Chattanooga for Families

Chattanooga is one of my favorite places in Tennessee, quite possibly the South in general.  It feels like this cool combo of Asheville and Cincinnati, a city that is outdoorsy and unique and friendly.  There's good food and drink, friendly people, and vibrant neighborhoods to explore.  It was one of our fav places to go before we had Kenny, so we decided to head back for a weekend with him as a family getaway.

Walnut St. Bridge

The downside to our visit is that it was a rainy weekend, but we still enjoyed ourselves.  We chose a hotel downtown, knowing that we would be walking distance to so many places.  The downtown area has plenty of sidewalks!  We took a walk across the Walnut St. Bridge, the world's longest pedestrian bridge, until the rain made us take a break.

But the #1 reason we wanted to bring Kenny to Chattanooga was the world-class AZA-certified Tennessee Aquarium.  It's one of our favorite aquariums, and we visited during Chatt trips in 2014 and 2017.  Kenny loves the fish tank at daycare, and so we figured it would be a good time to take him.  He LOVED it.

The sea turtle was going by and doubled back to check out Kenny!

The aquarium is perfect for families.  We took our stroller, but Kenny could stand and look at some of the exhibits on his own.  You can take the elevator to the top and then work your way down, with automatic doors and ramps.  Since it is divided into two buildings (River and Ocean Journeys), we decided to do one building before lunch/naptime and another after.  Your tickets allow you to come back in if you leave!  This is where staying at a hotel nearby came in handy.  The box office opens 30 minutes before the aquarium does, so I went ahead and bought our tickets (there is a discount for Veterans) before heading back to the hotel to help get Kenny ready.  It was nice to be able to visit restaurants nearby and hit the hotel for naptime to make the most of a full day at the aquarium.  We had so much fun!

I think it's obvious that places like the aquarium are family-friendly, but Chattanooga also has a lot of dining options.  One thing I miss about life pre-kid is those foodie dinner dates we used to have.  Public House was one of the restaurants on my list from years ago that I wanted to visit, but I wasn't sure it was feasible with a toddler.  Then I learned they have a three-course kids menu, so they had to be welcoming to families, right?  I made a reservation on the earlier side (I find people are more friendly if you are eating with kids at 5 or 6, because non-kid people tend to eat later) and we braved it.  It was a great experience for all of us, as Dan and I could enjoy cocktails and delicious food in a setting we normally wouldn't take Kenny.  They even validate parking, y'all.

We also ate at Beast + Barrel, Mellow Mushroom, and Milk & Honey, all of which were accommodating of Kenny.  Milk & Honey didn't have a kids menu, and it was very small, but they had the first-ever high top highchairs I've ever soon!

Public House Chattanooga

Years ago, Dan and I decided that we would try to visit only AZA-certified zoos and aquariums.  Would you believe that Chattanooga has TWO such places to visit?  The Chattanooga Zoo is very small, so small that it might be overlooked as a place to go if you're not local.   But if you've got a toddler, it's absolutely perfect!  It wasn't crowded, parking was ample and close by, and the prices are low.  (In fact, for Veterans admission is FREE!)  Kenny loved running around the zoo, and they had some great exhibits.

Petting Zoo

Because it wasn't insanely crowded, we really felt we could let Kenny explore and walk on his own, which was perfect to wear him out before our car ride home.  The zoo is also expanding to add giraffes and lions in the future, so we wouldn't hesitate to take him back!

Chattanooga just has so much to offer.  If we'd had more time, we would have loved to stop by the Creative Discovery Museum or the Hunter Museum of American Art.  

We love Chattanooga, and it's a great place for families!

Main Street Festival

The same weekend as the National Cornbread Festival (read my post here), downtown Franklin hosted its annual Main Street Festival!  Basically, I live in Stars Hollow, because downtown gets shut down to traffic and hosts multiple festivals every year.  While Main Street Festival lacks the themed charm of Pumpkinfest and Dickens of a Christmas, I love the arts and crafts!

I went solo this year, as I could not subject Dan to two Southern festivals back-to-back in the same weekend.  The crowds are not his friend!  But I did grab him some of the mini doughnuts from our favorite Ellie's Old Fashioned Doughnuts, one of the must-stop spots during any festival.  (And the owner Danny usually gives me one for the road!)

I snagged a beautiful hostess apron at this cute booth!  I love the full apron my cousin got me from Anthropologie for cooking, but I love the hostess apron for when I'm doing things around the house and I need a pocket for my cell phone.  It doesn't have a tag, so I can't remember the vendor, but I also got this fabric sort of bowl to put under dishes in the microwave, so you don't burn your hands taking it out and carrying it.  Perfect for the office!

