Guild, TN - Anchorage, October 13, 2008

Beth and Keely took a trip this morning to Rock City near the top of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga. Rock City began in the late 1920’s when Garnet and Frieda Carter began to develop a large walk-through garden on their private estate. In 1930, Frieda marked the original path which was constructed and is now maintained by master craftsmen from this area.

On May 21, 1932, during the Depression, the Carters opened their “Rock City Gardens” to the public. There are huge rocks and boulders throughout this garden, with several trails and very interesting areas. We walked along the Grand Corridor, Swing-Along Bridge, Goblin’s Underpass, Fat Man’s Squeeze and Needle’s Eye. We saw Mushroom Rock, Shelter Rock, Tortoise Shell Rock, Deer Park and 1,000 Ton Balanced Rock. We walked to Lover’s Leap from which we were able to see seven states, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. On a clear day (today) we were also able to see the Smokey Mountains. We also saw Fairyland Caverns and Mother Goose Village.

Keely left for the airport at 1:45 this afternoon. We were very happy that she was able to come for a visit. Our son Greg had come earlier in our trip. We wish our son-in-law Tom and daughter-in-law Heidi had also been able to visit.

We left the marina around 2 this afternoon and traveled only 5 miles to our anchorage. We only had a few choices today, stay in the marina, travel 5 miles to anchor or travel 55 miles to a marina/anchorage. We choose to anchor just above Nickajack Lock. We will start early tomorrow and hope we can get right through the lock.