Chattanooga is a wonderful place to live, not only for the activities and the events located here, but also for the proximity to other amazing places. Below are the top ten places and activities that we experienced in and around Chattanooga this past year. Please note that I had a baby in November of last year, so that is why we didn’t do anything for the first few months!
- March: St. Petersburg and Orlando – Yes, I know it’s not Chattanooga or even anywhere near Chattanooga. However, I do appreciate that Chattanooga is within driving distance of a beach vacation! In addition to the beach, we also visited both Busch Gardens and Sea World. It was a perfect vacation, even with a four-month-old at the time!
- May: Wild for Mom Event at the Chattanooga Zoo – I promise that I am not being biased on this one just because it was a Chattanooga Moms’ event. I actually went to this shortly after I started following Chattanooga Moms on Facebook and before I was a contributor, and I absolutely loved it! Not only did my then six-month-old get to enjoy the zoo for the first time and we had a beautiful picture taken to remember that day (I have it hanging on my wall!), but there were also many great vendors and free goodies!
- June: The Lost Sea Adventure – Prior to our June visit, I had taken my oldest son there for the first time on a hot summer day when I was several months pregnant with my now toddler. Since we were in a rush, we didn’t really get to enjoy it as much as we wanted to, so this past summer I decided that I wanted to go back with both kids and my husband, and we had such an awesome time! It is such a unique natural wonder and a must-see!
- July: The Collegedale 3rd of July Fireworks – This has become a tradition for us. Minus the scary parking situation, it always ends up making a wonderful memory. This year we had a great set up with a half-dome tent that I bought from Sam’s Club and several battery powered fans!
- August: The USS LST-325 WWII Ship – One amazing thing about Chattanooga is the water access that can bring normally ocean vessels up the Tennessee River and to us to enjoy. One of these vessels was the WWII ship, the LST-325. It was a great educational experience not only for my son, but also for me! It was surreal to be walking on a ship with so much history.
- September: The Tellus Science Museum – I had occasionally seen people post about this museum on Facebook, but hadn’t had a chance to visit it until my friends came to visit from out of state. I have to say, this has to be one of the coolest places to which I have ever been! The drive was reasonable, and the Museum has something for everyone! My oldest loves dinosaurs and there were plenty of them. They even had a planetarium show starting Elmo and Big Bird, so even the baby could be entertained.
- September – The Southern Belle Riverboat – It had been a while since I had last gone on the Southern Belle, so I thought it would be a good idea to visit it when my friends came to town. I find it to be a very relaxing way to spend the afternoon and enjoy the different sights of the Tennessee Valley!
- October – The Columbus Ships – Like the WWII ship, the Columbus Ships were another amazing things that the Tennessee River brought us from far away. It was amazing to see these replicas of the Nina and the Pinta, which were much smaller than I would have thought! It was great learning about the history of how Columbus and his men traveled on their adventures.
- October – Boo in the Zoo – Boo in the Zoo is an annual Halloween event put on by the Chattanooga Zoo and this was the first year that we attended. I bought tickets the day before, and it ended up pouring rain the day of. There were no refunds, so we went anyway, and it was completely worth it! They already must have had a Plan B in case it rained, because everything still ran smoothly and both the kids and I had a blast!
- December – The Rock City Enchanted Garden of Lights – It had been years since I had been to the Enchanted Garden of Lights and my kids had never been, so I wanted to start a new tradition and all go this year. Long story, but we ended up going twice, and it was absolutely beautiful. All of us including the baby absolutely loved it!
