Lookout Mountain, Tennessee

Yesterday the boys and I ventured out to Lookout Mountain.  It's part of the Cumberland Plateau, which is part of the Appalachian Mountains.  We visited three separate attractions in the area- Ruby Falls, Rock City, and the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway.  We really enjoyed our time together - we give this "field trip" two thumbs up!!!

First stop...Ruby Falls

We started out by descending 260 feet into the mountain by elevator (right under this "cavern castle"!)  By the end of the cave path, we were standing in front of Ruby Falls, 1120 feet underground!!!!

Complete with music and a light show :-)

It's hard to capture in pictures just how cool it is...

The whole experience was breathtaking...

Look, Bacon!

 A donkey!

The boys asked great questions and were really into learning more about how Ruby Falls was discovered!

Thank you Mr. Leo Lambert for discovering this gem!

Wow!

Next stop...Lookout Mountain Incline Railway

Riding "America's Most Amazing Mile"

Aaron was amazed at the steep grade of the track (72.7% near the top!!!)

Eek!  It was a long way down...

Waiting to go back up...

WooHoo!

On top of the world!

Last Stop...Rock City

Rock City is a botanical and geological wonderland!!!  We saw many ancient rock formations, over 400 native species of plants and trees and walked along the Swing-a-Long Bridge!!!

We'd come here every day if we could!

Mushroom Rock

Getting fancy!

Brotherly love

Lovers Leap

The Swing-a-Bridge...it spans 180 feet

We made it!

Taking a break to smile for his mama!

That's a big rock!

Helping the delicate balance...

Fairyland

The gnomes were making moonshine!

Crazy cool!

What a view!!!  We could see 7 states, 1700 feet above sea level!

The seven flags of the seven states

As if we weren't high enough, Braden decided to do a little extra climbing!  He was able to ring the bell at the top!

We really loved this part of our journey!