Chattanooga: Not Just For Rednecks!

Wednesday was our final day in Chattanooga. We spent the entire day downtown at the Creative Discovery Museum. When we first walked in, I had my doubts about it. I thought we had wasted our money because it didn't look like it had much to offer. Boy was I wrong. The displays were not as spread out as at our Children's Museum in Greenville, but as a whole, they seemed to be more age appropriate and interesting for the ages of my children. We stayed until half an hour before closing time and even then, we had to beg the boys to leave.
There were so many wonderful exhibits. The first area was all about water. The boys got to don fisherman-appropriate clothing and hone their skills for a future on Deadliest Catch. Or maybe they'll be shrimp boat captains. Cutest dang fishermen I've ever seen.


The boat had several levels, and at the top it turned into a climbing playground contraption. Nathanael is typically very fearful of climbing apparatuses. Once upon a time, he climbed to the top of a Chick-fil-A playground and refused to come back down. He camped out in a corner and cried and cried and cried. My good visiting teacher happened to be there at the time also and offered to climb up and bring him down. I let her. And she earned angel wings that day, because when she brought him back down we realized he was so scared that he pooped his diaper while he was up there. But, I digress. At the museum, Paul assisted him in climbing around and he did just fine.
Next we moved on to the water area. Sam decided it was a much better water area than in Greenville. It was all about rivers. Paul demonstrated how river locks work and there was a drawbridge and much more.
But the fun had just begun! There was a section all about dinosaurs and I dare say that the cutest fishermen in the world would make even cuter paleontologists!


There was even fun to be had atop the roof! There they had several displays of simple machines. But it was kinda hot and the real fun was yet to be had back inside.
The boys' favorite exhibit, by far, was Bob the Builder. You should have seen Nathanael's face when he got to put on a tool belt and hardhat! Oh wait, you can see it!
He carried around those tools for HOURS! No kidding. Lunchtime came and he was wearing his tool belt and hardhat. We decided to take the shuttle back to the hotel for some lunch. Then we went back to the museum for more Bob the Builder time. It was a great, great day for the boys. They even had a "kitchen chemistry" class that Sam was able to attend and a story time, complete with puppets that the boys got to assist with.
We really enjoyed our vacation in Tennessee this summer and can't wait for our next adventure!