The Chattanooga Choo-Choo
by Eleanor S. Morris

Romantics of any age love the romance of the rails, and since the 1940s, Glenn Miller's lilting song, Chattanooga Choo-Choo, has been a classic railroad tune. And where else but Chattanooga, Tennessee, can you see the engine, and, spend a night or more in one of the cars of the train that inspired Miller's musical genius?

The first train arrived in Chattanooga from Cincinnati on December 1, 1909, when half the thrill of a journey was being able to travel on a train. Back then, how else could you move around America in comfort?

Chattanooga Choo-Choo Holiday Inn is a 24-acre mini-city. The hotel is set in the 1909 train station, with the lobby underneath a free-standing 85-foot dome. And you can choose to stay in one of the 363 guest rooms and suites--or spend the nights in a Chattanooga Choo-Choo sleeper car! 48restored passenger cars are now decorated in Victorian style, with queen beds and day beds for single or several guests. Drapes pull across the train windows on both sides of the long room, and the ceiling arches overhead--well, it's a regular train car, of course.

Many other things to do are on site until you're ready to disembark and see something of the city. You can pretend to be the conductor of the engine resting on Track 29, you can shop for anything from salt-water taffy to hand-blown glass, railroad lanterns or old-time photos in the group of specialty shops just steps from your sleeper car.

Sip your favorite beverage in the Wabash Cannonball Club Car or in the romantic Victorian lounge. Step aboard a Victorian dining car for an intimate, yet formal, dinner. Be more casual in the 1930's Cafe specializing in gourmet espressos and cappuccinos and desserts. For great food and entertainment, there's also the Station House Restaurant with waitresses and waiters waiting to perform for you.

Among other packages, the hotel offers a Romantic Getaway: one night's accommodations with a bottle of champagne in your room, a gift box of gourmet chocolates, a Long Stem Rose Breakfast for Two, two complimentary beverages in an lounge, and tickets to the 3,000 square foot automated Model Railroad Museum, one of the world's largest. (For more hotel information:1-800-TRACK 29; www.choochoo.com)

For the adventure to continue, hop aboard the electric shuttle bus for a quick ride to Chattanooga's downtown attractions. Get off at River Place, on the banks of the Tennessee River, and check out colorful restaurants and shops there. Be sure to spot the railroad tracks on the brick pavement, sporting Chattanooga Choo-Choo lyrics on the bricks between the cross-ties.

Then flit over to the famous Tennessee Aquarium, the world's largest freshwater aquarium, featuring more than 9,000 animals that swim, fly or crawl. The aquarium takes visitors all the places that a river goes, from small mountain streams all the way to the sea. You'll feel like you're voyaging from the Tennessee River's source in the Appalachian high country through its midstream, to the Mississippi Delta. From there, it's out and away to the great rivers of the world in Africa, South America, Siberia and Asia.

Next door, the Tennessee Aquarium Imax Theater, in a massive six-story building, boasts that it's the largest in the world. The technically advanced 3D cameras, rolling loop projector, special polarized glass and large film format present programs such as "Into The Deep" and "Space Station."

For a grand finale to your carefree getaway, go on over to Coolidge Park on the river and ride on a wild tiger or a leaping frog on the famous 3-row vintage carousel, built in 1895. The carousel's been lovingly restored and fitted with 52 spectacular animals carved and painted by local and out- of-town sculptors, all students of Horsin' Around, a year- round carousel animal carving school in Chattanooga.

Related Pages:

>more on romantic getaways in Tennessee