Four Chattanooga Attractions Worth Exploring: Underground Waterfalls, Classic Cars, American Art and Things That Go Bump in the Night

Years ago, I won a sweepstakes sponsored by the United States Postal Service. It that offered winners the chance to explore different states. My trip was Tennessee, so we headed to the state and toured the Jack Daniel's Distillery. Shortly thereafter, I came down with a horrible cold and couldn’t do much else.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. I was about to change bosses and would soon find myself working for a diabolical micromanager. This should have been a sign, but that’s a story for another day.

What disappointed me the most about the trip was missing Ruby Falls, so it was first on our list of things to do.

Ruby Falls on Lookout Mountain

Ruby Falls was discovered in 1928 by Leo Lambert, but he wasn’t seeking a waterfall. He and his crew were attempting to reopen Lookout Mountain Cave, which had been sealed off in 1905.

While drilling a shaft 260 feet into the mountain, the crew broke through into an unknown cave. The opening was only about 18 inches high, forcing the men to crawl on their hands and knees through narrow, wet passageways.

After hours of exploring in the darkness, they heard the sound of rushing water and discovered the spectacular 145-foot underground waterfall. The entire expedition lasted 17 hours, and Lambert named the falls after his wife, Ruby.

It was an exhausting adventure that led to one of Chattanooga’s best-known attractions. Word had it that Lambert’s clothes smelled so bad after the expedition that his wife eventually burned them.

Today visitors descend 260-foot down into the earth via an elevator before embarking on a guided walk through the cavern to the waterfall. The underground route extends about half a mile with guides pointing out various formations along the way. 

This formation tickled me. It's called “Steak and Potatoes.”

The cave, which maintains a 60-degree temperature year-round is estimated to be millions of years old. The payoff at the end is the waterfall room which changes color and makes for spectacular photos of the 90-foot portion of the falls.

Photo supplied by Ruby Falls.

The Coker Museum

One attraction that doesn’t get as much play in the guidebooks as Ruby Falls is the Coker Museum, located at 1309 Chestnut Street.

The museum is named for Joseph “Corky” Coker, a Chattanooga businessman and passionate collector of vintage vehicles.  Corky’s father founded the Coker Tire Company in 1958, establishing himself as a major supplier of tires for classic and antique cars.

The museum opened at its current location in 2018, bringing Corky’s collection together with the Honest Charley Speed Shop. Charley Card established the first mail-order business specializing in performance auto parts and visitors will see many references to “Honest Charley” throughout the museum. Card earned the nickname while helming a restaurant and trusting people to tell them what they owed. The business eventually closed in 1990 and Coker acquired the property.

The museum is self-guided, with QR codes providing additional information throughout the shop.

The museum also has an active restoration shop where they work on vintage vehicles like the one below. I’ve been to many automobile museums but have never seen one quite like this 1951 Ford custom show car. It's often referred to as “The Shoebox” due to its boxy design. Another name is “The Golden Dream,” which I prefer.

Below are two different cars from very different eras.

I also enjoyed the variety of Coca-Cola memorabilia scattered throughout the museum.

The Hunter Museum of American Art

For those who like art, The Hunter Museum of American Art is a must-visit.

The museum opened in 1952 as Chattanooga’s first permanent art museum, occupying the former Faxon-Hunter mansion overlooking the Tennessee River. The mansion was built for Ross Faxon, an insurance broker, and designed by Abram Garfield, the son of President James Garfield.

In 1920, Anne Taylor Thomas, the widow of a Coca-Cola bottling pioneer, purchased the home. Her nephew, George Thomas Hunter, eventually led the operation, later establishing the Benwood Foundation, a charitable trust. After his death, the Chattanooga Art Association approached the foundation about donating the mansion for an art museum. The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, visitors will see three distinct architectural eras: the 1904 Garfield mansion, the 1975 Brutalist-style wing, and the Stout expansion, completed in 2005.

It sits on an 80-foot bluff overlooking the Tennessee River and houses approximately 3,000 works of American art. The combination of historic architecture, modern design and its impressive art collection makes it well worth a visit.

The museum had a few pieces painted by Grandma Moses, like this one.

An art vending machine was located in the gift shop. Visitors could purchase art from the machine on their way out.

The Murder and Mayhem Tour

The spooky fun starts in the shop as guests wait.

Any city worth its salt has good ghost tours from which to choose. I always enjoy walking with a group at night to see various areas we perhaps didn't see during the day. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, you'll at least get the lay of the land better and learn a few historical tidbits along the way.

Our guide was an excellent storyteller.

The tour is operated by Chattanooga Ghost Tours and begins at 57 E. Fifth Street downtown. A helpful tip: Visitors must go to the back of the building and into the shop to check in.

Owner Amy Petulla hits upon a few highlights: "If you join the tour, you'll not only hear about the famous ghost of the Read House, but also the story of the spirits haunting underground Chattanooga, the ghosts who occasionally appear for photos at the old sanitarium, and maybe even the story of Chattanooga's own Bible-thumping version of Medea!'

Below are a few photos of the those who visited the Read House. Some still return.

Good Eats

During our first night we ended up at Aleia’s, a beautifully decorated restaurant that seemed promising.

Aleia's was beautiful though.

I wish I could recommend it, but my dish was so salty that I wouldn’t return, despite the positive reviews on Yelp. Perhaps it was just an off night.

A more modest place made up for it the following day. Puckett's restaurant was founded in the 1960s, so it has served many people throughout the years. The chicken salad was delicious--they sure know how to make a good chicken salad in the south. And the red beans and rice was the best I’d ever had.

Puckett's makes an outstanding chicken salad and red beans and rice.

I can also recommend Wooden City, where everything from the lemon drop martini to the steak frites and the stuffed Hungarian peppers were all excellent. The meal was a hit from start to finish.

As it stood, we left with a few good meals, plenty of photographs and quite a bit of history without an overly packed itinerary. If we decide to ever return, we’ll add Rock City and the well-regarded aquarium to our list.