Delta Queen in Chattanooga

Our cruising club scheduled a two night trip to Chattanooga in January and Mary & I decided to celebrate our 22nd anniversary a week early on the trip.

The Delta Queen is a real stern wheeler built in the 1920's for service on the Sacramento River between Sacramento and Oakland, California.  It was built in Scotland and then disassembled and shipped to Stockton, California where it was reassembled and placed in service.

The Queen served in WWII as a support vessel in San Francisco and eventually was refitted as a cruise ship carrying passengers to most ports on the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Rivers through 2008 when her exemption from some safety regulations was not renewed .

The Delta Queen appeared headed to the scrapping yard when she was rescued and transported to Chattanooga, Tennessee to be used as a floating hotel.  The view from our main deck room was spectacular with Downtown Chattanooga directly across the river, sunsets to our right under the Market Street Bridge and sunrises to the left behind the pedestrian bridge.

If you find yourself planning a trip to Chattanooga, you might want to consider staying on the Delta Queen Hotel: it is a unique experience.  If you like Trains more than ships, try the Chattanooga Choo Choo at the southern end of the free trolley line - stay in a real sleeping car from the heydays of rail travel.  You'll have fun, we certainly did.

Touring the Delta Queen

Tennessee Snow



 

Snow on the roof

Significant snow is somewhat uncommon in our part of East Tennessee.  We are in the Little Tennessee River Valley at about 800 feet of elevation with a large lake to moderate the temperature.   A bit of sleet and a dusting of the white stuff is about normal for winter precipitation in Tellico Village so we were suprised this past weekend when the local weather folks quit hedging their bets and started talking in certainties and inches. 

By noon on Monday, we had over 6 inches on the ground with light snow still falling - a real blizzard by local standards and an opportunity to see our home from a different perspective.

Our driveway retaining wall displays  a beautiful pattern of triangles reaching into the distance as the snow hides the imperfections and every day patterns to present us with a new perspective.


The birdbath takes on the look of a well frosted cake.  All around me are sites and items presented in a beautiful new way and I am pleased to pause a few moments to reflect on my good fortune.