WHERE TO STAY:You can sleep in an
old Pullman train car with a deluxe
bath at the famousChoo Choo Hotel
a former beaux artsâstyle railroad
station (from $150; choochoo.com).
Employees at theCrash Pad an
upscale hostel are certified experts
on climbing and just about everything
else youâd want to do outdoors ($85
for a private room and bath; crashpad
chattanooga.com).
WHERE TO EAT:For an open-kitchen
rustic-Italian experience in one of
Chattanoogaâs beautiful old brick
buildingsAlleia offers hand-dipped
ricotta bruschetta with truffle honey
and a great prosciutto pizza
(alleiarestaurant.com).Main Street
Meats a former butcher shop serves
up one of the best burgers in the
southeast plenty of surprisingly
good veggie options and killer
lemon-lavender cake (mainstreetmeat
schatt.com).The Flying Squirrel Bar
offers small plates (shoyu ramen)
and quirky cocktails (She Still Thinks
I Carrot) for the younger late-night
crowd (flyingsquirrelbar.com).
WHAT TO DO:Head over to the
SouthsideâsCycle Sport Concepts
for high-end mountain bike rentals
($60 per day) and trail beta (csctenn
.com) then drive a short ways to
Raccoon Mountain where nearly 30
miles of intermediate and advanced
singletrack await. For a unique view
of downtown stop byL2 Outside to
rent a standup paddleboard (from
$30 per hour) and take it out on the
Tennessee River â itâs just a mile
upriver to Audubon Island a 19-acre
wildlife sanctuary only minutes from
the heart of the city.
C H AT TA N O O G A
ESSENTIALS