Civil War Re-enactment
September 8th & 9th
Battle of Tunnel Hill
Tunnel Hill, Georgia
The passengers in the Excursion were all very excited as they realized the date was September 7th, so we hadn't missed it. All family members were in agreement that we would rather stop and attend the re-enactment than continue on to Norris Dam. Yay! I did some quick work with our handy dandy Travel Directory and found a KOA with full hook-ups in Ringgold, Ga, the next town north of Tunnel Hill.
Since it was so early in the day, we were able to get our campsite set up and still have time to go sightseeing in nearby Chattanooga.
After collecting a bazillion brochures, we decided that Lookout Mountain was a good place to start. We made the meandering drive up the mountain and stopped at the Incline Railway Station. Nobody in the family wanted to ride the Incline, but it made for good entertainment to watch it come and go from above. No day should ever be void of learning something new, so for those of you who have never visited the Incline Railway, or have never even heard of it, here is a brief history taken from their website:
"Following the Civil War, development on Lookout Mountain was minimal. The four-hour trip up Whiteside Pike, a toll road, discouraged many people, and the two-dollar toll discouraged the rest. However, many people were interested in visiting the peak, in part due to the romanticized "Battle Above the Clouds" that occurred on the mountain during The Civil War.
During the railroad boom of the 1880's, speculators decided to develop a hotel on the mountaintop serviced by a narrow gauge railroad that would run up the mountain. A second, broad-gauge line and an earlier incline were also competing for passengers.
On November 16, 1895 the railroad known today simply as "The Incline" opened, rising up the steepest part of Lookout Mountain. Built by John Crass and the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway Company this technical marvel boasted an incline of 72.7% at one point, making it the steepest passenger Incline in the world. Literally millions of residents and tourists have taken this ride up to the top of Lookout Mountain. By 1900 the success of this railway closed down all of its competitors.
Originally the cars were made of wood and powered by huge coal-burning steam engines. Electric power was used after 1911, and it now uses two 100 horsepower motors. Today The Incline Railway still attracts people from around the world."
The Incline Railway making it's mile trek down the mountain as we watched from above.
Sarah checking out the view!
Looking out over downtown Chattanooga
After we left the Incline Railway observation deck, we decided to check out Ruby Falls. As we were driving there, I was thinking about how many times I've seen the signs as you drive down the freeway, SEE RUBY FALLS. Oh, and don't forget to SEE ROCK CITY. I have seen so many billboards, bird houses and barn roofs that bear these messages through the years, that I had personally vowed never to see either attraction in protest to the obnoxious advertising. Alas, I was overruled.
I did not know anything about Ruby Falls before going in, but I did have some expectations of a really hokey tourist trap of a small waterfall with red lights illuminating it. I was pleasantly surprised.
Our tour began with an elevator ride down a couple of hundred feet through limestone, into a cavern where our tour guide was waiting. The first things we noticed was that it was cold -- 60 degrees cold. It wasn't too bad at first given the temps were in the 90's outside, but after walking further into the mountain, we all had cold hands and feet.
As we went along, our tour guide told us the history of the cave, which I won't bore you with, since I tested your patience with the history of the Incline Railway. Ruby Falls has a website, so you can check it out further if you wish. Anyway, the history of the cave is very interesting, especially the part where its founder, Leo Lambert, spent many hours crawling on his belly through this cavern before he was ever able to stand up. I personally think that if Mr. Lambert had been put through psychological testing, he would have dismally failed. I saw the tunnel he crawled through, and a person couldn't be in their right mind to do so.
As for the name Ruby Falls, it's not because the falls are ruby colored, but because Mr. Lambert named them after his wife, Ruby. So sweet! Right after he discovered the falls, he took her in to see it, which means that she would have had to crawl through on her belly as well. I think it's great that two people not in their right mind ended up together!
Of course, we heard all of the malarkey about the cavern and falls being millions of years old. We were touring with a rather large group, so rather than disagreeing with the tour guide, our family just rolled their eyes at one another. We believe in a biblical account of creation -- a literal 6 days as the Bible says, and we also believe that scientific data supports a young earth. If anyone reading this has a different view, we would welcome friendly discussion on the subject. If you would like to know more about what we believe and why, we invite you to do your own research at www.answersingenesis.org.
The kids really enjoyed this attraction!
We left Ruby Falls around 7:30 and realized that we were really hungry. We ended our evening with a fabulous meal at Alfredo's Italian Restaurant in Chattanooga, and a good night's sleep in our own beds. Knowing where you're putting your head each night is very nice!
No comments:
Post a Comment