River boats and nuclear push ups

Enjoying a day in the battlefield

The high ground at Chickamauga battlefield

Pushing and praying

After coming down from Lookout Mountain and after resting a bit, we drove into Chickamauga Battlefield park on Saturday afternoon. There is not much to see there unless you are a Civil War history buff, and I do like history. Along the many roads which crisscross the park are hundreds of monuments and plaques dedicated to the different Army units that fought there from both the North and South. The Yankee description markers are trimmed in blue and the Rebel markers are trimmed in red which makes it easy to see how close the battle lines were to each other; at times only two or three meters apart. The entire city of Chattanooga was a battlefield and there are monuments scattered over the town. Metal detectors are not allowed in the park, but a sharp-eyed person can find minie balls and small brass items such as uniform buttons, shoe eyelets, and such. When we were there in 2007, I made hundreds of photos of the monuments so this time I wasn't inclined to re-shoot them. The only dramatic change in the park from then to now is the number of folks using it, especially peeps on bicycles. There were a lot of them enjoying perfect weather and decently nice scenery considering it was mostly flat and no mountains in sight. Last time we were there, we pretty much had the place to ourselves for two days and it was also on Labor Day weekend. We finished the day by going to the grocery store for sandwich supplies and a few snacks; our room had a small fridge and microwave. On Sunday morning we slept in and then hit the north Georgia back roads looking for photo ops but it was much like home; too much so. We again came back through the battlefield and headed toward Chattanooga where I found a few points of photographic interest for my style. Downtown is one of the best I've seen but I haven't been in many in the past 30 years. It is split into two parts with the Tennessee river dividing it. There is a pedestrian bridge and two auto bridges joining the sections. One thing Carolyn and I spotted at the same time was the famous Delta Queen riverboat tied up on the north shore. At least we thought it was there to take on passengers for a multi-day river cruise either to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania or maybe to New Orleans, Louisiana. Actually, it is moored permanently in Chattanooga and is serving as a luxury hotel; you could have knocked me over with a feather when I found that out ... just a few moments ago as I wrote this. Anyway, we tried to get in position to make some photos of the Lady without me having to walk very far, but it could not be done. Carolyn drove me along both sides of the river but there was never a clear shot opportunity. Next time I will get the Queen to pose for me if I have to swim! We drove around some more side streets for an hour or so and then headed back toward our motel. Once more I talked Carolyn into driving me to the battlefield and I did get a few shots of some of the deer. Monday morning came, we were reluctant to leave, and the motel manager offered us another night at almost half price but Carolyn had to work a bit that evening so we headed home the same way we came. If the sky had gotten hazy on the way down Saturday, we were planning on foregoing Chattanooga and instead going over to the Watts Bar area where I worked in the late 1970s. Man, am I glad we did not do so, because on the way home, we decided to drive over there and see what the place looked like after 30-plus years. I should have expected to find much of what we did find; almost nothing. For some reason, when a nuclear power plant moves in next door people become jittery and get the urge to move to safer areas, especially when officials come along handing out evacuation plans to each household and business and mark the roads with escape route signs. It is not far from I-75 over to Watts Bar via the Sweetwater exit, and we drove across the dam and parked at the TVA scenic overlook from where little could be seen because they have allowed trees and weeds to block the view. When we got out of the Escape to stretch our legs, a balding guy with a fringe of grey hair was hopping up and down on the other side of the small parking lot. Next thing I know he is on all fours doing push ups. He was wearing only jeans and sneakers; no shirt. I paid him no more mind until I started to leave the overlook when a hand touched my shoulder and I knew it wasn't Carolyn because she was in front of me. I turned and it was old Jumping Jack himself! He grinned and said something to the effect "Brother, why are you limping so bad"? I told him I had RA and he wanted to know if it was in my back and I was wanting to get the hell away from him. He was not a big man, but his arms and shoulders were all muscle; so much so that his nearly hairless head looked tiny on his broad shoulders, much like a caricature you sometimes see on the net. I explained that my worst problem was in my knee and he said "Brother, do you mind if I pray for you"? Right then, I would have held hands with him and jumped through a burning hoop just to get him to leave. I told him it would be fine if he prayed for me. He put his hand on my shoulder and I swear his pinky finger muscles were bigger than my biceps. He said his words, I thanked him and eased off toward the car where Carolyn was sitting laughing her ass off. Before I got into the Escape, I got a couple of pics of the gentleman back down on all fours doing more push ups. After escaping the dam, we drove along the road where the cabins were located at Captain John's Resort; it is where I lived during the week days while working across the river on the nuclear plant construction. The restaurant and all but a couple of the old cabins are missing and the once beautiful and tree-shaded place is overgrown with weeds. In fact, just about everything man-made in the area within a mile of the powerhouse is no more. Watts Bar for years was well known as a fishing resort with many cabins for let along the river and lake but it is now nearly all abandoned. The only thing that I recognized from back when is the bar we went to after work to wash the dust out of our systems. Back then it was named Smitty's and had cold beer and great hamburgers. It is still perched on the hill a mile away from the river, but has a woman's name attached to it. It then was back to I-75 for us and on to Knoxville, I-40, and then I-81 and I-26 to home. Discounting the first hour of our time in the Chattanooga area, it was a wonderful, but much too short, trip. Sorry about this being so lengthy, but I wanted to get it said because there is a Florida preacher I really want to rip into. I will post a few more pics from the trip over the next several days. Wow! It took me two hours to write this!
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Have a Thursday!
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