That Thursday morning also just crept by slowly. I had to go into the elementary school I was observing at early because of when his flight got in, but I booked it once 11:15 am came. I was hoping to beat him to the airport, but his flight got in early and he ended up surprising me by already being there! He couldn't check into his hotel until 2 pm, and it was only noon. So where did I take him first? Steak 'n' Shake of course! This girl has her priorities straight. :) The rest of that day we pretty much did nothing (which we love), complete with pizza and breadsticks, Psych, and some movies.
Friday was an interesting day, to say the least. I think we got lost going almost everywhere we went.... starting with Imagination Station. Normally, it would probably only take 20 minutes to get there from Lee, if that, but it took us an hour. Once we got there, though, it was all good. Imagination Station is this GIANT wooden playground--probably the most legit playground I've ever seen. Since we're like 7-year-olds when it comes to playgrounds, we definitely enjoyed ourselves. At this point, we needed to eat food, so we hit up IHOP! I think it was the only place we didn't get lost going to that day. Following brunch, we hit up the Chattanooga Zoo! It's a pretty small zoo, but for $9/person, I think it was actually really good. I mean, they have a camel ride. How many other small zoos have a camel ride?! The animals were animals--nothing new there. Until we saw the peacocks. They were just wandering around on the sidewalks. I freaked out the first time I saw it, but we figured it must be normal because we kept on seeing them. Once we got back to Cleveland, we just went swimming and headed back to campus for some homemade tacos.
Saturday was another adventure-filled day. I showed Tom the school that I was observing at before heading towards Benton Falls! Benton Falls is, well, a giant waterfall. It's not that far from Cleveland, at least to the base of the mountain. It's another 20 minutes up the mountain and about a 1.5-2 mile hike till you actually reach the falls. Sadly, it was semi-lame due to the lack of rain, but it was still a fun day. We did get to stop at some of the "scenic view" spots on the way down. It is so pretty! From there, we headed back to Chattanooga (side note: I don't think I'll ever refer to it as "Chat" as most people do. I just really enjoy saying the whole name) to find this glow-in-the-dark mini golf course. Mini golf is one of our things, so we were super pumped..... only to end up super disappointed. According to Google, there is one located in the big mall in town, but it's no longer there. :( Seriously so bummed after discovering that. We did, however, both experience Chick-Fil-A for the first time! Hello, deliciousness! I would be jealous that they're in MN now, except that they're all over the place down here including on campus.
Sunday was the worst day of the four--Tom had to go home. It's been a week since he left, but it feels like it should've been at least two weeks. Only 12 days till I head home for Whitney's wedding and get to see him again, though. So excited!
Allyson
