Posted: 1/2/2011 8:38:05 AM EDT
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I got some days off last week & made the trip to East TN to visit family. I decided to drive up Lookout Mtn. as I had never just driven around up there. Well, all I can say is that the scenery is simply indescriable. You have to see it to understand the scope of the views, IMO. I also drove around the battlefield a little bit, those pics to follow also.
David Lewis, if you'd be kind enough to fill in the history on anything you feel the urge to........................ 
We've all seen the "Ride the Incline" billboards & whatnot. What I didn't know was that there was a previous one to the one we now ride. 
Current train car of what we ride now. Note the angle it sits at in order to handle the steep side of the mountain. 
Downside looking up. They were down for maintenance, so I was able to sneak out on the track for some pics................ 
A road about halfway up the mountain. Note how steep the last section is up top. 
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Not much to add, Bob...except: Great photos, as usual! You did a great job photographing the signage that explains the sights. Did you
hike any around Point Park? Down to the Ochs Museum, below the point? last time I was there, they had a letter from Sam Watkins on display (from Maury Co; author of Co. Aytch) Sunset Rock is pretty neat, too. I really like your "on the tracks" shot from the St. Elmo station, looking up! Did you find the natural bridge? What about the "castle" at Covenant College? And, did you SEE ROCK CITY ? I love Chattanooga, & especially, Lookout & Signal Mountains. David Tennessee Firearms Association TFA Forum |
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Not much to add, Bob...except: Great photos, as usual! You did a great job photographing the signage that explains the sights. Did you hike any around Point Park? Down to the Ochs Museum, below the point? last time I was there, they had a letter from Sam Watkins on display (from Maury Co; author of Co. Aytch) Sunset Rock is pretty neat, too. No, no hiking as I wasn't wearing boots this visit. Point Park was closed "due to the ice" but I do have some pics to put up later tonight.
Did you find the natural bridge?
No, & that disappoints me. 
What about the "castle" at Covenant College?
Yes, pics to follow later.
And, did you SEE ROCK CITY ?
Not from up close & personal. I've been there before & wanted to see the other areas before I ran out of both time & daylight. I love Chattanooga, & especially, Lookout & Signal Mountains.
Not been to Signal Mtn. yet. Isn't there some battlefields there as well? Not sure I know exactly where it is, sadly.............. 
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Found this about the Natural Bridge: Lookout Mountain Natural Bridge
From http://www.tnguy.com/10514.html
This natural phenomenon is a rock arch that is 85 feet long and, at its highest, 15 feet off the ground. Utterly publicized, the arch rises in a ravine between Bragg Avenue, which turns off Hwy. 148, and Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, located at 211 Franklin Road. A sign indicates the presence of the arch, but visitors must park several hundred feet south. Lively times used to take place here. The Southern Association of Spiritualists bought this property and an adjacent hotel in 1883 and conducted sances and pseudo-Indian ceremonies on the arch, some of them lasting well into the night and complete with Indian chants. This is a good place for a picnic. Don't forget the Ouija board. I've only found it once, & it took some looking. It's in a bit of a gulch, & not visible from the road. Another website indicates that the park is a bit overgrown/run-down. It certainly was a bit scruffy when we were there some years back––and wonderfully private, too, to be in the middle of a residential area. The main thing on Signal Mountain (other than the fun of driving up "W" Road –– drive it & you'll discover why it's aptly named!) is it's version of "Point Park". The point of Signal Mountain was the furthest line-of-sight from the point of Lookout Mountain, and the beginning of a line of Union Arm signal towers, heading generally west/northwest, and leading back to the Union-occupied capitol, Nashville. Used for visual communication (flags, maybe signal fires/lights), it was a swift way to relay messages hundreds of miles. It's a small "park", with some awesome views of the "Grand Canyon of the Tennessee". David Tennessee Firearms Association TFA Forum |
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This is from the park level on the mountain. You can see how close it is to the actual summit of the mountain itself. http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z114/bobsgunsUSP/LookoutMtnBattlefield201026.jpg Oh, yes, before I forget............................. http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z114/bobsgunsUSP/LookoutMtn201016.jpg I do note the irony of not being allowed to carry while on a BATTLEFIELD.................  Wouldn't that be the same as carrying on/in a national park? I may be wrong but that sign may be outdated now. |
For those who've seen the large bldg up on Lookout Mtn. as they travel on I-24, this is it. It was built back in the 1920s as a hotel (name unknown to my guide) & then went into disrepair during the Depression. The college bought it back in the 1960s & they're affiliated with the Presbyterians. Lucky folks, these Presbyterians................. 
