Chatanooga, Ruby Falls, and Family Vacations. . .

I was recently switched to a 4 day, 10 hour work week on Monday through Thursday each week. Last week was my first run on this schedule and so we decided to go on vacation for the weekend. We decided to go to Chatanooga, TN and boy was this a much needed vacation.

While in Chatanooga, we were able to visit the Ruby Falls cave which was an interesting and cool experience. Kate was a little scared at some parts, so I would not recommended it for kids under 3 and Dallen at 5 was only partially interested in the cave. He was more excited by the wooden rubberband gun that he was able to pick up on the trip.

After winding our way back about a half mile into the cave, we ended up at the actual Ruby Falls where water drops from the ceiling of the cavern 145 feet to the waiting pool below. They have a colored light show that turns on when you get to the cave and allowed us to go around behind the waterfall though you have to duck to make it and it is very slippery.

We also found the Chatanooga Choo Choo downtown and that was another experience. Next time we go, we will stay in the train cars that they have made into a holiday inn. The old station is the main building and behind it on the old platforms, they have a large garden running through the middle and old style train cars setup as the hotel rooms.

On a down side, avoid The Station House Restraunt. I was impressed when we walked in as I liked the ambiance. It is quite dark inside, and has a lot of old fashioned lighting and oil paintings on the walls. Unfortunately, thats where the good ended. I found some thick pieces of mold on the grapes in the fruit of the salad bar and the food was not very good and overpriced. My wife had the Roast Prime Rib of Beef and I had the Barbecued Babyback Ribs. She only took a bite or two of hers and said that it was not good and I was able to finish off my ribs though they were not the best that I had eaten. The bill came up to twice what it should have been as the service was not very good. The servers get up on stage and sing songs throughout your dining experience. Sounds cool right? We must have had one of the better singers as our waiter as he only showed up every other song and then it took forever to get our food. Generally, for the entertainment I could overlook that, but altogether this was not a great dining experience.

It was a lot of fun, and a good city to visit. We are already planning our next trip.