I just returned from a 4-day holiday weekend with my daughter. We stayed in downtown Chattanooga, TN over Thanksgiving – and had an absolute blast!
We kicked it off with the well known Chattanooga dinner cruise on the Southern Belle Riverboat.
The “Thanksgiving on the Pier” special included a beautiful traditional holiday spread with live entertainment, and a one-hour tour down the Tennessee River and back.
The holiday special was only around $30 per adult, and included all-you-can-eat dinner & dessert – plus the one hour cruise on the Southern Belle Riverboat. Definitely a good deal! And it was a perfect day for it, with lots of sunshine and temps in the 60’s.
After enjoying your meal on the 2nd floor of the boat at the pier, you could go upstairs and play Wii or darts or just lounge around in the “family room” until the Southern Belle arrived. It was set up very nicely with big comfortable chairs and couches, games and televisions, and a bar where you could grab an ice cold coke or a glass of wine.
Annie and I decided to play a couple rounds of Cricket. I beat her of course. I used to compete. 😉
I was surprised at how many people were on board on Thanksgiving Day. From couples to entire families & groups. And many people from out of state, as far away as Florida even. We had a really good time, and non-traditional as it was… it was a great way to shake things up and try something new for the holiday!
We rode at on the top level at the front of the boat for the cruise, and enjoyed every minute of it. They were serving hot mulled apple cider and irish creme coffee, and like I said – the weather was absolutely perfect.
You can check it out at www.ChattanoogaRiverBoat.com. They have dinner cruises, daily lunch cruises, scenic tours, holiday specials, and even host special events (reunions, weddings, etc).
This is DEFINITELY something we’ll do again! 😀
I hope you had a fun and memorable Thanksgiving as well. I would love to hear how you spent yours! And how you did with all those tempting food choices around… 😉
L.M. says
I want to hear about the Mystery Dinner Theater. I would love to experience one of those.
A few on my family members have been to the Mystery Dinner Theater at the Belleview-Biltmore Hotel in Clearwater (has been closed for supposed restoration). The hotel was built by Henry Plant and is one of the largest wooden structure in the world. It has even been on one of those haunted hotel shows….
Lynn Terry says
That sounds like fun! Any idea when it reopens?? I wrote a new post about the Murder Mystery Dinner here: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/2296/murder-mystery-dinner/ π
L.M. says
No, the restoration of the hotel is up in the air. Even as a historical site, it seems that the future of it is in question. It has changed owners/investors so many times already.
I just found this cool link http://www.spiritsofbelleviewbiltmore.com/blog/
The heart tree is pictured on this page: http://www.spiritsofbelleviewbiltmore.com/acajoom/mailing-view/8.html
My sister and her husband got married at that hotel in 2008, outside under the heart-shaped tree. They got the unofficial “ghost tour” in the middle of the night one year they visited. The 4th or 5th floor, which was closed off, was where they did the tour. I snuck up to one of those floors during a quick visit that I made there and the air was so heavy feeling that it gave me the creeps….lol.
The rest of the hotel is so neat. Huge ballrooms, Victorian stained glass windows, etc. Walking through you can just picture the big ballroom dances they must have had in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s. The whole place is made out of wood. The wood floors still look good, but they creak…..lol.
Thanks for the post on the Mystery Dinner. Off to read it now…
Lynn Terry says
That sounds really cool! If they ever do reopen it, I would love to go! π