4-15-17  to borrow the phrase from Angie, "Chew Chew and Choo Choo":

We've been trying to meet up with Tim and Faith, and Angie and Josh once a month for brunch.  Chattanooga is almost the halfway point for each of us, so today we did our April meet up.  Usually we ride with Angie and Josh, but they were in Chattanooga for the last couple of nights while Josh was there for work.  So Ken and I drove ourselves and made a day of it.  We left a bit early, so took a different route there.  This route took us through the country up to I-75 about 30 miles from Chattanooga.  I enjoyed the scenic ride.
Well, mostly scenic route!  This section of highway 20 was a bit chaotic.  Was really happy when they finished the part of Highway 20 closer to our apartment, but now we get to contend with this construction near Cumming.  Still beats taking I-85 to I-285 to I-75!

 Getting into the hills of North Georgia.

Going through the town of Ball Ground.  We've heard this is a really good burger joint.  Will have to stop there some day.

 Momma tiny house and her baby tiny houses.

 getting into the mountains of N. Georgia.

 love country churches.

 Carter Lake ?  Looked really pretty --- also looks like it's water level is low.  Don't know how normal that is since we've only been here a year, but the lakes sure do seem to be really low for Spring!

 love all the scenic farmlands.

 especially with the fields covered in wild flowers.

 or colorful weeds?!

 and dilapidated barns.

 We even came across Elvis!!!!

 The restaurant the girls chose this time was the Frothy Monkey---or something like that.   I was always curious about the Chattanooga Choo Choo, so was pleasantly surprised when I saw the restaurant was actually in the old train station!  We parked in the garage ($4 for the day) across the street from the station and walked over to the restaurant.

 Bet this place was a bustling hub back in the day!

 Love the grand foyer.

 The kids were all there waiting for us.  It was an interesting restaurant where you order your food at a counter and they bring it to you when it's ready.  I got a kick out of our order marker.

 We had an enjoyable visit and pretty good food.  I had a corned beef and sauerkraut sandwich.  Most everyone else had biscuits and gravy.  Not the best food I've ever had, but the ambience, service, and company was great. 

 Back to the grand entrance.

 the ceiling.

 another restaurant/cafe in the station.

 Of course we had to go check out the Chattanooga Choo Choo!

 Faith on the Choo Choo.

 They even have a cafe car and a gift shop.  Didn't get to go into the cafe car, but did check the gift shop out.  It had some rather interesting stuff in it!

 on the other side of the train tracks were a bunch of paintings. 

 got a kick out of the photo Faith took of herself while I took the one of her above.

 Another of the paintings.

 and another.  Sort of reminded me of Wynwood Walls in Miami.

 side of the train.

 Faith on the Choo Choo again.  Everyone else had gone the other way.  They apparently found train cars that are made into hotel rentals.  Not sure I'd care to stay there where people are wandering around outside my room all day and trying to peek in!

 Train stuff----

 even the clock was cute.

 And the kids' portrait from this excursion----

 Proof that we were all here.

 more proof.

 a couple more pictures around the grounds.

It was a fun, but relatively short visit.  But we're heading to Tim and Faith's in a couple weeks to pet sit for a few days.  And we'll see Angie and Josh tomorrow (Easter) for dinner and dominoes---Sunday Social with them and our new friends, Jeff and Julia, and Heather.  But until then---time to go play tourist some more!
So we rode back into the mountains and took a long way home---by way of Amicalola Falls.  We first saw that falls when we were coming home from the cabin weekend last month, but it was still winter then---actually had snow that morning.  It was cold, cloudy, and very little greenery, but still impressive.  Now that Spring has sprung, I was ready to see it again----click here to follow us on to Amicalola Falls!