There are also the usual charming Franklin shops open, like Landmark Booksellers and Earlys Honey Stand, in addition to some creative crafters. I find that many of the crafters are from throughout the south.  Two of my favorites.  Sign Niche, a perennial favorite, and Five Birds Art, from which I purchased a hand painted Tolkien quote.

Sign Niche

 Downtown Franklin festivals are a bit of logistical nightmare.  My secret?  I roll in about 45-60 minutes before the festival, in the morning.  I grab breakfast at Starbucks or Frothy Monkey, then I sit and wait.  I browse when it first opens, then bounce by the time the weather and crowds heat up!  Another alternative is to find out if there's a park and ride option for that fest.  There's usually a shuttle that allows you to bypass the parking and traffic nightmares.

I love a festival!  😍

National Cornbread Festival

I love my Lodge cast iron (and carbon steel) cookware.  So when I learned that you can tour the Lodge foundry only one weekend each year, during the National Cornbread Festival, I added it to my mental Tennessee wishlist.  It's just under two hours for us to get to South Pittsburg from Franklin, so we made a day trip out of it a couple of weekends ago!

The festival is held in a small town, and it draws a crowd!  I think Dan was a bit overwhelmed by the droves of people who came out for cornbread, cast iron, food, and crafts...  but I was loving it.  We hit up Cornbread Alley, where for just $5 you could sample a ton of really creative recipes.  I think the strawberry walnut one was the most interesting to me, and there were even recipes with bacon in them.

The other nice part about attending the festival?  I got to have a day date with my husband, and I got to catch up with a couple of my beloved DAR friends!  And it pays to know the locals.... I got the hookup for some corn omelette-pancakes (hard to explain, but soooo yummy) and even got to meet Henry Lodge, the President and COO of Lodge!

This is totally the nerd in me, but I love factory tours.  I think it's fascinating to be able to see how things are made on such a grand scale.  I've toured a pet food factory, a large scale craft beer production facility, and now a cast iron foundry.  I was so surprised by the beautiful silver color that the cast iron has before its seasoning.  It also surprised me how the product was sort of all mixed up along the line.  I wonder how they track production and inventory, and what percentage of items don't pass muster.  I'm sure it's a science and an art!

We also made a pit stop in Monteagle, which, along with Sewanee, I think is so quaint.  Here's a pic from when we stopped at the Amish Hippie, where I picked up a jar of crackberry (cranberry blackberry) jam.

 I love a good festival!  What's your favorite kind of fest,

and what do you like most about them?

Out & About: Where I'm Eating in Franklin

I have this standing folder of food photos that I've been saving for one of these "where I've been eating" posts, so I'm back with another roundup!  (Click here for more posts about where to eat in Nashville, and where to eat in Franklin.)

Kona Grill

Kona Grill is one of the newer chains to go in at the Cool Springs Galleria, and I tried it for lunch with coworkers.  I'd heard their sushi was good, but that day I went with their Kona chopped salad. I loved it.  So fresh and good!  I love that the chicken was served warm and lightly breaded.  I'll definitely be back, because I'm still craving that salad.  It's a bit pricy, but it's got a nice ambience and yummy food.

Connors Steak & Seafood

Connors is a smaller chain in the South with four locations, including two in Tennessee.  Dan and I stopped in for a lunch before I departed on a business trip, so we could have a little date together.  My coworkers had recommended it for the food.  We started with their Voodoo Shrimp, which is very similar to Bonefish Grill's bang bang shrimp.  It has a great sauce and kick, and we'd order it again!  Dan had the lunch sirloin and a baked potato for his meal, which was to his liking.  I really liked my tomato basil pasta with grilled chicken too.  It won't replace our favorite steakhouse in Nashville, but I'd say it's on par with a Bonefish in our minds.

Mafiaoza's

I've eaten at Mafiaoza's in Franklin twice now.  The pizza I've had has been pretty good, but the prices are pretty high for what you get.  I also wouldn't get the pasta again.  I think that it's a good spot for a happy hour, but I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.  It's nice to see more things going into The Factory.

Franklin Mercantile Deli

Gosh, I love Franklin Mercantile Deli.  The food is great, it's adorable, and it never disappoints.  I had a smoked turkey and swiss panini with soup.  It is a little dangerous that it's next door to Ivy Cakes, because I always want a cupcake, but it's the perfect local sandwich spot.  Skip Panera and head to the Merc!  Perfectly located downtown.

Saffire

I've been going to Saffire at the Factory since 2012, and I haven't had a bad meal yet.  It's a really great spot for a nice upscale, Southern night out.  There are more affordable options on the menu, like the delicious burger I had, as well as seafood and ribs and all sorts of things.  The drinks are fab too.  It would make a reservation here if you're in downtown Franklin, because it's a sure bet.

Frothy Monkey

People see Frothy Monkey as a coffee shop, and they forget the food is yummy too.  They serve breakfast all day until 5pm (my favorite) as well as sandwiches and salads.  I like their eggs in particular.

