Chatting in the Nooga

 Next up was Chattanooga! This was a breath of much needed fresh air after the Jefferson stop over. Literally too many coffee shops to see in a week so we stayed extra.

 

 Quick interlude

There was actually a forced break for us between Jefferson and Chattanooga; we caught Covid from a doctor appointment and were grounded for 2-3 weeks quarantining. Luckily our symptoms were super mild. The two worst parts were fatigue and isolating. You don't realize how much you take for granted even going to the store... also we are lucky we didn't catch it until so late in the game. The world is literally set up for isolation now. We ordered meals and groceries online and had zero contact with workers when we picked it all up, it's nice knowing we didn't spread to even a single person. Suck it covid, you chose the wrong hosts!

End of interlude

 

So Chattanooga was our welcome back into the world. I'll think of it fondly forever just because of how happy I was to be out and about again!

So the first thing is that Chatt is a surprisingly big city. Like, I know it's the 4th largest in TN, but I couldn't believe how big the downtown area is. Especially after Jefferson, we forgot what big cities feel like. What's the most defining thing about a "big city"? No parking. Anywhere. And the tiny bit of parking you do find you have to pay for. And on the weekend, just give up. Weekends they charge you full price, even if you only park like an hour. We found some free places (protip: google knows everything, even where to park free!). But... Chatt isn't one of those "planned" big cities, roads go wherever they feel like going. So we promptly lost the car the second we walked away from it.  Luckily we got an upgrade for the car while here (Christmas gift from my brother) so our phones could navigate us right to it. Hands down best upgrade so far and it paid for itself immediately in all the free parking we got 😁 

Our first night we found a place called State of Confusion. Initially parking was a huge state of confusion and we circled the place like 3 times. I used Map's satellite view to find a parking lot close by, and it turned out that lot was specifically for the restaurant! We went to State of Confusion like 5 more times while in town. Half the times because the food was amazing, half the time because we didn't have to fight parking. But seriously, their pecan-crusted chicken has to be the best form of chicken I've ever had. Ever. I cannot say enough how life changing this dish was. I'll be back, SoC, I will be back.

We also went to a place called Taconooga, which deserves a mention just for the name! We tried fried cactus here. Weeeeeird. It was really good, a lot softer than I was expecting but also a lot tougher than it looks. Was delicious, 10/10 would eat again! I took a picture of the mountain of nachos but didn't get one of the fried cactus, but don't worry I googled some for you.

 

One of the best parts of Chattanooga is how everything is named with some variation of "Chatt" or "Nooga". Great town culture, never change haha

Homemade Taco Bell Crunch Wrap Supremes, Evan is a great cook and this experiment was a resounding success

Favorite Places (thanks to my bro for most of the recommendations):

State of Confusion - get the pecan crusted chicken, it's hands down the best thing on the menu, in any restaurant, anywhere

Sushi Nabe - super legit sushi found here, 10/10! Not sure about the rest of the food, but definitely get sushi here

Totto - legit hibachi steak

Mad Mug - coffee shop, all the chairs were padded so that was a nice plus for sure

Frothy Monkey - nice upstairs seating for coffee, didn't really try the food. Free parking is on the street a few blocks away, but there are a few lots closer and a parking garage too. Also you can see the Chattanooga Choo Choo if you walk to the bathroom

 Stone Cup - neat coffee place, nice upstairs seating and they have their own parking which is a big plus. Great view of the river out the window too

Still to see:

The Naughty Cat Cafe (not a strip club!) - Cat cafe where you can go and play with 50 cats while you chill with coffee