Our winter escape to the warm climates of Florida is now over and we are returning to Virginia by a different route this year. Since we were in the western panhandle of Florida, we drove north wanting to spend a couple of weeks in Alabama. But, it wasn’t to be as one of the largest spring storms in several years drove us out! Follow along as we are northbound to Alabama and Tennessee.
Relocation
Our original plans were to spend a week near Montgomery Alabama at Gunter Hill Corps of Engineers campground and then a week at State Park in the northeast part of the state. About two days into our stay at the COE park the weather service was calling for the storm of the century and probable tornados. So what does any normal person do with wheels on their home? Flee!
Our drive was windy and saturated with heavy rains, but we safely made it to our RV park in Chattanooga, TN for four days. Two of the days were heavy wind and rain as the big storm caught up to us but left behind the tornado warnings.
Chattanooga, Tn / Lookout Mtn
With only a limited time here, we focused on Rock City, a place that I had been to as a young child, but only remembered the famous barn sign paintings. We did not even make it into Chattanooga except the trip to Lookout Mountain/Rock City. Maybe next time through we can explore some more.
Our RV park was the Holiday Travel Park of Chattanooga. It was fine, but to be honest, our stay was either cold and rainy or else very cool and windy. It is early springtime in the south, so that is to be expected I guess.
Rock City
This world famous attraction dates back to the Depression era, but the geological history dates back thousands of years. Its history includes a couple of missionaries documenting it in the early 1800’s and a Civil War battle was fought on Lookout Mountain. LINK
I cannot image fighting a battle on this steep mountain that has some shear drop offs. That is some rough terrain! For more info on the fascinating Civil War battle, follow this link. LINK
It was slowly developed as a tourist attraction, but it was not until the 1930’s that a very ingenious advertising project that really kicked the place off. From their website: It was at this point another brilliant idea of Carter’s was born. He enlisted the help of a young sign painter named Clark Byers, who was hired to travel the nation’s highways and offer to paint a farmer’s barns in exchange for letting him paint three simple words: See Rock City. The distinctive black-and-white signs appeared as far north as Michigan and as far west as Texas.
It was a cool day 
Everyone was masked due to some of the tight walkways 
Me behind that mask 
Pat and me (Randy) from the walkway 
Lover’s Leap 
I’m not too sure about seeing seven states but man what a view!
Well named passageway 
We made it through! 
A very green waterfall a few days after St Pats day 
Don’t let it fall!
So now I have seen the famous Rock City after years of seeing the barn signs when I was growing up. The rock gardens took about an hour and a half to follow the path. The admission of $22 per adult was a little steep, but was worth it to see these cool rock formations from such a vantage point. Thanks for following along! Next up will be our weeklong stay at Sevierville, Tn and the Smokey Mountains. Take care and God Bless.
Glad you were safe! We were headed to Gulf Shores last year, but all we did was drive around in a big circle in Mississippi due to Hurricane Sally! I hope to visit Rock City some day, and I look forward to your posts about Tennessee. Safe Travels!
Never been to Rock city but remember the painted barns. Thanks for sharing.