1st weekend of 2007

Crystal and I were able to sneak out of town on Friday and travel to Knoxville, Tennessee. We got there late, around 10 PM, and were warmly greeted by the Phillips'! We got to chat and catch up before heading to bed later that night. On Saturday morning we all got up and got ready and headed out for a day together.

Breakfast was devoured at the closest Cracker Barrel and then we headed south to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Rodney got us to Chattanooga, but he didn't quite make his "record" time of 45 minutes! Today was more around the average of an hour and a half. We went to Chattanooga to go to the Tennessee Aquarium. What an amazing place! If you enjoy fish, aquariums, wildlife, or simply getting out and seeing all the amazing creatures that we share the Earth with, you owe it to yourself to see this place.

There are two different displays to immerse yourself in. We started with the River Journey. Basically the aquarium is setup to take you from the high mountain streams and creeks on your journey towards the ocean.


So, naturally for Rodney and I, we began where we are most at home, up in the mountains chasing trout. And they sure have an impressive habitat created for our favorite fish.


Here's the gang in front of some more trout minus Rod since he was being the camerman.


And Crystal was able to catch me mesmerized by the school...


Moving further down thru the exhibit, Crystal caught a grey and a green tree frog staring at each other...
and some turtles and an egret overlooking some carp and small alligators!


On the lower levels, an aquarium diver was "hard at work" hand feeding the fish including this enormous catfish!

Ever seen one of these? These fish are some of the oldest species that still exist today around the world and in America. I was able, while living and working in Montana, to actually get to handle one of these amazing fish. They re known as sturgeon and there are many subspecies in existance.

The River Journey exhibit has "Rivers of the World". They showcase river systems of the world and these Mandarin ducks are found in Japan.


After finishing the "River Journey" you still have an entire different exhibit to view. This is known as the "Ocean Journey" and as the name implies, takes you on a journey through the ecosystems of the worlds oceans and creatures. Hyacinth macaws welcomed us into their habitat.
There is also a butterfly exhibit to see many different species and they have their own butterfly "farm".


A crab says hello...

and, while beautiful, I would not want to see this if I were a diver!


After finishing our tour of the Tennessee Aquarium, we headed around the block and took in some local shops, including my crew leader Jim's, long time friend's, Roger Wright, fudge shop, the Fudge Wrights, located adjacent to the aquarium. If you go, stop in and say hello! From here we walked over to the Big River Grille and Brewing Works for lunch. Sadly, at least for Crystal and Erin, their favorite Dookies suffered their first loss of the season to Virginia Tech, while the Tarheel fans of the group tried not to rub it in too bad.

After a nice day in Chattanooga it was time to head back to Knoxville for Crystal and I to check into our B&B for the night, also made possible by our hosts Rodney and Erin (last year they gave us a gift certificate for our wedding to stay here!) The room that we had was the Oak Suite at the Maple Grove Inn. This bed and breakfast was originally built in 1799 and turned into a B&B in 1993. Crystal and I got there, checked in, and learned that we were the only guests to be there that night. Not only that, we were gonna be the only people there that night! It is a little spooky to be somewhere you've never been, in a house that is 206 years old, and be all by yourself. We had a great time and it was a really nice place. We got all cleaned up and met Rodney, Erin, and Dylan once again to go out and get some supper. We chose Calhoun's, partly because it has great food and partly because it has it's own brewery with excellent beer and Rodney and I just happen to go camping and fishing with the head brewmaster!

Sadly we had to say goodnight and goodbye to the Phillips' and head home the next day to head back to Wilkes County, but we had a great trip with great friends and what a way to kick off the new year. Here's to many more!

Until next time...