Home Away From Home

After living in Chattanooga for 30 years, I married my childhood friend and moved to my birthplace of Murray Kentucky four-and-a half-years ago. At first, my visits to Chattanooga was to take care of my mother when she was ill, or being at her funeral and then short weekend visits to see family, but this time Hubby and I actually got to “vacation” in the wonderful city of Chattanooga.

After living in our small Mayberry-esque town, I do not miss the traffic and ‘busy-ness’ of the city, but oh how I love the majestic beauty and the fabulous people!

We headed down on a Thursday and arrived in four hours. We stopped at Urban Stack for a phenomenal burger and I hoped to walk across the Walnut Street Bridge. After the drive, Hubby thought it would be better for me to drive since I had lived here for so long (and he wanted to catch up on sports scores and facebook).

Left on my own to remember how to get around downtown was not going well for me. I have no problem admitting I am directionally challenged. It makes life interesting and God and I usually make a game of it… but after a long drive, I was a bit frustrated that I could not get around construction on one end of the bridge and forgot which road led to the other side, so I just headed back to our hotel in Ooltewah to check in.

After a slight nap, we headed to Beef O’ Brady’s where my friends Mary and Chris Jones met up with us for dinner. Mary is my ‘mini-me’ because she has either had areas in her life mimic mine or her interests and mine are so similar it’s uncanny. We went to church together when I was raising my three sons and she is their age. I got to see her sweet babies and our hubbies got to talk while we did a little catching up.

Getting an early start on Friday, I was determined to walk the bridge, so I told Jason I needed him to drive. He used Google directions for our whole trip so I could enjoy and not have to remember roads I used to drive on four-years-ago… I’ve slept since then. We parked behind Good Dog off of Frazier and began our walk.

Now Hubby is not a couch potato, but his exercise consists of walking our three greyhounds up and down our road out in the country. He took off walking fast as if he were ready to get to our destination. “No hon, we don’t take off on this bridge… we stro-o-oll…” I said, as I took pictures and began looking for my plaque Garnet Chapin placed on the bridge during a fund-raising campaign.

I spied two familiar ladies coming toward us, Elaine Boncutter and Betsy Montague. I gave them a hug and introduced them to Jason. It was so good to see them. We continued on and we ‘strolled through the Art District’. Hubby was a trooper. It was hot, but a beautiful walk as always. I planned to do things on this vacation which are dear to my heart and the Walnut Street Bridge and the Art District are two on my list!

That evening we were to go to a dinner party. Two dear friends of mine (more like my sisters) who ARE sisters - Jane Fuller Chastain and Becky Fuller Hansard. Becky took me in her heart when Silverdale Baptist Academy first opened and she gave my twin sons a full scholarship. Becky is the Headmaster. Years later, I met her sister Jane when I went through a terrible divorce and was in need of a job with less stress when I left Memorial. I worked at the family-owned gym “Fit One” owned by Jane and her husband Jerry. They were so good to me while I rebuilt my life.

So over the years, these two sisters have been in my corner, prayed me through hard times and cheered me on in the better times. There is an unexplainable kinship that makes us family. They have followed my posts on facebook and for the last four years they felt like they already knew Jason which made it so much fun. They adopted him as their little brother during this visit. And, I got to meet Becky’s husband Rick who is a marketing exec at Coca-Cola. I felt I already knew him through Becky’s facebook posts – always praising him for his kindness and sweet touches in the ‘little things’ that matter as well as his protective, caring support while she was battling cancer some years ago.

We had a great time sharing and laughing and made plans to go boating with them on Sunday.

For Saturday, a morning hike was planned with my good friends Garnet Chapin and John Wilson who formed ‘the Lookout Hiking Club’ a few years back when I lived here. I emailed John and told him Jason and I would be in town and asked if we might be able to get a hike planned. John got with Garnet and together, they came up with a hike beginning at Craven’s house and ending with a picnic at the old house Garnet just bought.

Chattanooga has been experiencing rain and thunderstorms back to back, so we were afraid that our hike might be rained out, but it was perfect weather! For a mid-July hike, it was fairly cool and the rain held off. I did message my buddy Bill Race and asked him before we headed out if he thought we would get caught in the rain and he said he felt we would be okay, so we proceeded with confidence.

