We went for
the weekend to Chattanooga to the 3 SISTERS BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL.
We spent
most of the time in the tourist and yuppie area of Chattanooga. I put a post on facebook saying the
Chattanooga Shoeshine stands are gone but there are a good supply of yuppies
hanging out at sidewalk cafe's.
Chattanooga
has changed a lot since I was a little boy.
I looked for my late aunt's and uncle's house and could not find
it. but I think we were close:
While
looking for my aunt's little house we were in a lower income area I went into
a grocery store, that looked run down and the first thing heard was a woman
telling her crying baby to "shut
the fuck up!"
My
grandmother and aunt lived in nearby Rossville. Georgia, on top of a hill, but
I had no idea how to look for their house.
click on each picture to enlarge it - you will see more.
See Lookout Mountain between the buildings
Below is Ross
Landing where the bluegrass festival was held.
This is the grounds that in 1838-39 the Native Americans, Indians, were
rounded up, or herded up, and started their long walk to Oklahoma in the infamous "Trail of Tears". They were removed from their lands because
gold was discovered there and of course the white man could find more uses for gold
than the Native Americans so that meant the white man was entitled to it - right?
Here at Ross
Landing, owned by a Native American, Chief John Ross who owned Ross's Ferry, was put
on water transportation on the Tennessee River for the first segment of their journey
where thousands would die.
But now it
is place for festivals, boat rides, and other fun things.
The big building in the background had some restaurants with sidewalk dining. There we saw a bronze statue of a man. The name at the base, also in bronze said "Man Statue". Anna said she thought it was a real man. I had my doubts when a kid came up and put a dollar in a hat at his feet. He bent over and gave the little girl a hug. Later, I saw the statue man take a selfie of himself. I took out my phone and was ready to take a video of him the next time he moved. Then he packed up and went home.
Looking out our hotel window at night
The concert started the next day at noon. See the Tennessee Aquarium in the background.
See the folding chair in front of us with a small folding shade umbrella. I never seen one and took this picture. Then a couple of hours later we noticed a blue chair with a blue shade thing, just like the red one in the exact sport. Strange.
Up in the
day the sun and temperature became hotter.
On the other end they had a series of beer tents. It looked like a complicated system of first
getting in lined to be i.d.ed to prove you were legal age to drink, and then, I
think, get in another line to buy drink tickets, then about 4 or 5 tents of
different organizations selling beer.
During the
hot sun time I wandered up there to see what food trucks were there and out of
the crowd came barging a electric motorized wheel chair, elderly, shirtless and
huge came barreling towards me. I
stepped out of his way and as he sped by me bumping with the lay of the land, I
saw he had two tattoos, one above each nipple, each one looked like the bottom
of a shoe.
Interesting, I saw two Chattanooga Police ladies picking up little kids by the heels and giving a free round-and-round ride by centrifugal force. Good relations!
I thought
the bluegrass music was very good and with a wide range of variations. And it was all free, for two days.
