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Chattanooga - Part 3
Written by: Dominick A. Miserandino
Photography by: Margherita Miserandino
Day 3
The Bluff View Art District is the creative art area of Chattanooga. Every city needs an artsy place to be cool, so between this and the fact that they have the Choo Choo train, they’re set. It’s a few square blocks, owned by the same family and it has restaurants, museums and, of course, the prerequisite artsy shops.
We were looking for a cooking class or demo because this is what Margherita says she "needs." I agreed to the idea because I thought I could learn something. I falsely assumed it would be a hands-on class. I also believed that this emotional and psychological sacrifice would help me later on in any marital negotiations with Margherita. When I asked Margherita what she thought of the class she said, "I was thrilled with the cooking demonstration. The presenter knew an unbelievable amount of knowledge about bread; the ingredients, the chemical processes and so on." Well, Margherita watched the demo and really got into making bread. She said she learned about the entire nature of bread and proceeded to tell me all about the kinds of flour that she likes. Then, about two weeks later, at home she decided to make bread. The result was a rather tasty bread and a kitchen covered in flour. "I cooked, so you clean," she informed me. How could a woman learn the intricate nature of wheat and still succeed in covering the ceiling of our kitchen with flour?
Anyway, we left the cooking class with a sample of bread in a bag and headed to lunch at the Southside Grill. This restaurant is located on the south side, but it is not really a grill, it’s more of a fancy restaurant. I had meatloaf and Margherita had the grits, but I swear, it was extremely fancy meatloaf and grits. It was one of the best damn meatloaf entrees that I’ve ever had.
It was time to hit the road again and we were heading up Lookout Mountain to see the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park -- Point Park. The mountain overlooks the town and, on a clear day, you can see quite far. Anyway, we went to the famous Battles for Chattanooga Museum and Electric Map. The Electric Map was created quite some time ago when electricity was practically a novelty. In this case, it was a diorama with narration.
From the map, we went over to see the "Battle Above the Clouds" painting by James Walker. It’s 11 feet x 33 feet and, therefore, much larger than your average museum masterpiece. I could tell you that it’s called the Battle Above the Clouds because the battle took place on the mountaintop or because of the gun smoke or how General James Hooker’s family commissioned the painting to insure his place in history, but I learned here that Arthur MacArthur, from Wisconsin, was a war hero. What’s interesting about that? He’s General Douglas MacArthur’s father. I guess it’s in the genes.
Afterward, we entered Georgia for the first time together. Margherita says she was here before, but that was before me so it doesn’t really count.
We drove through Georgia to see the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Battlefield, which has a really good presentation that basically teaches you - nobody really won the battle and everybody died. The South won tactically, but it really depends on how you look at it and since there were so many people who died, I don’t think anybody really won. It’s also is the first national historical battlefield park in our nation.
We decided to head back into town to go to dinner at the Renaissance Commons, right in the Bluff View Art District. I followed my stomach instead of my brain. I like chocolate. I also like steak. They had Chocolate Braised Beef Tenderloin so I thought, "Genius!" Mix the two and it should be doubly good." The Homer Simpson side of my personality was quite happy.
Unfortunately, I personally found that chocolate doesn’t go with beef. In fact, no dessert product should go with a dinner course. It’s just morally wrong, but as Margherita put it, "You asked to try something new and you got something new. Now you’re complaining? When we get home we’ll make just plain meat and then you’ll probably ask for chocolate." She kept yelling at me to be happy that we tried something new for a good 10 minutes. The rest of the meal was good and the dessert, as can be expected, was great, but the memories of beef and chocolate will confuse my senses for years to come.
[Margherita’s note: The ambiance of the Renaissance Commons is quite beautiful and has antiques decorating it. My husband should have mentioned it.]
Later that night, a group of friends decided to go to Club Drink. Being in Chattanooga, it seemed the thing to do. We drove about 20 minutes south of town, arrived at the club and found the line out the door. We walked in and heard "Ice, Ice Baby" playing again.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
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