Chattanooga, Tennessee by Tricia Baehr

Having lived in Knoxville, Tennessee before we became a “Family on the Road” the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee wasn’t much more than a city that we passed through on our way to somewhere else. Yesterday we had on our agenda to attend an event hosted by our dear friends from The Sequatchie Valley Institute www.svionline.org . So a stop in Chattanooga was in our plans. We arrived a little after 2pm and headed down Market Street, we found a great place to park our rig on Main St. just around the corner from where the event was to take place later that evening.

We set off on foot to discover this newly revitalized section of town, the kids were hungry and wondering what we were going to be doing. Of course the best part about being us is sometime we don’t know what we’re going to be doing…sometimes it’s just all about the adventure!

As we went down the block one of the first things we noticed was some incredible art installations right out on the street. We always enjoy outdoor sculpture because it allows our imaginations to soar. We even found a gate made from scrap metal that was an amazing piece of art--see pic. Another sculpture looked like a piece of a large colorful boomerang.

The next gem we found was the historic, Chattanooga Choo Choo. I remembered being there as a child in the mid 70’s, it seemed just as grand yesterday as it did to me then.
The kids loved climbing on the choo-choo itself and we wandered around the gardens outside admiring the dozens of varieties roses many still blooming even with it being mid November.

“We’re hungry!” the kids cried, and since it was pass two o'clock in the afternoon the restaurant appeared closed. So it was back to the streets of Chattanooga we roamed. As we wandered down the street, I noticed a small sign in the shape of a teapot across the street. I wondered out loud if it was a gift shop or possibly a tea room. Much to our delight it was both! It didn’t take much convincing to get the boys, John or Bailey to venture in and partake in a proper English tea.

What a treat it was! The English Rose Authentic British Tea Room & Shop located at 1401 Market St. in Chattanooga www.theenglishroseonline.com and it is a warm and inviting place. We were lucky enough to have the place to ourselves and were surrounded by hundreds of beautiful china teacups, tea pots, tea accessories, lacy table clothes, roses and the like. Our server started us out with pot of tea, surrounded by what, I explained to the kids, was a tea cozy. At each place setting was a lovely tea cup with a tiny tea spoon. On the table was a bowl of sugar and a container of cream. Bailey put on her proper, tea party voice as she politely asked for the cream and sugar to be passed. We ordered the Victorian Tea which came with assorted finger sandwiches, scones, strawberry jam, lemon curd, English biscuits, English Cheeses, crackers and a dessert. John had a banger (sausage) on a crusty roll smothered with onions and Birke added a half cup (a bowl really) of delicious homemade tomato basil soup which came with a crusty roll. I jokingly suggested to the boys that an afternoon date to a place like this with a girl when they are older would make any girl's heart melt.

We all enjoyed it so much, it was fun watching the kids “put on” their best manners as they asked politely for “more tea. please” or “to pass the cream or sugar, please”. The proprietress shared with us pictures of the old building that they renovated to become this amazing little jewel that we just happened upon because we were open to adventure that afternoon and had no plans. She also shared with us a story of her childhood in Zimbabwe and boarding school and how her love for “knickerbockers” got her in a pinch more than once (if you want to know the whole story, you’ll just have to visit and find out for yourself!) It was evident that much love had gone into The English Rose and our server let us know that it was listed as one of the top 25 tea rooms in America. We were all delighted and grateful for our afternoon tea time experience!

Afterwards, we continued to explore the area, poking our heads into little art galleries, antique shops, and such just wandering around just enjoying the experience. Sometimes people look at us a little funny with three kids on a school day looking like we’re on vacation or something. Sometimes it opens up a dialog about what we are doing on the road and other times not. I suppose the folks we do end up having conversations with or a connection to, are those that we are suppose to meet out on the road and our grand adventure!

Around 6pm we wandered back to Green Spaces where we could all become informed, enlightened and amazed by the collaborative artwork and message of The Bee Hive Collective http://www.beehivecollective.org/ a non-profit, donation funded only, group of worker “Bees” who research, dialogue and investigate political, environmental and social injustices then put them into a form of storytelling artwork. The project that was shared with us is about mountaintop removal and “The True Cost of Coal”. The images, metaphors, stories that are told through their art is an incredibly moving form of media and art. All of the 5 Baehrs would highly recommend anyone reading this blog to take note of the impact mountain top removal has upon this planet. This issue isn’t just about what is happening locally where our beautiful mountains are being destroyed but about how the process is effecting the entire planet in more ways than I personally could have ever imagined. I am grateful to have become more aware of this process and will be asking Spirit to guide me to ways in how we personally as a family can help to heal this and assist in some small way to make it better. Go to http://www.stopmountaintopremoval.org/ and sign the petition--especially if you love the beauty of mountains and nature, but even more so if you enjoy clean water and air to breath!