This is the side you see from below, on I-24. 
The main bldg, originally built in the 1920s. 
Can you imagine looking out your dorm room or classroom every day to this view? I don't think *I* would get much done in class with this view..............
Several of these benches on campus for meditating or squeezing one's honey to a view..............................
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Quoted:
Lively times used to take place here. The Southern Association of Spiritualists bought this property and an adjacent hotel in 1883 and conducted sances and pseudo-Indian ceremonies on the arch, some of them lasting well into the night and complete with Indian chants. This is a good place for a picnic. Don't forget the Ouija board. From http://www.tnguy.com/10514.html Well, hell, I drove right by that marker so I must've been within spitting distance of the bridge.................... 
I did get some pics of the park in the middle of the neighborhood as described but it looked pretty kept up to me. Of course, a good bit of it was covered by snow. |
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Ah, the "Battles for Chattanooga" museum, once known as the "Confederama", & formerly located in the St. Elmo District at the foot of the Incline Railway. Now,
with a name change ("new & improved", I guess), & relocated to the top, near Point Park. Bob, be glad they were closed––it's one of the biggest rip-offs I've ever seen! It's a 1950s (maybe '40s, even) "electronic" map...meaning it's about a 12' square "diaorama" with C9 Christmas light bulbs in it that illuminate in sequence with a recorded narrative to relate the sequence of events of the battles of Chattanooga & Chickamauga. The relays are so loud they almost drowned out the narration! We went years ago...on free tickets. My late uncle was the assistant commissioner of the TN Dept of Tourism, & he got us free tickets to everything in & around Chattanooga for a long weekend when we first got married...including the Confederama. The litle old biddies...ladies who ran the place absolutely hated giving up those free passes––lied to me about them, even. Then, after arguing to get into the place––on free passes, mind you––it was still not worth what we paid to get in!! My wife wouldn't let me ask for my money back! Truly, an hour of my life I'll never get back!!!
Perhaps, with the move, they updated the system a little...but it's my understanding that they still have the same diorama/map. In fairness, if you don't know diddly-squat about the battles, and are incapable of reading one of the NPS brochures about it, or any internet sites, or a 4th grade history book, or don't know a 4th grader you can ask...then it might be worth going to see.
Really...I'd better stop now, before I tell you what I really think of it... Quoted:
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Wouldn't that be the same as carrying on/in a national park? I may be wrong but that sign may be outdated now. I'll let Dave handle that one as I'm not real sure. Carrying in Point Park, Signal Point, Chickamauga, etc. They're part of the National Park Service, & you're good to go with a valid permit, since Feb 2010. David Tennessee Firearms Association TFA Forum |
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I love these threads. The folks in the other (not quite) 49 hometown forums don't know what they're missing.
On electric maps: I ponied up for the one at Gettysburg. It is (was?) similarly constructed. Instead of thinking of it as a cut-rate attraction, I saw it as a time capsule of 1950's family tourism. The good old days weren't all that good in many respects.
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I love these threads. The folks in the other (not quite) 49 hometown forums don't know what they're missing. One of the old tourism slogans was: "Tennessee: The Nation's Most Interesting State" There's a lot of truth in that statement.
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On electric maps: I ponied up for the one at Gettysburg. It is (was?) similarly constructed. Instead of thinking of it as a cut-rate attraction, I saw it as a time capsule of 1950's family tourism. The good old days weren't all that good in many respects. Probably, I might have enjoyed it more if not for the massive dose of attitude handed out by the staff when we visited (which was close to 20 years ago––those biddies ladies women are likely dead & gone by now!) Even my wife, who is very easy-going & non-confrontational, was fed up with them. But, you are right: a good way to look at it is as a time capsule of old roadside attractions. That's some of their charm, as long as there's not too much empahsis put on the "This way to the Egress" signs, as P.T. Barnum used to do. Oddly enough, I generally love old attractions like that, including the nearby attractions of Rock City & Ruby Falls (though as a sometime caver, I do abhor what was done to the cave at Ruby Falls). Chattanooga is probably my favorite town in TN. It's probably our favorite get-away location: great for a day or two, and very doable as a down & back one day trip (from the Nashville area, at least). David Tennessee Firearms Association TFA Forum |
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I love these threads. The folks in the other (not quite) 49 hometown forums don't know what they're missing. I wish the guys from West TN would do some pic threads as I've never really been visiting there, just driven thru. I would love to see Dixie Gun Works, Memphis, Mud Island, etc. 
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