Pieology

Pieology has a restaurant on Main Street in downtown Franklin.  Even though it's a chain, I gave it a try.  It's kind of like Pie Five in that it's a made-to-order personal pizza place. The crust is on the thinner side, but it tastes good.  I'm not sure I'd go back, since Mellow Mushroom has my fav pizza and it's just down the block, but it's not bad!

Where have you been eating lately?

Out & About: Where I'm Eating in Nashville

I have this standing folder of food photos that I've been saving for one of these "where I've been eating" posts, so I'm back with another roundup!  (Click here for more posts about where to eat in Nashville, and where to eat in Franklin.)

The Family Wash - East Nashville
The Family Wash was on my radar from Instagram and other things, so when my boss asked us to pick a place for a weekday brunch together, it made the cut!  It was a Monday, so a tough day to find open restaurants, especially with breakfast.  Family Wash serves breakfast all day and night, and they have a ton of options!  The place has a garage vibe that is really hipster and eclectic, and the bar and band areas look very cool.  I'd love to come back for an evening visit, as my pancakes were delicious.  My one complaint was that the blueberries weren't mixed into the pancakes... I'm used to blueberry pancakes as one thing, and the berries as a topping surprised me.  But it was still yummy, and the service was pretty good.

Burger Republic - Gulch

We've been fans of Burger Republic since 2013, and we also love their location in the Gulch!  I felt like it was worth mentioning here, because it's still good.  We had a giftcard and enjoyed ourselves a lot when we visited.

Sun Diner - Downtown

I was staying downtown for work, and I needed to grab lunch before a meeting.  I walked into Sun Diner, a pretty new spot at the time, because there aren't a ton of restaurants downtown with awesome reviews.  This one looked intriguing.  I loved the decor and layout!  Really fitting for Music City.

The food was pretty good.  I had a breakfast burrito.  The potatoes surprised me because there were sweet ones in the mix, but not bad.  I got the wrong tea from my server, but it was corrected pretty easily.  My one complaint is that I had to pay at the register, which is located by the door, and there just isn't much space there.  Overall, I'd say this is a safe bet when you're downtown, and I think it would taste even better at 3am.  After all, it's a 24-hour diner!

Bearded Iris - Germantown

On the brewery front, Dan and I visited Bearded Iris for an alumni party I was attending.  They don't serve food, but they have this really cool industrial meets vintage taproom area that's worth a visit. And there's free parking!

Americano - Midtown

My friend VG and I had a tapas feast at Americano.  First off, I loved that there was a free parking lot behind the restaurant, which is rare for restaurants in Nashville anymore.  The restaurant wasn't busy (another Monday) but we had great service and really enjoyed our visit.  We ordered...

Spicy Tuna Guacamole and Croquettas

Fried Manchego Cheese

Seared Duck Breast

Hot Chicken Tacos and Potato Bravas

Overall, the spicy tuna guacamole is what would bring me back.  I wish the potatoes had been crispier, but we ate until we were stuffed anyways.  It was really a delicious meal, and now I understand why the reviews on Yelp are so good!  Oh, and the caipirinha I had was delish too.  I'd come back to Americano to drink and munch on tapas with friends.   The best food is eaten shared like that!

Where have you been eating lately?

Chattanooga

When Dan and I started discussing his birthday, we talked about simply going out to dinner.  But then we had the idea for a getaway weekend incorporating his love for aquariums.  It had been a few years since our last trip to Chattanooga for their craft beer festival and a visit to the Tennessee Aquarium.  So we decided to take a short trip (just a couple of hours from Nashville) to enjoy the city.

I booked us a modern Airbnb loft apartment in the Southside neighborhood.  My friends in Chatt told me that it's a great walkable neighborhood, and they were right!  I was in love with the apartment; it was like my dream city apartment in a way, exposed brick and all.  Walking distance to a great number of bars and restaurants too.  Our M.O. for the weekend for the weekend became beer and aquarium, especially given the rainy weather predictions.

Our Airbnb living room

The trip started off a little rough, with insane traffic Friday afternoon due to a semi-truck accident adding an hour to our drive.  So we walked to Terminal Brewhouse for a late dinner, given we also lost an hour with a time zone change from CST to EST.  The area around the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel has really grown up in recent years, so we were pleased to find a ton of options. They're even putting in a Frothy Monkey, which y'all know I adore...  but that means it's crowded on a Friday night!  There was a long wait (most places we found 40-90 minutes!), but we eventually managed to get a table.  Note to self, get a reservation for Friday nights in a college town.

