Good morning and hope you are all well rested (and well fed) after the Thanksgiving holidays! I, for one, have probably gained a few pounds from all the eating and drinking we’ve done over the past few days. But it was well worth it.
I don’t typically do weekend recaps on the blog anymore, but since this was quite a jam-packed weekend, I wanted to share some of my highlights!
Ankur and I spent Wednesday-Friday in Chattanooga. It’s about a 3-hour trek from us and we’ve never seen the city before. And, since we didn’t have plans to go home for Thanksgiving since we just saw our families at the wedding, we packed our bags and took a little road trip.
Urban Stack
We got in around lunch time and drove straight to Urban Stack, a burger place in the downtown area. We both got chicken burgers (mine was a “Go Green” burger – which basically just means it’s a lettuce wrap). It looked like a good place to get cocktails, but we stuck with burgers because we knew there was going to be whiskey in the near future.
Whiskey Tour
We did a tour at the Woodford Reserve back in July and learned a whole lot so I figured it’d be fun to do another tour in Chattanooga. I’m not a whiskey girl by any means, but it’s always fun to learn the behind-the-scenes of how everything comes together.
Hot Chocolatier
Right next to Chattanooga Whiskey, there’s an adorable coffee/hot chocolate shop that specializes in all kinds of chocolate. We ordered the white chocolate hot chocolate to share and, holy cow, they made me reconsider my chocolate preferences. I have never been a white chocolate fan before, but when it’s melted down into your hot chocolate and warm and cozy and topped with whipped cream, it’s a game changer!
Ruby Falls
We were originally going to stay away from the tourist attractions. But, considering that this was one of the few things that were actually open on Thanksgiving, we figured we might as well go check it out. I’m so, so happy we did. It’s a 145-foot high underground waterfall that is located within Lookout Mountain. We had to walk about a mile through a cave to be able to see it and it was well worth it.
Rock City
In the evening on Thanksgiving Day, we made our way over to Rock City, another tourist attraction on top of Lookout Mountain. Ankur and I had no idea what we were getting into; we just bought the Rock City and Ruby Falls package because it felt like a pretty good deal. And, again, only two attractions open ON Thanksgiving Day. But, to my surprise, they turn Rock City into an “Enchanted Garden of Lights” in November and December. Christmas lights EVERYWHERE, Christmas music playing throughout the “park,” and nativity scenes all around the area. It was my version of heaven.
Happy Hour at The Social
I feel really jazzed when I see the words “happy” and “hour” together. I’m an avid happy-hour-goer. But, our little town doesn’t really DO Happy Hour. So, when we discovered that Public House, a restaurant near our hotel, had amazing Happy Hour prices, we immediately decided to go there for dinner. $2 tacos? Sign me up.
Thanksgiving Day Feast
Most of Chattanooga was shut down on Thanksgiving Day. But, fortunately, we found a few pubs that were open and decided to do lunch with a side of beer flights. I wouldn’t really imagine that a pub would actually have good FOOD, but we were both impressed with our lunches at Terminal Brewhouse. Ankur got a club sandwich and I got a chicken salad. And then we proceeded to go back to the hotel and watch Friends episodes for three hours. Happy Thanksgiving to us!
Friendsgiving
Normally, we would be pretty bummed about our Thanksgiving feast. But, we knew we’d get some pretty solid Thanksgiving food on Friday at Katy and Gentry’s house for Friendsgiving! I may have had three servings of the green bean casserole. It was such a fun night with my favorite ladies. From ChardonnayGo to dropping it low in the kitchen, it was seriously uncontrollable laughter all night long! I feel so fortunate to have this family away from home.
Meeting up with Blogging Friends
About a year ago, Christina, the blogger behind Hugs and Lattes, and I connected over Instagram when she realized I was currently living in her hometown. How crazy that in a sea of bloggers, I stumble upon a girl who happened to live in this itty-bitty town of Harrogate, TN. I’ve been following her and her Chick-fil-A and newlywed adventures on Instagram, but over the weekend, we decided to switch our friendship from “online friends” to “real life friends.” I loved meeting her and I’m so excited to go visit her and Pai (her husband!) in Johnson City before we leave this area!
Sir Winston Leonard-Spencer Churchill
We got our Christmas tree! His name is Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill. (I like naming my Christmas trees. Take a walk down Christmas tree lane).
Five fun facts about Winny:
- We drove over an hour to pick him up. And then drove an hour and a half on the way back because when you’re driving on the highway with a tree on top of your car, you move a lil slower.
- He’s rocking 5 different Starbucks ornaments.
- He’s going to have a bowler hat as soon as Amazon Prime delivers.
- He was decorated while sipping on tea. This might be the first year where decorating didn’t involve a bottle of wine. #Adulting
- We liked him best because every other Christmas tree was standing straight and upright. While Winston had faceplanted into the grass.
