out of the hotel, we asked for directions to Brainerd Road. We told her we were meeting our friends Wayne and Jan for lunch. She asked us where, and we told her Ankar’s. Her eyes flew open wide and she shouted, “That’s my family!!!” She told us that her cousin had opened the restaurant around forty years ago. She also told us where her elderly aunt sat every day, and suggested we tell her that Tina told us to come to lunch there and see her. We did so, and the family could not have been more gracious. The food was excellent, and the place filled up in a hurry. Apparently, the restaurant is very well known in the Chattanooga area. Wayne is a regular and on a first name basis with everyone there. If you are in the area, I highly recommend it.
As beautiful as Chattanooga is, I fear for her. As time passes, and more and more Boomers retire and flee the monstrosity that Atlanta has become, I hope that she does not expand, sprawl and choke on herself . I hope that she retains her beauty, charm and Small Southern City atmosphere.
There is still a part of me that longs to chuck it all and buy a Volkswagen bus. A part that longs for Jackie and I to load up my easel, her camera, our dog and take off. There is whole world out there to see, to paint, to capture on camera and to write about. But then, my practical side takes over and reminds me of my daily commitments and responsibilities. I am well aware that the clock is ticking. As we grow older we learn that the most precious resource is time. So, I will have to wait a few more years until such is feasible. The Good Lord willing, I will have to squeeze what I can into the time that I am fortunate enough to have available to do so. Until then, though, I’ll continue to be Writing and Rolling and Still Cruisin’! –J.
Jimmy, there is no way to share you columns. Have you seen the Bitter Southern? It’s a good one too.