We started with Pizza π Rolls, which were basically pizza egg rolls.  I really liked them!  I definitely would love to make something like that at home.  I indulged in one of their stuffed sandwiches, a calzone-type sandwich with fixin's.  I had the Carnivore, with Italian sausage, pepperoni, ham, provolone, and cheddar, with sweet potato fries.  Yum!  Dan settled on some pizza, which surprisingly wasn't quite up his alley, but he enjoyed the craft beers.  I was very happy with my Friday-night carb bomb of a meal!

The next morning, we wanted to hit up the aquarium... but then we saw the insane lines and decided against it!  We should have known that on a rainy Saturday, everyone would take their kids to the aquarium.  So we decided to grabbed brunch downtown at Maple Street Biscuit Company since we were already in the area.

The line at Maple Street was bananas, basically the entire length of the restaurant, but we only waited about 20 minutes.  You get in line, order biscuit sammies or whatever at the counter, and wait for your meal to be called up.  But there's a catch: they'll ask you a fun question, like what you want to be when you grow up... and that is what they'll call out when your order is ready.  (Dan chose Astronaut.)

Dan had two biscuit sandwiches, The Squawking Goat with fried chicken breast, fried goat cheese medallion, and house made pepper jelly, and The Reinhold with crunchy dill pickles and housemade honey mustard.  He liked the goat cheese the best.  I had The Farmer with bacon, cheddar cheese, and apple butter, plus a side of hash brown cake.  I wasn't a fan of the hash brown cake; it was really soft and not crispy or golden, which I prefer with hash browns.  But my sandwich was awesome, and I'd grab a biscuit sandwich at this place again!

Since it was rainy out, we decided to spend some time indoors at a couple of craft breweries.  I'd run into the guys doing the TN Beer Run the week prior, and they recommended Hutton & Smith and OddStory, which are both on the same street.  Dan had talked to the H&S guys before, so that was our first stop.

It's a tiny taproom, but they have lots of great beers!  We got some tasters and really liked them.  We even took home a crowler of their Scotch ale, which means you definitely enjoyed the beer, right?  That was probably my favorite beer while we were there.  I also love their branding and tap handles.  Very clean and cool!

I totally fell in love with the taproom at OddStory.  Part living room, part bar, part beautiful group hangout space, I felt like I could move in.  I think that women are more likely to stick around a taproom that is inviting like that, which means the guys will stick around for longer, so they nailed it for me.  And the beers were great!

We had the beer munchies when we got there, so I ordered us their pretzel made from their spent grains.  OMG, loved it.  Beer cheese and mustard, one dip for each of us.  (Dan's a mustard man.)  Yum, and it had a great texture that you don't get from a concession stand pretzel.  This one was legit.  We lingered there for a long time, and it's probably one of my favorite taprooms style-wise in Tennessee.

For dinner, I'd called ahead to Feed Table & Tavern back in Southside.  They don't do reservations per se, but you can call ahead for a preferred seating time.  We got a table right away at our designated time, and we were joined by a couple of friends for drinks and a meal.

I indulged in cocktails that evening.  I started with a gin Greyhound, which is my cocktail of choice lately.  Then I decided to indulge in a tasty wine cocktail called the Sloshed Housewife, and by the end of THAT drink I was definitely a bit sloshed.  Thankfully, we'd ordered Smoked Pork Rib Tips as an appetizer (yum!) and I had their steak and fries for dinner.  Everything tasted good but their fries were insane.  Definitely must have been batter-dipped and double-fried if you ask me!  Feed had a cool, young vibe to it.

On our last day in town, we decided to give the aquarium another go in the morning.  We parked in the aquarium lot, then walked up to the Bluff View Art District to grab breakfast at Rembrandt's Coffee House.  It was crowded, but we found a nice table outside to enjoy the sun.  My ice chai latte was perfection, and my bagel sandwich was too! The bacon was awesome, even though it took a bit of time for our food to be ready.  We really just soaked it in, watched birds, and relaxed.  Then we walked back to the aquarium over a pedestrian bridge by the art museum.

We love the Tennessee Aquarium.  There are two buildings, one for oceans and one for fresh water.  We spent a lot of time in the ocean side looking at the seahorses, a giant octopus, and of course the sharks.  We definitely want to go back once their lemur exhibit (yes, mammals!) is ready.

While oceans get a lot of attention, the fresh water side of the aquarium competes to be our favorite.  Tons of turtles, snakes, and gators... even otters!  The fish aren't as pretty on the freshwater side, but they're just as fascinating.  All in all, we had a wonderful weekend in Chattanooga and definitely want to get back sooner than later.

Places still on my Chattanooga wishlist...

• Alleia
• The Bitter Alibi
• Bluegrass Grill
• Community Pie
• Easy Bistro & Bar
• Flying Squirrel
• Koch's Bakery
• Main Street Meats
• Milk & Honey
• Niedlov's Breadworks
• Public House
• St. John's Meeting Place

• Lookout Mountain
• Rock City (because billboards tell me I need to)
• Ruby Falls