12/17/2011
Rock City is aptly named for its spectacular rock formations, which reach their peak at Lookout Mountain. Miles outside of town we started seeing plain, black billboards with the words SEE ROCK CITY in white, boring-looking capital letters. It’s strangely good marketing.
(Speaking of billboards, we often see strange ones on our travels. Our favorite for this region was for Farmer and Fox, attorneys at law. If Beatrix Potter needs a lawyer, she’ll know who to call. Oh, and guys – you can’t all be the world’s largest fireworks store.)
We finally reached Lookout Mountain around 7pm. Usually it closes at dusk, but they decorate with lights for Christmas and stay open late this time of year. We expected Lookout Mountain to be similar to a state park, but it’s a highly organized tourist facility. It was extremely crowded and we had to stand in line for a long time. Since this was the Saturday night before Christmas this shouldn’t have been too surprising. Like all good mommies, Laura was so concerned over making sure the kids had everything they needed for the trip (aka “The Flight into Egypt”) she forgot her own coat. Of course, there were plenty of kiosks more than willing to sell her one.
Despite the crowds, by overhearing conversations it seemed most of the people were locals. A guy behind us in line was desperately trying to impress a girl on their first date. I accidentally ran over the foot of the ticket-taker with the stroller (aka “The Hummer”), but he was good-humored about it. He said he was hoping to get hurt so he could go home early. Even though we were swimming in a sea of people the atmosphere was nice and comfortable.
Once we got our tickets we were led along a walkway, passing the rock formations illuminated by Christmas lights. It was tough getting through with the kids. One of the passages – “Fat Man’s Squeeze” – was apparently named after me. Not for the claustrophobic.
At the top of the mountain is the piece de resistance where you can see seven states at once. Even in the dark it is an incredible view. Philip was amazed. He kept pointing into the distance exclaiming “Oooh!” There’s also a 90-foot high waterfall we stood at the top of. I’m not afraid of heights, but Philip’s fearlessness near the edge made me tighten my grip on him. He was never in any real danger, but when I think about the possibilities it makes my skin crawl even as I type this sentence.
Along the way there were brief stopping points – some of them kind of odd. (“Oh man! I’m halfway up this mountain now. If only I had some kettle corn.”) At one stop a brass band was playing Christmas carols, with kid volunteers chosen to “guest conduct.” Elves and gnomes were placed within crystal caverns and a vaguely human-shaped rock formation was dressed up as a snowman. (Daniel found this particularly funny.)
I must make note of the Nativity scene about halfway through the walk. The display was one of the humbler ones, but it was accompanied by a recorded narration declaring Jesus Christ as the most important man who ever lived. Non-aggressive, but self-confident, I think it would cause anyone to pause in the middle of all the gingerbread houses and Santas.
By far the kids’ favorite display was a representation of fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters. I sometimes forget how quickly they’re growing up and how more active their imaginations are now. They recognized many of the characters from their story books and were excited to see them “come to life.” I do have to talk to Daniel about women though. In “fairy tale land” there was a “mommy” and “baby” pig family. Since he saw them, Daniel has started pointing at Laura screaming, “Oink! Oink! Mommy! Oink! Oink! Mommy!”
If I were a real fuddy-duddy I would say all this “noise” somewhat distracted from the natural beauty of the mountain. However, like I said, most of the visitors seemed to be locals and the Christmas lights is probably a nice tradition to remind them of the landmark they – like all people who lived near anything precious – sometimes forget about.
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