There are some moments where you have to go on a random trip. This weekend was definitely one of them. Finally Jason and I were off of work and in a well-working air conditioned home. At the early morning hour of midnight on Jason's birthday, our air conditioner had a dangerous rendezvous with a bolt of lightening. After a week and a half of waiting for the insurance company to decide they were not going to cover the damage, Jason and I were at last able to have it repaired. Our air conditioner is grounded for all eternity with no time off for good behavior.
Finally Saturday arrived. Jason and I planned to escape stress by revisiting Stone Mountain. It has been roughly two years since we last walked to the top. At the time Jason and I had been extremely out of shape, having fully adjusted to our 8 hour desk jobs. This time, however, we are in much better health. We have lost weight, have gained muscle, and do fitness challenges on a regular basis (when our air conditioner allows it). This trip should be much easier.
Once dressed and ready for the journey, we decided to stop by Kroger for two deli sandwiches. Nothing better than a picnic atop Stone Mountain on a fall-ish day. Slightly worried by the overcast sky, Jason and I began to wonder if it would be raining before reaching the park. Small droplets of water began to splash on the windshield as we drove north. We began to brainstorm a plan B. Jason brought up driving to Chattanooga, TN to visit Ruby Falls. I immediately became excited because I've always wanted to see Ruby Falls but have never been able to. Either because he was certain it was going to rain or because he knew how excited I was, Jason said we should scrap Stone Mountain and just keep driving to TN. So we did! We picnicked in the car as we drove over the Tennessee border.
The sky became blue with beautiful fluffy, white clouds as we entered Chattanooga. We traveled up the winding road to settle at Look Out Mountain. We purchased two tickets and immediately waited in line for the next tour. In no time we were ushered into an elevator which took us toward the center of the mountain. We watched through the clear glass door as massive layers of rock zoomed past. The doors opened to a dimly lit cave where we met our tour guide--oddly enough she was from Georgia. She gave us the spiel about following closely and watching your head. The cute couple in front of us began to laugh, as he was very tall and already crouching. Throughout the tour numerous people commented on the poor guy's height. He handled it well and surprisingly never hit his head.
The tour guide walked us through the cavern, pointing out small rock formations as we passed. We saw some that appeared like steak and potatoes, a slice of bacon, a donkey's ass, a dragon's foot, and a potato chip--apparently they were hungry when naming the rock formations. The farther down we went, the cooler the air became, and the more cramped the walkway seemed. Numerous times during our tour we were asked to squeeze to the left side of the wall to allow for another tour to pass. Once when asked to step aside for another group, a woman behind me said "That's not going to happen!" At first you might think she was simply being stubborn, but should you turn around like I did you would have noticed the lack of space between her and the wall. Somehow, everyone was able to pass. Once Jason found a small hole in the wall and was able to get into a squatting position to clear up some room. Jason laughed and said "This is why all those squats were important."
Finally we reached Ruby Falls. It's a 145 foot waterfall in the cave. To this day they are still uncertain where the waterfall is coming from. It's beautiful. It was also very cold. Jason and I tried to get pictures of us in front of the waterfall but it was a little too dark--after all, we were 1,120 feet below the mountain's surface. These are the pictures we were able to get.
Jason and our tour guide behind him:
Ruby Falls!
After leaving the waterfall we made our way back to the elevator. I really enjoyed the trip back because we had some super cute encounters with some kids. We soon came upon another group, who had very kindly squeezed to one side of the cave for us to pass. In the middle of this group were two small girls who were holding their arms out as we passed. Jason saw them first and said "Oh!" once he had figured out what they were trying to do. Lucky for me I heard him and was able to realize it before going to far. I high-fived them as did the girl behind me. It was super sweet! Immediately after passing this group we came across another one, also wedged into the side of the cave for us to pass. I looked to my left just in time to see a very small kid, probably 4 or 5, who had climbed in-between two rocks. He was in the spider-man pose as he crouched down to fit himself in the small space. As I passed I heard him say "Mom, look! I'm in here like a creeper!" He smiled and tried to push himself father into the rock. "Like a creepy-crawler..." corrected his mom. "Yeah, like a creeper!" he said. I laughed pretty hard.
Finally we reached the elevator and made our way back up the mountain. We were shown some stairs where we could get on top of the mountain and look out over Chattanooga. Of course, we did. Here are pictures:
We enjoyed the pretty scenery for a moment and then made our way through the gift shop. We were shown a copy of a photo they took of us when we first entered the cavern and quickly declined. We found our car and decided to head back home. As we drove home I was reminded of our trip to Tennessee in 2009, we had gone there for a milkshake at cheeburger-cheeburger right after graduation, so good, totally worth the trip! In no time we were stuck in Atlanta traffic--home sweet home. We decided to have dinner at Nick's. We used to eat here a lot in college, they have the best gyros, tzatziki sauce, and fried potatoes you'll ever have! Here are pictures:
After dinner we made our way home. We decided it was time for a good, scary movie. Jason and I have found a middle ground with scary movies. Jason likes the really really scary movies and mostly B horror, and I . . . hate those. I like happy movies about puppies and love. So, our middle ground is old black and white scary movies that have no gore and are just intense. For example, we watched the Haunting from 1963 the night before... creepy!!! This time we picked a good Hitchcock movie called "Spellbound." We ended up getting pretty tired and just went to bed halfway through. No worries though... we finished it this morning (Sunday the 30th) while eating Jason's amazing homemade Carbonara. So good. We also made pear tarts with homemade whipped cream. Here are pictures:
Then tonight we go see my side of the family and celebrate my dad's birthday. He asked to celebrate at "Jason's birthday dinner spot." haha! Earlier this month was Jason's birthday and he picked a Mexican restaurant where they brought him a sombrero and sang to him. They also gave him sopapillas . . . which they promptly smeared all over his face. I wasn't smart and began laughing at him... he then smashed his face into the side of mine so he could laugh at me. Hahaha! Love that man! Here are pictures:
Also, for Jason's birthday we also went with his side of the family to the number 1 Irish Pub in the world (oddly enough in Atlanta)! It was amazing! It was called Olde Blind Dog. Here are pictures of that, too:
Although I don't have pictures of this, Jason and I also bought Ohio Hog Company BBQ one night for his birthday. He was on call that week, so we just brought it home and watched the tv show Bloodline. I also gave him my birthday present. He, of course, had already figured out what I got him cause he's him. I got him a fitbit charge hr. He said he thought he knew what it was so I started guessing what I thought he was thinking... I then yelled "This is not how birthdays go! You are supposed to guess what I got YOU! Not me guessing what I think you think I got you!!" We laughed and then I told him next year I'm getting him something he could never guess--like a box of snakes! Somehow by the end of that whole conversation, I started telling him I love him more than a box of snakes :^) He's fun. Anyways...
Happy birthday Jason and Dad!!! I love you both :^)
