One day in Chattanooga - making the most of the last of Spring Break

A perfect uplanned weekend - Chattanooga and Johnson city

Let's be honest, this was not our most glamorous spring break. The big project of the week was reorganizing the girls' bedrooms. Exciting in the long run, chaotic in the moment, and not exactly the story you lead with when everyone gets back to school and starts trading vacation highlights.

So I did what any reasonable person would do. I crammed as much as humanly possible into one Friday. Greg was out of town for a fishing tournament, so we were on our own. I loaded up the girls, swung by to pick up my mom and sister, and pointed us all north. The day didn't even come close to disappointing us.

We headed to Chattanooga first, then Johnson City the next day to watch my niece Gabrielle perform her senior concert at ETSU. Two days, two cities, and more memories than I could have planned if I'd tried.

Friday: Top of the Mountain

We started by heading straight up the mountain to Massey's Kitchen. If you haven't been, go. The ambience alone is worth the drive. Sitting on top of Lookout Mountain on a perfect spring day with no schedule breathing down your neck is its own kind of luxury.

The food matched the moment. Everything we ordered was exceptional. Audrey got a chicken salad sandwich that might be one of the best I've had outside of my own kitchen, and the pizza was cooked to absolute perfection in a beautiful oversized pizza oven you could see right from the restaurant. But the real highlight came from the most unexpected place. My mom spotted the head chef photographing a dish and did what any self-respecting Southern woman would do, she stopped him to ask what it was. He explained he was testing a few things for the upcoming seasonal menu. She told him we'd be happy to help. He laughed, said he hadn't even tried it yet himself, took it back to the kitchen, came back out, said it was good, and left it with us.

Chopped linguine (which I didn't know was even a thing) topped with the most perfectly cooked shrimp scampi I've ever had. We devoured it in minutes. It's not on the menu yet, but watch for it in late April/early May. I would make a return trip for that dish alone.

The Hang Gliders (and the Eagle)

After lunch, we drove over to watch the hang gliders and paragliders at Lookout Mountain Flight Park. We've been a handful of times over the years and always seem to arrive when conditions aren't quite right, everyone set up, waiting on the wind, nothing happening. Not this time.

We had barely parked when the first paraglider lifted off. Then another. Then another, one by one, like they'd been waiting for us. Reese was ready to sign paperwork and get harnessed up before the second one was even in the air.

Then a hang glider launched, which started a whole chain of takeoffs. I caught some incredible video, but my favorite shot is a still: a hang glider and an eagle circling each other, both rising on the same thermal, the mountain below them and the open sky above. Magical is not a strong enough word.

The Mandatory Stops

No trip through Chattanooga is complete without a few non-negotiables, and Friday afternoon delivered on all of them.

Mr. T's Pizza & Ice Cream - my mom has been coming here since she was young, and it's one of those places that earns its legacy. We each got our selections and Audrey loved hers so much she came back for a second full cone. Zero regrets.

We dropped my sister off for an airport run (her husband and son were flying in from a work trip for Gabrielle's performance) then made a beeline for Southeastern Salvage, which I genuinely cannot explain in a way that does it justice. I tell clients about it all the time because nowhere else can you walk in and find architectural doors, one-of-a-kind lighting, vintage furniture, art, rugs, vanities, tile, and completely unexpected finds all under one roof. This trip they even had clothing, which was new to me. We stayed until they closed, which is the only way to do it, and left with a few things we couldn't talk ourselves out of.

Dinner was at Rib & Loin, one of two restaurants I genuinely miss when we're not in Chattanooga. The other is Ankar's Hoagies (go for anything, stay for the onion rings!), and conveniently they're in the same parking lot, so the decision always sorts itself out once we arrive. We split two loaded baked potatoes with pulled pork between the four of us, which was exactly the right call after an afternoon of ice cream.

SeaLight Festival at the Sculpture Fields at Montague Park

We ended the night at the SeaLight Festival and it was the perfect bookend to a day that had already given us everything. It's a walk-through experience with hundreds of hand-crafted illuminated lanterns inspired by traditional Chinese lantern festivals. Each piece tells a story and the whole park just glows in a way that's hard to describe without sounding over the top, but it really is that pretty.

The girls skipped through tunnels of lights and inspected every detail of each piece. It felt completely in step with the mood of the whole day, unhurried, surprising, a little magical. The experience ends in a tent with live performances - I looked it up and the group is called the Zigong Acrobatic Troupe. We watched a juggler, a yo-yo performer, and an acrobat who balanced on a unicycle while catching stacked bowls on his head. The girls were absolutely wide-eyed through the whole thing.

We slept well that night.

Saturday: Gabrielle

We woke up early and made the drive to Johnson City to spend a little time with my niece before her big show.

Gabrielle is a music education major at ETSU, and this was her senior concert, her and one classmate taking turns showcasing everything they've built over four years. Not a choir to pick her voice out of. Just her, a stage, and a room full of people who love her.

I don't think any of us had a dry eye by the end.

She is such a remarkable talent. I had absolutely nothing to do with her getting here, but I couldn't be more proud. She has a year of student teaching ahead before she graduates and becomes some very lucky school's music teacher. Watching her stand on that stage as a fully grown woman, while all I could see was every version of her through the years, is one of those moments you just try to hold onto. I feel so old and so full at the same time.

It was such a treat to be there.

Chattanooga is one of those cities that rewards you when you let it. No rigid plan required. Just go.