National Parks: Point Park on Lookout Mountain

Did you get the chance to take advantage of free admission to a National Park over the weekend?

We did.

We happen to live about 15 minutes from Point Park – a National Military Park located on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga.

Point Park is a ten-acre memorial park that overlooks the Lookout Mountain Battlefield and the city of Chattanooga.

Once inside, a paved path circles the park with views of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River below.

In the center of the park is the New York Peace Memorial, which was erected by the state of New York as a tribute to peace and reconciliation between Union and Confederate veterans after the war.

At the actual point of the mountain, you can explore the Ochs Memorial Observatory.

We were able to pick out our mountain from the several vantage points on Point Park, which is fun to point out to Jack.

Also, from the point you can also choose to access several of the trails located on Lookout Mountain.

We had planned to do the hike from Lookout Point to Sunset Rock back in January, but the park was closed the day we visited. So we did the eighth of a mile hike to Sunset Rock from a parking area instead.

Thankfully the day we visited Point Park, it wasn't very crowded – which was nice. We were able to walk the grounds at our leisure and snap the photos we wanted.

Jack's favorite things were the cannons. He had to look at every single one.

I carried Isaac for this trip. I think he would have preferred to walk around, but sometimes it's just easier to hang on to little ones at this stage. 

We also had several talks with Jack about the importance of staying away from the edge and listening to us at all times.

It was really hot and humid on our afternoon visit, so we were excited to stop at Clumpies Ice Cream before making our way back to our car.

Jack informed us that his ice cream was Batman Good which means extra, super good. It's no secret that Isaac loves food and he was very demanding that we share our ice cream with him!

It was good to get outside and spend some time together as a family – we were couped up last week due to illness, so it was a much needed change of pace!

Normally admission to the park is $5/adult and children under the age of 15 are free. Parking can be found outside of the gate (I saw one free lot and the rest were metered parking). You can also ride the Incline Railway from St. Elmo to the top of the mountain and take a 5-minute walk to Point Park.

Local Food

The city of Chattanooga, and the people who live here, really emphasize the importance of eating locally. This means that most of the money you spend stays in the community. Also, many of the local restaurants use local food sources, so your money is going even further than just the restaurant. Here are my thoughts on some of the local places we have tried recently...

The Big Table, base of Signal Mountain
Daniel heard about this little cafe at the base of Signal Mountain and suggested we try it out one night. It is a little dainty restaurant that serves fresh southern food. We ate on the front porch so that Jack wouldn't bother those sitting inside. 

The portions were big enough that we were able to order two adult portions and share with Jack. Daniel tried the trout with a side salad while I had the casserole of the day – Poppyseed Chicken. Both were good.



Olive Bean, Signal Mountain
Olive Bean is a restaurant that recently opened on Signal Mountain. They serve a limited, but excellent selection of gourmet coffee. I am so thrilled to be able to go out for coffee (close to my house) and I also like that they have outdoor seating.

I have heard that their brunch and sandwiches options are excellent – I look forward to trying brunch soon. The Olive Bean is also a local grocery store that sells organic and local foods. It is expensive, but not astronomical by any means. I hope they stay open for a long time!


Off the Grill II, Signal Mountain
This is also a new restaurant on the mountain. According to the local weekly paper, it promised to be a great place for BBQ. Unfortunately it did not live up to expectations. The night we went, the water was turned off. We should have just left, it kind of weirded us out that they were running a kitchen with no water. Also, it just felt overpriced and the food wasn't that great. I don't think we will go back.


Hummingbird Pastaria, Signal Mountain
A couple of weeks ago, we took advantage of family visiting and let them babysit Jack while we ran out for a late cup of coffee and dessert. At first we weren't sure where to go since a lot of places on the mountain close early and we only wanted dessert (we even considered walking to the local gas station for coffee!), but then I remembered that the Hummingbird Pastaria (previously Ninos) served dessert. 

This was our first visit since it changed owners. We only had dessert but it was delicious. I had the Tiramasou and Daniel had the Chocolate Mousse. I also ordered their French Press Coffee. Unfortunately the coffee didn't taste that great – probably because I ordered decaf instead of regular. The desserts were a win and we will be going back to try their meal time offerings.

Clumpies, NorthShore (Chattanooga)
Last week we went to Clumpies for ice cream before attending Movies in the Park. 

They make their waffle cones and ice cream from scratch and it was all amazing! Daniel chose peanut butter ice cream, Jack picked strawberry with sprinkles and I had a waffle cone with espresso chocolate chunk. I can't wait to go back!

BrewHaus, NorthShore (Chattanooga)
Last week we attempted to go to the Flying Squirrel in an effort to support the LiveStrong program at our local YMCA. Unfortunately when we arrived, they told us that you had to be 21 to enter. Since we had Jack with us we had to find another place to go, so we settled on the Brewhaus in Northshore. 

The Brewhaus (which is also a bar) had no problems with kids eating at their establishment. It was a Tuesday so we thought we would get right in, however it was Trivia Night so the place was packed. After about a 10-minute wait, we lucked up with seats on the back porch with a great view of Lookout Mountain and the Walnut Street Bridge. It was great to watch people while we waited. And wait we did. I don't know if they are normally this slow or if Trivia Night had them going slower, but it was SLOW. 

Thankfully the food made up for the slow service. Daniel had a burger with bleu cheese and I tried the Rooster Schnitzel Weiner Art with a side of veggies and potato cakes. It was all amazing. Jack gobbled up the potato cakes. I hope we go back and try some of the rest of their menu (maybe when it isn't so busy). Jack was a trooper considering we were out until 9pm!

Family Date Night: Movies in the Park

Continuing with our busy weekend, we squeezed in a Saturday night movie in the park. Movies in the park has been hosted by First Things First for the last 12 years in Coolidge Park.

We attempted to go to the first movie in July, but on our way to the movie, it rained AND Jack fell asleep in the car... meaning Daniel and I settled for eating McAlister's sandwiches in our car while Jack slept. Real life of parents, sometimes dates look like this.

Last week my aunt and uncle were visiting and the weather was still questionable, so Daniel and I accepted the babysitting offered and went to grab dessert by ourselves instead of going to the movie in the park.

This week was the last movie of the summer and even though we had been busy (Lookouts Game, biking, concert) we felt like we should go. Ok, let's be real, I thought we should go. Daniel would have been happy to watch a RedBox from the comfort of our own home and Jack wouldn't know that we had skipped on a summer movie.

I decided that since the movie was free (we somehow even managed to find a free parking spot right next to the park) we should go a little early and get ice cream at Clumpies. This was our first visit to this ice cream shop and it did not disappoint. Our philosophy is that is ok to splurge on ice cream since the rest of our evening was free.

Daniel had peanut butter ice cream, Jack had strawberry ice cream with sprinkles and I had the Espresso Chocolate Chunk in a fresh waffle cone. So good! 

While ice cream was a fun idea, it kind of backfired on us, in that by the time it got dark enough for the movie to actually start Jack was wound up. He sat quietly for about 45 minutes and then he started standing up, dancing around and jumping on us. 

One hour into the Lego Movie, Daniel and I decided to call it a night. It was 10pm, church was in the morning and getting jumped on while we watched a movie was not exactly fun. Overall a good experience. We will try again next summer when Jack is a little bigger and will hopefully sit for the entire movie...