Saturday, 13 August 2005.  Trenton, GA to Roanoke, Virginia

While I was up and out of the room by my usual 6:30-7:00 am, Mike slept late, and we did not get on the road until nearly 9:30 am.  The morning was damp and foggy -- and a day where mountaintop viewing was likely to be blocked by clouds.  But we set out for Lookout Mountain taking SR 136, then the Lookout Mountain Scenic Highway (SR 189). on the fringes of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park -- the first and largest of the four National Military Parks.  On these fields and hills, Union and Confederate armies clashed during the fall of 1863 in some of the hardest fighting of the Civil War. The prize was Chattanooga, key rail center and gateway to the heart of the Confederacy.   Lookout Mountain was key to the Confederate defenses with its commanding view of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River valley.  The trip to the top of the mountain took us along a ridge which apparently is a favorite of hang gliders.  Much of the mountain itself appears to be developed and has been incorporated as the City of Lookout Mountain, GA.

After coming down off the mountain, we get on I-75 and then I-81 north.  I've been on I-81 many times, but not in the last few years.  It has become a much more busy highway.  I remembered it pleasantly as an easy and beautiful ride.  But it's now, quite obviously, a major north-south trucking route.

We stop in Roanoke, VA for the night.  After a brief rest, head into the city for dinner.  I remember Roanoke as a sleepy factory town, with almost no nightlife.  But "old" downtown  now has a vibrant few blocks of restaurants, galleries, museums and shops.  Lots of motorcycles about.  Had o.k. pub fare at a pleasant local bistro.