We saw Rock City.

The big kids had fall break last weekend, and we decided to take a road trip to Chattanooga. It's an easy drive, and a really fun city for kids. Family vacations are what I remember most about my childhood, and I am so excited that we can finally take trips like this with our kids! We were really happy to learn that Caroline is a natural road tripper:


Rock City is a major tourist trap here in the Southeast, and sort of a punchline, when you get right down to it, but it was really kind of neat, and fun for the kids. How can a destination that combines cleverly named rock formations (e.g., "Fat Man Squeeze") with colorful dioramas of nursery rhymes be wrong?

It was Rocktoberfest, which gave the whole experience that little extra something:





I was not afraid of heights until I watched my kids running around the edges of cliffs, skipping across swinging bridges, etc.




Mushroom rock:



Happy:



Caroline spent a lot of time anticipating loud noises that generally did not materialize:



After Rock City we headed to the Tennessee Aquarium, which was really cool and the perfect size for young kids. You could really see the whole thing in a couple of hours, which suited our attention span just perfectly. There is a great butterfly garden there, even though butterflies are not technically marine animals:




We were all big fans of the penguins:




Shaaaaark!!!



After we left the aquarium, we decided to take a horse and carriage ride around the city like the self-respecting tourists that we were.



This carriage came with both a horse, Eli, and dalmatian, Jasper.

Eli:



After our carriage ride, we followed in the footsteps of many tourists before us as we wandered from restaurant to restaurant in search of one that did not have a 45 minute wait for a table, and after 45 minutes of wandering, settled in line for a 45 minute wait at TGIFridays. Our kids generally held it together, which was a miracle, given the long (but fun!) day we'd had.

The next day we road the Incline Railway:





And the Duck Boats:



Drove the Duck Boats:




Dashed over to Ruby Falls:




And then hustled home for a fun 10/10/10 birthday party.

It was a great weekend - we had the best time watching the kids having fun. We're ready for the next road trip!