first stop: International Towing and Recovery Museum. you know, most people who visit Chattanooga go to the Aquarium (cool but overpriced) or Ruby Falls (exceedingly lame and also overpriced), but not us. we've done all that stuff. what i wanted to show BETTY is the other side of Chattanooga - the complete redneck side (lol, j/k).
so Munchkin and i went to the ITRM, featured on Roadside America and Weird America (though i couldn't find the link for that one). clearly the highlight of the ITRM is the brand-new statue out front, in memory of fallen towmen all around the world. there's also a memorial wall listing their names. but the fun is just getting started!
inside the museum, we signed the guestbook, then headed for the exhibits. first up: the world's fastest wrecker, then another wrecker which bore this sign: LOOK VERY CLOSELY! O_O i never did figure out what we were supposed to see up close, except maybe that it's Canadian? (da mn Canucks!)
as a quilter, i really had to give it up for the tow truck quilts (yes, there were two of them, i don't know why i didn't take a picture of the other one). they had some really old trucks (this one is towing a Model T)... AND THEN there was the WORLD'S LARGEST TOW TRUCK (i have a hard time believing that claim...)
then we went down the street to one of the bona fide tourist traps, one that i remember from childhood trips to Chattanooga - the Incline Railway (bad picture of the gate). when we were kids, tickets were 3 or 4 bucks, now they're 14. 14! what a rip off. ugh. anyway, it's still fun. the incline is the world's steepest railway (72.7 degrees at its steepest). it's been running since the 19th century, when people actually used it to get up and down the mountains before roads, instead of using it to get their kids out of their hair. here's the view on the way up, are you sure you want to do this?
when you get to the top, the view is amazing. on the way down is a classic reminder that we're still in the south. today: hopefully the Choo-choo, and then tonight we're going out drinking. then off to SLIK!
Originally posted by venus_df
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