Visiting Chattanooga, Tennessee

A Going Westbound Travel Guide

Sep 27, 2024

Welcome to Going Westbound’s first ever travel guide, written by yours truly!

I will be sharing short travel guides to the places I visit, in addition to my Sunday sabbatical updates. I have a bit of a back-log from this summer, but will start with the most recent jaunt: Chattanooga, Tennessee. Chattanooga (yes, the Choo Choo one) is in the south-eastern corner of the state, right on the Georgia border, and is roughly 1.5 to 2 hours from Nashville, Atlanta, and Knoxville, making it a perfect weekend getaway if you live in one of those bigger cities. Even if you don’t, it is definitely worth a visit - compared to other towns of this size, it has the best food scene in the country. Controversial, I know, but #facts.

The Read House Hotel

I stayed at the reasonably priced Read House Hotel in downtown for two nights. I had walked by it the last time I was here, and it has a Gatsby vibe with dark wood paneling and glam decor. I was given a room in the tower, which is the historic part of the hotel. I was told by staff you can request the tower rooms in your reservation, which they recommend because it has more character than the newer part of the hotel. Leading up to Halloween, you can book Room 309, which is supposedly haunted by a decapitated ghost. That was a hard pass.

My room the first night was a corner room, Room 715. I discovered later that the blinds in the bathroom are translucent: I could see into my neighbor’s room, and I am sure they could see into mine - yikes. The next day, I requested a move to a different room, Room 1014…which had no windows in the bathroom, fortunately. Apparently all corner rooms in the tower are like this, but the front desk acted like I was the first person to ever complain? IDK but I was just glad they moved me. The staff were also a little gruff & Bridgeman’s Chophouse in the lobby was not good, but the location was great, the rooms were large, and it was very clean, so I would probably stay there again (just not in a corner room - ha!).

Noms

For food, I would recommend the following spots:

Sleepyhead Coffee is a 10/10 - cute decor, vegan donuts (vanilla sprinkle was amazing), great coffee, lots of nice indoor seating to work, plus two small tables on the sidewalk, and very nice baristas. Great place to work remotely.
Attack of the Tatsu is a 8/10. Food was pretty good (it was too hot to have ramen unfortunately, I had a tofu rice bowl) and severs were great. Cute outdoor patio and vibe. I would go back but try the ramen next time.
Easy Bistro is a 9/10. This restaurant had the most inventive menu I’ve seen in a long time, and it changes every 1-2 weeks depending on what is locally in season. Because it was risky and creative, not everything landed for me, but what did land was absolutely delicious. I love a spot where the chefs are pushing the envelope.

Favorite Activities

Since it was a super short trip, I really only had time to visit the Tennessee Aquarium. It usually sells out - especially on weekends - so definitely get your tickets in advance online. I have been trying to go here for years, and was so excited to finally go…

…although I should have read about it before I went because I missed half of it, whoops! It is in two buildings: freshwater in one, saltwater in the other. I visited the freshwater building, which focuses on river ecosystems & is unique among the other aquariums I have seen.

Other activities still on the list for future visits (other than the saltwater part of the aquarium - eye roll) include:

Ruby Falls: A roadside attraction from a bygone era but one of those kitschy things I have always wanted to do
Hiking: Chattanooga has 150+ miles of trails
Bluff View art district: I was told by a local that Rembrandt’s coffee and Tony’s italian are great and come with sunset river views
Hunter Museum of American Art: I was told by a local to stop by for the river views even if I didn’t go inside

Happy travels

That’s it, folks, let me know in the comments if this guide was helpful and if you want to see additional information in future travel guides. Have a great weekend!

Going Westbound