Chattanooga, TN

As we continued east, we decided to spend a few days in the Chattanooga area. In total, we spent five days in the general area. Like Austin and most big cities, we ended up bouncing around Chattanooga and the smaller towns around it.

Chattanooga itself reminded us of old Austin. Everybody was very nice and we were given the impression that it’s a very laid back city. Ben said it made him think of Austin in the 90s, when the 78704 vibe covered the whole city. I went to a Dick’s Sporting Goods while we were there, and as I was walking out a gentleman stopped me to ask about my Longhorn shirt. Turns out he and his wife had moved to Chattanooga just a few weeks before for work. They also said it was similar to Austin, but cheaper, and they see a lot of Texans out here.

We didn’t eat out as much while here because we were testing out Walmart’s new app for grocery pick up. It’s quite convenient for us in that we can use it as a grocery list and add to it as we run out of things, and once we’re ready we can hit ‘Order’ and pick it up at a store of our choice. No more forgetting things at the store! Well, no more forgetting food and some household items at least. Friday night when we arrived we did try a small Mexican food restaurant called El Monterrey on the northwest side of town. The food was good, inexpensive, and the waiter made excellent suggestions. For a last minute, late dinner, it ended up being perfect for us. And it was conveniently located right next to a Walmart. :)

On our last night in town, we were at Starbucks working on the blog when we were approached by a young gentleman named Angelo Thomas. He had noticed our Pleasure-Way Pleateau XLMB outside and wanted to ask us about it. Angelo is also trying to transition into the vandwelling lifestyle. He said that he has been looking up ideas to transform his truck into something more comfortable so that he, too, can live on the road. We spoke with him for the better part of an hour, and learned that he is a musician in the Chattanooga area that one day hopes to become the Mayor of Chattanooga. His desire to vandwell in his truck is so that he can tour the country to experience different cities and styles of governing. He hopes one day to bring his experience back to Chattanooga and apply it to better his home city. I wish Mr. Thomas the best of luck, and am grateful that we got to meet someone as excited about life as him. It’s not everyday you get to meet someone that is genuinely excited about his city and helping it become even better.