Day 7: Chattanooga to Huntsville, AL

Today we planned to visit Chattanooga, TN and the Chattanooga Choo Choo station museum then head towards Huntsville, AL where we would visit the US Space and Rocket Center tomorrow. That was the plan anyway.

Chattanooga

The iconic Choo Choo sign was installed in 1972.

Chattanooga was a major hub for industrial + passenger railway services in the south during the late 1880s and early 1900s. To accommodate, the Southern Railway began the construction of Terminal Station (now known as the Choo Choo Hotel) in 1906.

Terminal Station was the first train station to connect the north to the south (keeping it incredibly busy), but as the years went on and railway services began to decline, the station was destined to be demolished in the early 1970s.

However, the station was saved by local businessmen who were inspired by the song “The Chattanooga Choo Choo.” After investing more than $4 million, Terminal Station was redeveloped and renamed The Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel in 1973.

The Chatanooga Train Station with its beautiful domed ceiling

“Chattanooga Choo Choo” is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and composed by Harry Warren. It was originally recorded as a big band/swing tune by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra and featured in the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade. It was the first song to receive a gold record, presented by RCA Victor in 1942, for sales of 1.2 million copies.

Time zones in Tennessee

As we came out of the Appalachians travelling southwest out of Chatanooga, we switched time zones to Central Time, totally unexpected! On rethinking the day, the extra hour gave us time to get to the US Rocket and Space Museum in Huntsville and visit it today.

It did throw us off as weren’t expecting it… and means it will get dark earlier. As it turns out, there are two different time zones in Tennessee. The larger western part is in the Central Time Zone, while East Tennessee in the Appalachian Mountains is located, except for three counties, in the Eastern Time Zone.