Chattanooga - Rock City's Enchanted Garden Of Lights

It was a bit drizzly when we arrived at Rock City ~ steady rain was going to come through later that night and we just hoped we could get through the gardens before the rain really hit.

We usually enter Rock City through the main entrance, but they are doing things a bit different now and had us enter in another way. I guess it's a way to get things moving better because it did used to get pretty congested the way they did it before...

They had us enter through this way now...

Something weird happened with my camera, but I got this cool photo...

We were directed to the Fairyland Caverns/Mother Goose Village first. This is usually the last thing we hit in Rock City, so it was a bit weird for us to go through it first. But since we were one of the first ones in there, it made things a bit less crowded...

Smiles heading into the cave...

I love looking at the all the statues going through the cavern...

They added a history of the Fairyland Caverns to the self guided tour...

Mother Goose Village...

Glowing...

We exited the cavern and started walking through the garden of lights...

Photo opp...

The toy soldiers are my favorite part...

The Arctic Kingdom...

Bri was excited to see the polar bears this year (this was new)...

The Ice Queen and Jack Frost were supposed to be in the Arctic Kingdom. But, they had been moved because of the drizzle to dryer land. We caught them at the North Pole Village...

The huge star on the mountain...

North Pole Village...

The gingerbread house, another favorite...

A little full disclosure here. Bri and I got into a small argument at this point. She was getting fussy because of all the picture taking (and I think she was a bit tired). And I got annoyed with her for being fussy about it because I had really pulled myself together to make this trip happy for her (and I was a bit tired - and slightly anxious ~ too). I also tripped over a tree stump right in front of the gingerbread house (landing on my knee), so we both needed a time out.

After a few minutes of breathing and some talking, we both calmed down. Bri got a hot chocolate and I got some water and then all was good again. I mention this because I don't ever want to act like things are always rosy and perfect in our world all the time.

Moving on, the girls spotted this firetruck and wanted a pic...

Moving toy soldier...

Enjoying some hot chocolate...

We stopped in a couple of shops before heading out...

We drove back to the hotel and called it a night. We said our goodbyes that evening ~ Kathy, Matt and Chani headed out early the next morning and we weren't far behind.

It rained all day Sunday (as we were driving home) and I was grateful we got through the trip without hard rain.

I was also grateful that I was feeling good enough to go on the trip. I think it was good for me to get out and have some fun. A big thank you to Kathy, Matt and Chani for helping us get into the Christmas spirit!