Downtown Chattanooga, day two

We went back to Chattanooga downtown again to see more sites.  We started by driving up the bluff to Lookout Point, the site of an “almost battle” between the North and the South during the Civil War.  It was an “almost battle” because the South saw the North coming from a long way off and during the night as the North was climbing up the bluff, the South snuck down to the more protective fort at Chattanooga ridge (downtown Chattanooga today).  The North kept lookout point, and surrounded the South in Chattanooga.  The South surrendered, thus giving up this major train and boat hub to the Southern States.  With this victory (and the victory at Vicksburg), the North effectively cut off the Southern supply line for the rest of the war.

So, after that, we went to the downtown art district that we had missed yesterday.  The district consisted of two art galleries, one of which we toured, and a whole lot of coffee houses and boutique restaurants.  We had a fantastic Italian lunch at one of those places.  The gallery was exceptional as well.

In the evening, we went to Uncle Johnny’s restaurant.  The whole reason for having the family reunion in Chattanooga was so we could meet Uncle Johnny and his family.  Since he runs two restaurants, he doesn’t have time to go anywhere and as a result, most of us had never met him.  He hosted all 18 of us in his Teriyaki Hut and we took many pictures.  It was so nice to meet his family.  His 19-year-old daughter, Grace, is an amazing young lady – very interesting to talk to.  After dinner, Grace took us all to 31 flavors.