First Day in Chattanooga!

I got into Chattanooga at about 4:00 on a Thursday afternoon in August. I stopped by the store to get some groceries and hit up the Amazon locker for a package I had ordered (still need to set up that PO box), then found a state forest area 30 minutes from town on my campsite-finding app. I drove through rush hour city traffic, past the Tennessee River, and out to the campground. The night was peaceful, and I slept really well because it was cloudy and cool that night. There were fireflies. I was safe in my little girly Van Cave. It was awesome.

I woke up the next day, made coffee, packed up, and went swimming in the river I had passed the previous evening. The water is warm! If you’ve ever spent any time in the rivers of the Pacific Northwest you’ll know that this is a real treat…like, you can swim in a bikini and not only not freeze your ass off, but actually be COMFORTABLE. Amazing. There was a canoe and kayak guide at the boat launch there who welcomed me to Chattanooga, exchanged memories about river trips we’d both been on, offered me countless bits of advice for local living and sightseeing, suggested I take a picture of the phone number on the little company bus he was driving in case I needed any assistance, and also recommended I exercise caution spending time across the nearby county line. “Those people are LAWless,” he said with the gentle drawl I am coming to know and love. “It takes the cops 45 minutes to get out there, and the people who live out there know that.”

“BUT,” he added, eyeing my arms, “you look like you can take care of yourself.”

I went back into town, took care of some basic errands (computer stuff, got a small storage unit for gear, went to the local 24 hr gym to get a membership so I can take a shower whenever I need to), and eventually found myself downtown on Station Street at Songbird’s, a music venue and guitar museum. I was invited to go to a show there by some new friends I connected with online via a travel nurse Facebook group. We saw an amazing up-and-coming blues singer from Mississippi who really just blew me away. The night was warm and humid, everyone was ridiculously polite, my new friends hugged me and offered to take me climbing at the the local crag in October “when T-wall season starts“ and on “ the Chattanooga bbq chicken tour”, and there were wings, turkey legs, and mac and cheese for sale at the door.

I felt thoroughly welcomed to Chattanooga AND the south. Drawl on, Tennessee. I’m ready for ya.