Our 22nd anniversary

We slept in Saturday morning.  Chris got up to put an anniversary card on my laptop where I would be sure to see it.  Then he came back to bed... Later we got up for breakfast.  I read the card and it was very sweet.  We ate and packed at a leisurely pace.  He took a shower and I ran down to the garage to note any leaking, but there was none.  We turned on the dishwasher just before we left.  We drove to Chattanooga, where we went up Lookout mountain to Ruby Falls.  It is a cave and the only entrance is an elevator that goes down 260 feet.  Tours run every 5-10 minutes and are big.  It was half a mile to the underground waterfall, and we spent too much of it plastered against the cave wall to let returning groups go by.  That was the only time we got to stop and stare at the formations.  All the rest of the time the guide was yelling at us to watch our heads and our steps.  I came to see the cave!  The falls were nice, but hard to photograph, especially with a camera that won't flash 'cause the batteries are low.  They had colored lights around the cavern that changed from green to blue, to purple etc. 

Then we walked back.  The guide explained that on weekend nights in October they run a haunted cave.  We saw the entrance near the elevator.  When we got out, we walked up to the look out point.  Then through the gift shop.  From the parking lot we headed toward our hotel, but stopped at a colorful place that sells quilts and tourist trinkets.  The quilts out front were cheater cloth and machine quilted.  But the ones inside were hand-done, in large stitches.  Then we went to our lodging  - The Chattanooga Choo Choo.  They have some railroad cars there for sleeping, but they fill up fast.  We got a regular room, or maybe it is a handicap room considering how big the bathroom is and the walk-in shower.  We rested and looked up restaurants.  Then we caught the electric shuttle to the area near the aquarium.  We ate at The Big River Grille and Brewery.  Chris got the 8-beer sampler.  I helped him sample.  One was called IPA.  I don't know what that stands for, but it was awful.  Chris said it was the hops.  I ordered the goat cheese and hummus salad.  Chris got fettuccine.  Our waitress was a young blonde pre-law student.  After eating, we walked down to the river, and over to the bridge where a wine-tasting festival was going on.  There were members of a baptist church handing out tracts at the entrance. 

I think each person was to buy a wine glass at the first tent and then get samples in it at the other tents.  Everyone seemed to have a glass with the name of the wine festival on it.  We walked through part of it.  I liked the festive energy of the crowd, just like on Halloween night.  Then we stopped at a little shop for a Mexican hot chocolate.  That warmed me up.  We walked back to the shuttle stop.  We caught the shuttle back to the hotel.  We saw a horse and buggy gearing up to give a family a ride through the city.  We walked through the gift shop, and then moseyed on back to our room.  We read e-mail, and Chris started his book.  I should have posted to my blog before putting my computer aside.  I was thinking we should not spend our anniversary on our laptops.