NorthShore

Last week we stayed in NorthShore (across the river from downtown Chattanooga). Daniel has been working two hours from our home in Alabama since June. In an effort to keep our family together, we have been choosing to stay in the Chattanooga area during the work week. This is definitely not a vacation, but we have been enjoying some of the perks of being in a city again. We hope to sell our house and be in a permanent place by the end of the year.

 

We ate at Tremont Tavern last Sunday night. They have excellent burgers and their homemade chips are the best I have ever tasted. Seriously! This was our first visit and we weren't sure what to expect. One review mentioned that it is a small bar with limited seating. When we walked in the door, it was packed. As we briefly waited for a table, a woman at a table next to the door started chatting with Jack. She told us he was the cutest thing in the bar and then offered us her table. Score. Yay for having our cutie pie with us. 

I ordered the Dirty Gomez (which is half chorizo and half hamburger) while Daniel got the Gouda Burger. Both were excellent, though we both liked the Gouda better. The Dirty Gomez had avocado on it (yay) but it was doused in a healthy dose of lime that overpowered all other flavors (boo). Overall we enjoyed some great food and were thankful that we didn't have to wait very long for it.

Monday involved a bathtub that wouldn't drain and a plumber coming over after supper to fix it. He had to take apart the wall as well as climb into the crawl space to make it drain. It was an interesting night – one that started with the owner of the bungalow asking if it was okay if she got a plumber for the next morning... umm, no. We both had worked out and were in desperate need of a shower.

Speaking of the bungalow, it was a bit of a fun house. It was super cute, but none of the floors or walls were plumb. If you have ever seen the episode of How I Met Your Mother where Lily and Marshall buy an apartment with crooked floors, well that was the kind of house we were staying at. Wait for it...

At one point, I thought Jack had finally figured out how to pedal his tricycle. When I turned his little bike around, I realized that he had just rolled across the floor with a little help from the the sloping floor!

In addition to the floors, the house was 48 steps from the street. Trying to walk a dog every day, with a toddler in tow, and maneuvering all of those steps was a challenge.

I'm thankful that Jack listens well because having to get a stroller in and out of a car, while he stood on the sidewalk, was disconcerting at times. The good news is that we all survived! I have decided that this area is definitely not a great place to live if you have BOTH dogs and toddlers!

I finally got my Y membership. I committed to a minimum of two workouts this week. First up I went to a Spin Class downtown. I haven't done a spin class since we lived in Charlotte. Spinning is a little different here. The bikes are the same and the format is basically the same, but instead of being in a class at SouthPark full of sah/wah moms, the class was predominantly men that seemed to be serious cylists. The structure was basically the same but there were a lot more climbs to reflect the terrain of East Tennessee (not flat) compared to the relatively easy terrain of Charlotte (fairly flat). Plus I was glad that I knew what the instructor meant when he gave his cues. The music was great. Pink Floyd is perfect for a long climb and I can't complain about listening to Counting Crows or Sheryl Crow. Some good stuff in the mix! I'm looking forward to my next class.