Matt and Shelby: Chug-a-luga-CHOO-CHOO!

Matt has been requesting that we take a train ride for quite some time now. So that is just what we did for his Birthday Extravaganza this year.

Me waiting to board

We left at 4 am to make our 10 o'clock train in Chattanooga. It took us 3.5 hours to get to Chattanooga, plus they are in Eastern time zone, so we lost an hour. We got there a little too early, but we wanted to allow plenty of time in case we had needed it. Matt and I had tickets for the Chickamauga Turn (Check out all the tours they offer: Tennessee Valley Railroad). The train ride was slow and relaxing. It was a diesel engine train and staff and guides were very entertaining. The swaying of the train car made Matt and I want to go to sleep. The weather last weekend was fantastic and fall like. Matt could have made the entire train ride while standing on the vestibule or in between cars with his head hung over the side. The train also passed through a horseshoe shaped tunnel in the mountain. It is one of only two, in the state of Tennessee that is still usable. During the civil war the union and confederate soldiers engaged in hand to hand combat in the middle of the tunnel in pitch blackness.

Matt looking over the side of the train

Around noon we arrived in Chickamauga, Georgia. It was a quaint little town. We had lunch, walked around the Gordon Lee mansion, and visited some of the shops. They had a hat shop, and if any of you know my love of hats, you know that I must have tried on every hat in the shop. I seriously fell in love with a 20's/30's era hat with large feathers and netting and a green velvet hat that I can't describe, but Matt gasped and said that I should buy it. I didn't though. I haven't any idea when I'd be able to wear such a formal hat.

Gordon Lee Mansion

On the way back to Chattanooga, the train made a brief stop at Chickamauga National Military Park. It had tons of monuments, but we only stopped at one. It was shaped like a chess piece and you had to climb 136 stairs to the top observation deck. I hope that Matt and I can make another trip to the park and check it out further. On the ride back Matt and I again fought off the urge to drift asleep and just enjoyed the ride.

Matt in front of the monument

We arrived back at the Depot, took a look at the exhibit of amazing photography from the 1950's, looked at a few more train cars, headed to the hotel. We had so much fun! And I have so much more to tell you about the trip, but I'm going to break it up into a couple posts.

Maybe later this year or next we'll go back and take the Autumn Leaves train that is the steam engine (I love the smoke coming from the stack and the sound that whistle makes). They have different cars added to the train for these rides. They have a car that was used in the filming of the George Clooney movie Leatherheads and one similar to the Marilyn Monroe film Some like it Hot. It was a wonderful little trip and I suggest that you click the links and check it out the train for yourselves. If I had children, I would totally take them to the Polar Express one with hot chocolate served and Santa aboard. The only thing I would have changed would to have headed down on Friday evening so we would not have been so tired.