Chicken Noodle?

I have the best husband! Really, I do not deserve him!

Last Friday I was off work and and really had nothing planned for the weekend. Scott told me Thursday night to be home around 3 on Friday and have a small bag packed; we were going away for a short trip! Hooray! I love surprises like that! He would not tell me where we were going or where we were staying.

My clues were: 1) It takes about 2 hours to get there 2) We were driving 3) Pack a swim suit

Hmmmm....my first thought was Atlanta, but Scott really does not like Atlanta. And it takes more than 2 hours to drive to the beach.

We headed out on 459, but didn't get off on I-20, so I knew we were not headed to ATL. My next thought was Chattanooga! Of course!

We stayed at Stone Fort Inn in downtown Chattanooga. Jane Seymour stayed there once, and wrote a nice review. So that's mainly why he chose that inn. He knows me too well! (I met her once when I worked at Saks Corporate. She's very nice. And short.) The inn is a B&B type, but bigger, having about 12 rooms. Our room was very cute and included a fireplace (yay) and a hot tub on the balcony (double yay), thus the need for a swim suit.

Friday evening we finally decided on a place to eat dinner downtown. Easy Bistro is located downtown very close to the Tennessee Aquarium. The city has done an excellent job of revitalizing downtown Chattanooga, making it accessible and family-friendly. Scott and I were pleasantly surprised! Easy Bistro was really good, kind of a modern French fusion restaurant, locally owned and chef-operated. It had a great decor; very Art-Deco, all in black and white. Definitely my kind of place! Scott had his typical steak frites and I had a fabulous veal stew. The sauce was like velvet and the veal absolutely melted in my mouth! For dessert we shared a chocolate terrine. Yum.

Back at the inn we took advantage of the hot tub on the balcony! It was perfect! About 25 degrees outside and we could look up and see the stars twinkling above us!

Saturday morning we ate breakfast at the inn and checked out, then explore more of Chattanooga's downtown area. We found the art district, Bluff View, and walked around the area. Next we decided to see the obligatory Chattanooga Choo Choo. I had not been to the Choo Choo since I was about 4 years old. That's where the post title comes from: "Chicken Noodle" is what my 4-year-old mind processed "Chattanooga" to be. So my family has always called it "Chicken Noodle Choo Choo". If you know me and my family, you are not surprised. Even my sister asked me when we got back to Birmingham on Saturday evening, "How was Chicken Noodle?"

The Choo Choo, well, has seen better days. Let's just say we were by far the youngest people there. We walked by, look a picture, and left to explore Lookout Mountain. Lookout Mountain and the river valley below was the site of the Chickamauga battle in the Civil War. There's various war sites all around the area, Confederate cemeteries, etc. Today, Lookout Mountain has Rock City and Ruby Falls. All over the Tennessee Valley you will find barns and building painted the iconic red and black with "See Rock City" painted on the roofs. Let's just say Rock City seemed a lot cooler when we were 11 years old. We thought about going again, but really didn't want to spend the money to look at garden gnomes.

After exploring the top of Lookout Mountain, and finally deciding on a place to eat lunch, we headed back to B'ham. It was such a nice little get-away!