Hey y'all! No, I didn't drop off the planet! :) Some of you might have wondered that, though. It's been a good long while since I posted some pictures! Honestly, it's been a quiet summer with not much going on and I've hardly picked up my camera. But I made up for that when my family went on our summer vacation!
We got back a week ago from being out of town for 3 weeks- and we had a wonderful time! We left on Monday, July 30th and drove to Chickamauga, Georgia - we spent the next day in Chickamauga and nearby Chattanooga, Tennessee and the day after that we drove to western North Carolina.
My camera's shutter was clicked over 1,400 times during our trip! But, thankfully, it wasn't hard to narrow it down to a few dozen of my favorites. This post is the first of two or three (we'll see how many it takes :)) and these are the pictures from Chickamauga and Chattanooga.
Some of these are edited with Instagram presets for Lightroom, and some with Lightroom presets, and some aren't edited at all!
The sunset the evening before we left- absolutely gorgeous! I loved the reflection off the canoe.
Waiting for Daddy to check in at the state park
Tuesday morning we went to the Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park - it was incredible!! Here's a link to the park's website so you can read more about it if you'd like.
The battle was fought in September 1863 (mere months after Gettysburg, which is why it's not as well-known) in the farm fields and woods 10 miles south of Chattanooga. General Rosecrans and the Union army moved in on Chattanooga and General Braxton Bragg and the Confederates defended it.
About 30 years after the war ended, the units from both sides reunited on the battlefield and set up monuments in the exact places where they were involved. There were lots of Union monuments but not many Confederates, as the South was still trying to get back on its feet.
It is a gorgeous place and it was hard to imagine the sounds of battle in these quiet, peaceful woods.
The deer were used to seeing people and watched us for quite a while!
We were in a caravan of several cars, led by a park ranger, and several times we parked and got out while he told us what happened at each place.
Our park ranger, Will, who did a great job telling us about what happened 150 years ago! He didn't just list a bunch of facts- he told stories and made it really interesting. We weren't surprised when he told us later that he was homeschooled! :)
The top of Snodgrass Hill.
This picture really doesn't do it justice- the trees are so far off in the distance!
See the 1863 on the bottom?
The visitors center
Driving into Chattanooga...
We ate at a great local place called The Purple Daisy. The food was delicious!!
See the building? That's the top of the Incline Railway!
It's at a 72% grade at the steepest point- and I'm not kidding, my camera was basically level for this shot. Yep, that's the windows on the roof!
Point Park on the top of Lookout Mountain
Downtown Chattanooga
Looks like no picnicking has been allowed for quite a long time!
Going back down...
The view at the state park
It's a great park and we really enjoyed being there!
Well, that's all for now- Part 2 and probably Part 3 will be up in the next day or two!
Because of Jesus,
Rebekah
PS- in case any of y'all are wondering, we definitely are keeping an eye on the storm in the gulf right now- waiting to see what happens in the next 24 hours or so. We're not too worried, though- we've been through this before with Katrina (7 years ago on Wednesday).
