Thursday, January 1, 2015

Civil War History Lesson

We got to be tourists in Chattanooga Saturday. We took a ride on the Lookout Mountain Incline, here's what it looks like in the spring on a sunny day:
One mile straight up the side of the mountain, only a little bit scary at the top when you feel like the trolley-train is going to snap off the cable.

We made the best of our time waiting with our cousins.
While our moms grappled with their fear of heights and fear of holiday catastrophes caused by human error. Mom says when you get old and have children, you suddenly worry about everything, all the time.
It's nice to be young and just live in the moment.
Especially when that moment is filled with your favorite fun people.
At the top of the mountain is Point Park, an important site in Civil War history. It is part of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Park, dedicated in 1895 as the first national military park (followed by Shiloh, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg). Our parents geek out over stuff like this.
The view of the Chattanooga valley and Tennessee River is beautiful.
And the cannons are wicked awesome.
We explored some of the park, with our moms shouting at us to be careful the whole time because there are no fences. If you step off the paved trail you fall off the side of the mountain. Simple as that.
We were careful for the adventure hike.
The air is thinner up here, makes us do crazy things...
Like flashing our friends with our Batman undies, 
and twerking.
Dad rounded out his immersion in Civil War history by doing a long run in the Chickamauga Battlefield. The area is named after a branch of Cherokee Native Americans who lived there, the Chickamauga people. They called the mountain Chat-a-nu-ga, which is where the city got its name.
Mom grew up around here, and remembers all the ghost stories. The Battle at Chickamauga Creek resulted in the second highest number of casualties in the war (next to Gettysburg). Dad didn't see any Confederate or Union soldier ghosts near Snodgrass Hill, and he didn't see Old Green Eyes on the trail. Just lots of deer.

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