See Rock City........or don't...whatever.

One of the best things about living in Atlanta, is the ability to drive to other states in under 2 hours. Our favorites have been The Smokey Mountains in North Carolina and Chattanooga in lovely Tennessee.
Last year we made the drive to Chattanooga with my husband's parents. We went to Ruby Falls and then to the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg. We loved Ruby Falls, and saw all the signs pointing to Rock City.
So, after we returned home, we put Rock City on our list of "to-do's".

I suggested Rock City to my sister, who was looking for a family outing. We looked it up on the Internet (http://www.seerockcity.com/) and got pretty excited about what we were going to see.

It's a pleasant drive to Chattanooga. I hold a special place in my heart for Tennessee. We've had nothing but good experiences there, and it's such a gorgeous state. The Volunteer State.

It's a nice winding drive up Look Out Mountain, with some heart pounding views down the side of the mountain. From the outside, Rock City has all the web site promises.

One adult ticket runs about $18. It's do-able, though I can't imagine many large families can afford the ticket costs. There is one main restaurant at the entrance. The food here...well, maybe I should just say..."don't waste your money". Bring your lunch. We saw one family BBQ-ing out of the back of their truck.

The park is not exactly stroller and wheelchair friendly either. With my 16 month old niece in tow, in her comfy stroller, we were forced to take to the abridged tour of the park. We snuck into some areas were weren't supposed to. We went into the exit of the children's area.

The park's map makes it appear much larger than it actually is. This combined with our tiny tour really just had us frustrated. The spots we did see, like Lover's Leap, were amazing. And from one point you can see all the way to 7 states. I can certainly appreciate the amazing geological oddities, and I snapped quite a few pictures.

The children's area is a different story. This is a cave of scary. I'm an adult and I was disturbed. So I can't imagine what this must look like to children. It was a psychedelic interpretation of all the classic nursery rhymes. Topped off with a strange fairytale castle. Perhaps I'm just California biased when it comes to fairy tales, having lived an hour and a half from Disney Land the majority of my life.

I wouldn't take this particular trip again. I'll head back to Chattanooga. I'll head back to Pigeon Forge. I won't take that twisty trail up Look Out Mountain.

So, in my opinion: "See Rock City.........or don't....whatever.