Sister Adventure Trip in Chattanooga, Tennessee
I recently took a quick day-and-a-half trip to Chattanooga to celebrate my beautiful sister-in-law, Tricia, and her upcoming 50th birthday! Trish flew in from Texas, so I could pick her up in Nashville, so we could drive together to Chattanooga!
We went just the two of us, which we haven’t done before, ever. We browsed shops and drank coffee and sipped cocktails and shared ideas and marveled at natural beauty and adventured. The best.
I met Trish when I was 14-years-old when she came to our NJ church from Kentucky and started dating my older brother. Pretty much immediately, I was attached to her side that summer. Yankees games, Jersey shore trips, borrowing her clothes and makeup. She’s been a source of hope and faith and encouragement to me ever since, like the older sister I never had. I’m so thankful for her life!
Every time I go to Chattanooga, I love it more. The city’s small size and detailed design and mountain+river views and artsiness and multitude of beautiful public spaces are just 💯💯💯. This was Trish’s first time visiting Chattanooga, and she absolutely loved it.
Here are some highlights of the trip…save this for the next time you visit Chattanooga!
We stayed at The Read House, and it was my second time staying there. This time we stayed in The Manor area of the hotel, which is a little older and not as glam as the other side of the hotel, but it was still great. Just walking through the historic 1800s lobby feels special! Here on one of the balconies is where we took our first sister selfie of the trip. :)
After getting settled and dropping off our stuff, we set out for the Riverview neighborhood, where I’d never been before. We were on a mission to find The Book & Cover, an indie bookshop in an adorable old house. In fact, the entire street was filled with businesses in historic little houses! The book shop had tons of character with multiple rooms and reading nooks and a whimsical children’s section with truffala trees! They even had a stack of these giant Rifle Paper Co. floor pillows in one corner, that I assume was for storytime. I would lurrrve these in my home!
Around the corner, we spotted a little house with a curved Hobbit door called The Rosecomb. It was a bar with craft cocktails and a wildflower garden patio out back! How could we pass that up? It was time for some herby cocktails next to some coneflowers. Having no agenda and plenty of time to sit and chat felt like such a luxury.
I don’t usually order cocktails, but their menu had so many unique ones. I ordered the Desert Solitaire with rose gin, apricot, lemon and rosewater.
Next we headed back to the downtown Chattanooga area (which was only a 10-minute drive, as it seems like everything is there!) for a walk around town. It was coming on golden hour, which was a great opportunity to walk across the Walnut Street Walking Bridge over the Tennessee River. Perfect weather and clear skies…
If I lived in Chattanooga, I would definitely walk across this bridge everyday on my walks. There were tons of people out, and you can easily walk across the whole thing. On either side of the bridge you can see the beautiful city parks on the shoreline - there are so many! I think Chattanooga does an incredible job with its public spaces - they’re well maintained and feel very safe.
For dinner, we secured a spot on the patio at Wooden City Chattanooga, which is right near the Tennessee Aquarium. We ate at Wooden City on our last trip there for Father’s Day as a family, and I couldn’t wait to take Trish there! We each got another cocktail, and I didn’t take any photos of the food, because the food was too incredible to waste time taking photos! We shared the mouth-watering Caesar salad for an appetizer, and I got the Chicken Schnitzel again. It was - dare I say - even better than last time. Trish loved her burger with a side of crispy artichokes.
After this, we walked a bit more around the aquarium area which is right on the riverfront and has lots of fun water features which I’ve written about in my other blog posts about Chattanooga (see below).
With a great 1/2 day in Chattanooga in the books, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for our next full-day adventure…
We awoke early the next day and dressed for a hike! After researching some places online, I had selected the Glen Falls Trail - it wasn’t too far from our hotel, had good reviews, and seemed neither too easy nor too long/strenuous. As we drove to the trail, we realized we were driving up Lookout Mountain and even passed the entrance to Ruby Falls. I still have never been there, but I’m glad we chose something off the beaten path that wasn’t touristy.
We saw not a single other soul the entire time, but the path was well worn. So peaceful!
Soon we saw a path off the beaten path, and we took it, of course. It led to this dreamy sunlit meadow…
At the top, we finally found Glen “Falls” 😂 ~ it was a tiny trickle of water! LOL. Tennessee has been really dry lately.
But the whole cavern where the waterfall is was fun to walk through - it had lots of boulders you can climb on and even a little cave. At the top was a stunning view, and we just sat on a boulder and took it all in. I love that going on an outdoor adventure was at the top of both our lists for this trip.
On the way back down, I saw the one single sunflower on the entire hiking trail. Of course. 🌻
We had worked up an appetite, so we headed to the Bluff View Art District, which is now one of my my favorite areas of Chattanooga! I don’t know how I’ve never visited this part of town on previous trips, but I can’t wait to go back with Steven and the girls - they’re gonna love it.
The Bluff View Arts District is so historic, funky, artsy, and overlooking the river from high bluffs. The shops are in these old stone buildings with secret courtyards, and several of the bhildings have artist galleries and shops.
The main reason we headed there was for breakfast and coffee at Rembrandt’s, which my friend had recommended. Hello, awesome 90s coffee shop vibes! Loved this place so much. It reminded me of what Bongo Java in Nashville used to be like when I was in college…the long glass case of treats that you peruse while you order, yummy sandwiches and soups and any coffee drink you can imagine. The patio was huge and covered in wisteria vines. So dreamy!
We stayed on the patio at Rembrandt’s for awhile, journaling and talking, and then decided to go back to our hotel to get freshened up and explore other areas around our hotel before dinner later. We walked from The Read House to the West Village area and happened upon this alleyway with colorful umbrellas, which of course we had to stop for. 🌂
While in the West Village, we walked by this plant shop called The Secret Garden (um, yes please), where I got a Black Velvet Elephant Ear plant that I’m in love with. Such a cute little plant shop and florist!
AMEN.
While passing by an old stone church, I also found the first really fallish leaf on the ground, and it made me so excited about the season to come.
Then, it was time to head to the Southside neighborhood for a special 50th birthday dinner for Trish at Alleia! This rustic Italian restaurant was recommended to me by a farm store customer, and I couldn’t wait to try it. The entrance was intriguing with a heavy wooden mysterious door - here’s Trish opening the door to her 50s decade… :)
I had reserved us a table on the patio, and I’m so glad I did! It was twinkle-lit overhead with vines covering the sides so it felt super cozy and special. The staff was excellent and very knowledgable about every dish on the menu. I wish I’d taken more pics of the food, but I only have this photo of our appetizer! We each got Prosecco so we could toast to Trish’s 50s. 🥂 We shared pasta and pizza, and it was all delish, and Trish got a free scoop of gelato for her birthday!
A great surprise at Alleia was at the end when I went inside to use the restroom…whoa, SWOONING over the inside vibes at this restaurant! There was this magical candelabra that was the length of an entire wall with years of wax drips and all the spent candles piled up at the base like an art installation. So cool! We might have to do this in our new event barn.
Our very last stop early the next morning before leaving Chattanooga was the good ‘ole Frothy Monkey back in the Southside neighborhood in an old train depot. I’ve been to this one before, and Frothy Monkey has been one of my fave coffeeshops in Nashville since its beginning. I got a rosemary honey latte, and it was the perfect sendoff.
‘Til next time, Chattanooga. Thanks for being awesome. 💙
Read about my other chattanooga trips here…