Questions of the Day:
- What did you do for the holidays this week?
- What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food?
Looks like an eventful and fun weekend!! SO encouraging that you can meet up with a blogger friend!!
You had so much more fun than I did over the weekend! I was boring and stayed home. My favorite thanksgiving food is, well, all of it. But i’m a vegetarian so I have tofurky. I do it all again on Christmas Day! I can’t waiiiiit! 🙂
I was so boring too Sam. So boring. Divya’s trip looks like so much fun!
Wow Divya, what a fun trip! Ruby Falls and Lookout Mountain look the perfect touristy thing to do. I used to live in Asheville, NC, so not too far from where you were this weekend. The drive from Chattanooga to Asheville or Johnson City is pretty amazing if you go through the mountains of Western NC.
Very fun to meet an online blogging friend in real life! I’m going to check out her blog right now!
That’s so awesome you grew up in Asheville! We love it there. We’re actually headed there this upcoming weekend if you’ve got any must-see, must-do, must-eat suggestions! 🙂
You’ll have a great time! I didn’t grow up there but I lived there for about 5 years. My husband’s family lives in Hendersonville, NC and we got married down there. It’s beautiful!
I would suggest a drive on the blue ridge parkway and some easy local hiking at Bent Creek. Or you could head to Craggy Gardens if you’re looking for a nice hike with a photo op!
My favorite local brewery is probably Green Man but there are so many local breweries you really can’t go wrong. If the weather is nice grabbing a beer at the Wedge in the River Arts District is a nice way to relax. Or, if you’re into bigger breweries, Sierra Nevada has a large brewery in Mils River, just south of downtown. It’s absolutely beautiful and the foot is delicious too!
As for food, again, it’s hard to choose poorly. Buxton Hall BBQ is the first place that came to mind!
Courtney A. Casto recently posted…How I Blew My Four Day Weekend
Such a fun weekend! I’m glad you took a little trip. The whiskey tour sounds so fun! And your Friendsgiving sounds like a blast as well. I love meeting blogging friends in real life, so I’m so happy you got to meet Christina! And I love that you name your Christmas tree. He looks like a keeper this year for sure!
Beth recently posted…Epic Long Weekend
What a fun weekend! That is awesome that you were able to meet up with a blogger friend in real life!
Emily @ Pizza & Pull-ups recently posted…Thanksgiving weekend recap
Awww, Divya, I love your posts (and your enthusiasm about life in general!) so much. This one made me hella happy 🙂 Also I love a good happy hour, too. $2 tacos!? WUT. Yay for blogger meet-ups and Friendsgivings and laughter and naming your Christmas tree. I have no idea what a bowler hat is. Nope. Just kidding (thanks, Google!). I think Sir Winston Churchill will look smashing with it on 🙂
Hope you have a great week, and a very happy belated Thanksgiving!
Charlotte recently posted…Reverse bucket list
That sounds like an absolute fabulous weekend!
San recently posted…27: Our Thanksgiving
You weren’t kidding when you said you did a lot over the weekend! You went to some amazing places and I love that you met up with a blogger. So cool. Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!!
Yolanda recently posted…The Best Holiday Cookies To Impress Your Loved Ones
When we lived in Tennessee, we LOVED going to Rock City. I used to love seeing all the “See Rock City” billboards with that signature red house on them 🙂 Looks like you had an awesome long weekend. (I had 3 servings of green bean casserole, too!! :))
Corey | The Nostalgia Diaries recently posted…Week 47: Finding Holidays in the Everyday | Everyday Nostalgia
Yay for meeting blogging friends in real life. And I’m glad you had Friendsgiving to attend this year. It sounds like you had a really fun trip; I’m kind of loving the sound of those tourist attractions (especially this time of the year). Love Christmas lights, etc.
And that’s so cool you name your tree! It looks great.
-Lauren
ShootingStarsMag recently posted…Styled Book Review: The Wicker King by K. Ancrum
I had one of the best Thanksgiving holidays yet. My oldest is three now and she’s really starting to get into the holidays. So, that’s fun. I also went to the Bahamas early in the week. That was a first for me. My fave Thanksgiving food is my mom’s dressing. I only eat turkey with her dressing…and I only eat her dressing. I love your post. Hello from Tupelo, MS!
Sounds like a great weekend.
God Bless you and Ankur!! Have a great Holiday season with loved ones.
xoxo
Looks like you had a stunning weekend filled with fun!
That is so cool to meet up with a fellow blogger 🙂
Your tree looks great – we are planning on putting ours up this weekend.
Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend! It’s always fun to meet up with fellow bloggers.
Isn’t it fun getting to meet up with blog friends!?!
Katie recently posted…Reasons to be Grateful
I love your adventurous Thanksgiving! We stayed home and spent time with family.