The lyrics and melody of Chattanooga Choo-Choo have a nostaligic ring, even if the Glenn Miller song was popular before our time.
Nevertheless, my husband Bob and I decided to take our two grandsons Ryan, 12, and Jonathan, 10, on vacation to Chattanooga, Tenn., to see if the train connection would charm them. Turns out we could have used more than our three days.
Day 1: Trains of all Types
Built in 1895, the Lookout Mountain's Incline Railway is billed as the world's steepest. The boys, skeptical at first, were shocked as the sideways rail car glided up a precipitous 73 percent grade. We sat at the front of the car, the bottom seats, to view the surrounding mountains and valleys through wide windows and see-through ceilings. At the top, telescopes helped us survey the Great Smoky Mountains 100 miles away.
We took a real train ride at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum aboard a train pulled by a steam engine. Our car was marked "Colored Only," which led to an explanation of segregation and Jim Crow laws in the South during our lifetime. At the end of the ride, we stopped and saw the engine being turned on a huge turntable for the return trip.
Other historical cars sit in the museum yard. Among them: The 1924-Pullman Clover Colony in which Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis filmed Some Like It Hot; three restored Jim Crow trains; cars used in the Civil War; and a khaki-colored number from World War II that Fiat built in Italy during Mussolini's reign. To celebrate the winter holiday season, little ones may enjoy a ride on the North Pole Limited to visit Santa Claus.
Back at the hotel, we visited an enormous miniature railroad collection. More than 1,000 freight cars, passenger cars, and locomotives whiz around more than 3,000 feet of HO-gauge track.
Day 2: Animals Galore
We spent many exciting hours at the Tennessee Aquarium on the banks of the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga. The River Journey building is dedicated to local fish. "The river otters were my favorite," Ryan said. "They had so much energy, they were just going everywhere." Several tanks offered clear Plexiglas tubes that the youngsters could crawl into and stand up in. They were standing within a fish tank with the fish seemingly darting around, though they never got wet. Pretty cool!
At the Ocean Journey building, the penguin exhibit mesmerized the boys. We spotted a few enormous birds with yellow flippers and feet. "It was amazing, those big ones just stood there and looked around," Jonny said. "I never saw penguins that big." At first we didn't think they were real, just dummies. Turns out they were gentoos from the Sub-Antarctic, the third largest penguins in the world.
The small Chattanooga Zoo is home to the endangered red panda and snow leopard. The gorilla exhibit is another crowd-pleaser. There's a petting zoo for the small fry, with sheep, goats, and donkeys. A nice addition is a small carousel, with carved animals.
Day 3: Other Sights
Although I've visited children's museums all over the world, I've never seen one that so engaged children like the Creative Discovery Museum. The minute kids enter, they're fascinated with exhibits such as them taking part in changing the course of a river's water. Of course, they get wet. Not to worry: dryers are on hand.
Both boys loved the Inventors' Clubhouse. Ryan's favorite was building a motorized car made of K'NEX that ran on a track; Jonny preferred tinkering with a pneumatic delivery system. Real scorpions and tarantulas drew some youngsters, while others created original sculptures or musical pieces. "I was surprised how you could actually do things and use things, not just look at them," Jonny said. "I had lots of fun trying to get a huge bubble to form around me," Ryan added. "I got close to succeeding."
We finished our weekend with a riverboat cruise on the Tennessee River, boarding the Southern Belle at a downtown pier. The boys got a different perspective of Lookout Mountain, spotted Chickamauga National Park and eyeballed great blue herons and cormorants.
Ryan said, "It was cool that almost everything we wanted to do was close together."
We could have used another day.
Related Information
For a real treat, schedule a sleepover in a Victorian railroad car at the Choo Choo complex, or dinner in a dining car Friday or Saturday nights.
Click here to hear the Southern Belle's calliope play Chattanooga Choo Choo.
The Civil War battlefield of Chickamauga was preserved in 1890 as the country's first national military park.
Explore more of the South by visiting the Chattahoochee River and Okefenokee Swamp. See our tips for making the most of a children's museum, and visiting model train exhibits in Detroit and San Diego.
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