Chattanooga

Neal and I went on a little "get-a-way" last week to Chattanooga, Tennessee. We left Thursday morning and returned Saturday evening.

It was a business trip for Neal, but I tagged along. He had a class on Friday at TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). While he was there I prepared my Bible study for this Friday, watched a little TV, and then walked about a mile to a nearby shopping center and looked around.

Thursday night Neal and I met up with one of the salesmen (a great guy that lives in Knoxville)at Sticky Fingers -- a barbecue restaurant. It was really good, and we had a nice time talking to Don. After dinner Neal and I went back to the hotel and got in our swim suits and went to the pool. They had a small, but nice, indoor pool, and a hot tub. It was a nice time to relax and talk.

Friday afternoon when Neal returned from his class, we went out exploring the area. We had planned on going downtown, but we ended up staying in the surrounding area where we were staying. We went to several stores and just "window shopped." I did get an early Christmas present. I've been needing and "wanting" a new soup pot ... at least 5 quarts. We found a really nice 8 qt stock pot that has a heavy bottom and a glass lid. I liked it a lot, so Neal went ahead and purchased it for me. I've already made a big pot of soup in it, and it worked great!

We drove around trying to find a good place to eat. Neal would pull up to a restaurant and then one of us would run in and get a "to go menu." We'd look it over and then we'd go on to the next restaurant that caught our eye. We finally settled on Carrabba's Italian Grill. It was an excellent choice! We ate outside, which made it even nicer. The temps were perfect and we had great views of the mountains. I ordered Pollo Rosa Maria and Neal ordered Chicken Marsala. We each ate half of our food and then swapped. They were both good, but we agreed that the Pollo Rosa Maria was the best. Here's the description in the menu:
Grilled Chicken breast stuffed with fontina cheese and prosciutto, topped with mushrooms and a basil lemon butter sauce.
The meals were served with a side dish and a salad or soup of the day. Neal and I both ordered stir fried zucchini and the soup of the day which was a lentil and sausage soup. They also served sliced french bread with a "Italian Butter" that you dipped your bread in. The entire meal was scrumptious and most certainly one of the best meals I've had in a restaurant in years.
After dinner we did some more shopping and then went back to the hotel for more time in the pool and hot tub.
We had a leisurely morning before we drove back home. We got back around 6:30. It ws great spending time with just my husband, and the kids had a blast with their grandparents!