Summer in the City

Despite the left-over, sticky heat outside the calendar says Summer has come and gone. Ours was full of adventures, home improvements and house guests. And it flew by! In an attempt to entertain ourselves and all of our loved ones this Summer, we stumbled onto a few new things (and rediscovered some old things) to do when it's warm outside. Here's the Summer wrap up.

One of our favorite inexpensive Summer activities is a night at the ballpark. Chattanooga is the home of the lookouts. The lookouts are a double A baseball team that only recently changed their major league affiliation to the Los Angeles Dodgers. (They used to be the Reds' farm team) a night at the ballpark - tickets, dinner and parking for two - adds up to less than one of the cheaper seats at Busch stadium. In between innings they have all kinds of crazy give-away games and most Friday nights end with a pretty spectacular fireworks display. All the seats are within spitting distance of the field and the hot dogs are mouth watering. It's just an added bonus that AT&T field is a totally scenic spot, completely surrounded by mountains and trees. Minor league ballgames are one of our most favorite new activities.

A revisit changed my opinion about one of Chattanooga’s most popular tourist attractions. Last year we visited rock city for the first time. Now, if you've ever driven anywhere near Chattanooga, you're familiar with the "See Rock City" barns/signs all along the highways. After our first visit, I found the billboards to be more entertaining than the attraction itself. But this Summer I took with our nephews. Seeing Rock City through the eyes of 2 young boys made it a lot more fun. A beautiful day, some gorgeous scenery and a little wide eyed wonder made for a really memorable day.

The best discovery of the Summer, though, was white water rafting. We took two different trips. One that was adults only complete with class 4 and 5 rapids. There was adrenaline, there were laughs and the next day I had a sore butt and thighs after hanging on for dear life. We had so much fun that we decided to take another outing. This time the rapids were less rambunctious, but the scenery was just as gorgeous. And surprisingly enough, I didn't hear dueling banjos once. I've done a ton of canoeing in my life - and I enjoy that a lot - but white water rafting is so much better. I'm looking forward to next Summer's white water adventures. I couldn't help wondering why we waited so long to get on the river!!

So, those were a few of the Summer 2008 highlights. Throw in many home decorating projects, several loud nights of Rock Band with some new friends, and plenty of weekend visitors and you have an accurate picture of our Summer. Next up, Fall ... Probably the prettiest season around here. This town just might be winning me over, after all.