RiverRocks

October 20, 2012

Todd Snider



Kathy

Michael

RiverRocks

If it wasn’t one festival, it was another in Chattanooga as in addition to the wonderful Oktoberfest, there was another two week festival celebrating the variety of outdoor activities wrapped up while we were in town and we had the really good fortune of being able to attend the final day at the beautiful riverfront Coolidge Park on the North shore of the Tennessee River.







The festival featured all sorts of outdoor activities many centering around the river itself and on the day we attended a 31-mile paddleboard race down the Tennessee that finished in Coolidge Park was held and there were all sorts of zip line, climbing, hiking, canoe and kayaking and other demonstrations held as well as numerous vendors, displays by local and regional conservation organizations and other festival type activities. There was also a rowing regatta, the Chattanooga Head race, featuring 1,200 rowers competing. It was a flurry of fun and activity along the riverfront.





 

For us the big surprise and highlight of the event was the live concert that capped off the day. Totally unaware that there was even a concert scheduled, we wondered up to where the stage was set up and saw a merchandise table selling shirts of one of my favorite performers, Todd Snider. I was happily stunned that he was one of the headliners of the show that featured a number of fantastic performers.





Todd Snider

The Gig City Roots concert showcased Chattanooga’s status as the only city in the Western Hemisphere to have one gigabyte per second internet service by featuring simultaneous performances with T-Bone Burnett playing in Los Angeles with performers in Chattanooga. It was pretty amazing and cool. The show also featured the local band the Nim Nims, Roy “Futureman” Wooten, Doyle Dykes, Jason D. Williams and Todd Snider.



Jason D Williams



It was my first time to see legendary pianist Jason D. Williams who is basically Jerry Lee Lewis incarnate, he is an amazing player and puts on a dazzling performance that is full of energy and crazy antics that highlight his incredible skill. It was a sight to see and it was especially cool when all of the performers from the entire evening got together to jam the final few numbers. It was all recorded and broadcast live for a Nashville TV show, which was cool as well.









For me though, the best part was getting to see Todd Snider once again. He is one of my favorite singer/ songwriters and we have seen him live many, many times. One of the funniest and most biting commentators of our current society, Snider is a consummate story teller, his stories before his songs often longer than the songs themselves. He played with a full band at this show and gave a rollicking and fun performance. Between each set, for the TV audience, the performers were interviewed on stage- which was another cool aspect of the show.





The festival ended in a mini Burning Man celebration as a huge wooden sculpture by artist Andrew Nigh was set ablaze in the center of Coolidge Park. The 15 foot high sculpture went up in a beautiful blaze as fire dancers with spinning flames danced about the perimeter. It was a fun and cool way to conclude a day of wonderful surprises in Chattanooga.

Oktoberfest

October 19, 2012





Kathy



Oktoberfest

There is something enchanting about enjoying a celebration of autumn and beer in a place that actually experiences autumn. We were thrilled to learn that the Chattanooga Market was hosting their annual Oktoberfest celebration of Bavarian food, local and regional microbrews and all things fall on the weekend that we were going to be in town. To top it off there was a local 5K race that started and finished at the event that we were able to take part in. Kathy & I often seek out local 5k races to walk in when we are visiting an area, in fact we had done the Turkey Trot 5K here in Chattanooga when we were here over Thanksgiving a few years ago.

Kathy & Michael

Kathy





We headed over to the market early Saturday morning to do the Ram Run 5K, which was a benefit for some local school that was run in conjunction with the Oktoberfest. Both Kathy & I were walkers and the cool, no humidity conditions made the race go by faster than usual and we each got close to our best times ever. It was fun and nice to be on a course that curved along the river and past fall foliage rather than a beach.









After the event and a quick trip back to the Stone Fort Inn for a shower, we were back at the market to take in the festivities of Oktoberfest. The 11^th Annual event is well established and featured a German Biergarten, authentic Bavarian foods and live entertainment as well as the usual unique vendors who set up each week at the farmer’s market, selling locally produced fruits, vegetables, food items and other crafts. It was a really cool event.











They featured all sorts of cool local items ranging from honey to moonshine to the local and regional beers which we were happy to sample. It was such a fun afternoon, but it was only still the beginning of our day. After enjoying a delicious meal from one of the many food trucks that set up at the market, thank you Rock-n-Taco, we headed back downtown and over the Tennessee River to the hip shopping and dining area known as the North Shore.

















The North Shore is just across the Tennessee River from the downtown riverfront and is accessible by a pedestrian bridge, a vehicle bridge as well as by the free shuttle buses. A small area that is chock full of nifty shops, cool restaurants and bars and a beautiful view back across the river at downtown past the old Delta Queen riverboat that is docked on the North Shore and currently serves as a hotel.



Michael

Kathy





Kathy & I kept up our German Octoberfest theme as we wondered around the cool shops and bars, stopping by the Chattanooga Brewery and then having an incredible German meal at the Brewhaus that looks out over the Tennessee River. It was a great afternoon of just relaxing and shopping and hanging and drinking good beer and eating good food, pretty much destroying any benefit derived from participating in the 5K earlier in the day in the best possible way.







We wondered back to the hotel to take part in their wonderful wine and cheese happy hour and enjoy some of the fresh baked cookies that they provided, it is those little touches that make staying in a B & B so special.