This experience was amazing. Seeing the familiar hikers, hiking the trail on Lookout, and seeing my hubby actually enjoying it! But it touched my heart to see John and Garnet again and for them to meet Jason and for Jason to get to know them. These men have also been very supportive in my life and it meant so much to see them. John’s wife Patsy even came to the meet-up place to give me a hug before we took off. She and I have followed each other on Facebook. Very special people.

After an invigorating hike through the mountain, we met at the very old, historical house Garnet had bought and planned to restore. It was nestled in the woods and very private. The house was built with mountain stone unlike anything you would ever find today. The rock alone impressed me, but the layout was extraordinary. Garnet provided a chicken salad lunch for us and gave a tour through the empty house.

It had a basement, but I didn’t go down the narrow stairs. I walked through the first floor, the second floor and I ventured up to the attic which was as impressive as the rest of the house. The attic had flooring you would not see today in an attic, and it had windows that allowed a nice breeze.

The best part was when we went back outside on the wide open porch under the surrounding stone and listened to Garnet tell the history of the house. As a writer, I have learned that everything has a story and I am always interested to hear what it is, so when I asked Garnet how he acquired the house, he began to tell me the story in his soft, narrative voice, and everyone had gathered around to listen. You could have heard a pin drop as we all held to his every word.

I appreciate these two history-loving men who add depth to my life.  It was a most enriching moment in which I will hold in my heart of treasures.

That Saturday night, Jason and I were to meet my two “bff’s” for dinner at Bonefish. Ron Haley and I have been buddies for 24 years when we both worked at the Metropolitan YMCA. This man has been one of my best friends for many years, encouraging me through career changes and many events in my life. He is definitely a brother in which God blessed me. And Susan Laughrey has been a best friend of mine for almost ten years. Jason and Ron used to run track in their glory days, and my friend Susan is a runner, still running the Peachtree race and she has a passion for running.

It was a good connection. There are times when you meet your spouse’s friends and you either hit it off the way your spouse does or you realize you are only doing it for your spouse, but I knew Jason would definitely mesh with all my friends we had planned to see on this trip. He already met my best buds at different times, but it was good to have dinner to have more time for him to get to know them better.

On Sunday morning, we met with our friends Jane, Jerry, Becky and Rick once again. We went to Becky and Rick’s house and I played with their gorgeous Golden Retriever “Duke” and new rescue “Z”. We followed the couples to Harrison Bay where the boat was docked and threatening weather loomed overhead. We hoped it would hold off until we could zip down Chickamauga and back.

Jane and I sat up front, Becky and Rick were in the middle as Rick steered the boat, and Jason and Jerry took the backseat. The sun peered through dark clouds and Rick drove us over fun waves. We saw glorious scenery and beautiful lake houses along the shore.

When I turned my head, the wind shot my ball cap off of my head and I thought I’d lost it forever, only to turn around and see my quick-handed husband grab it for me. We all cheered!

After reaching Chickamauga with no problems, we decided on the way back to stop in at Dockside Café because the rain was on its way.

As Jason and I chowed down on our Grouper sandwiches, the heavens dropped buckets of rain. It was beautiful to see the rain hitting the water and then subsiding to let us make our get-a-way toward home.

However, just as a joke… God sent more rain to provide even more laughter with our friends. As it began to rain, Jane headed toward the back behind the windshield with the others. They told me to come on back to stay dry, but I said, “Naw, that’s okay… I like adventure!” Rick said, “You like adventure, huh…” and he sped up the boat.

I absolutely loved it! The darting rain stung my face and as I tried to see through my fluttering eyelids, the cool rain wet my whole front side. Rick made sure to hit every wake he could accommodating my wish for adventure. It was so much fun and laughter peeled from the bow of the boat to the ‘dingy’s’ in the back!

We hugged our adoptive family goodbye (though we plan to keep them forever) and we headed to my sister Angie’s house for a ‘pool party’ and to see my son Andrew Carter and his family. We chatted with my brother in-law Jim Fielding until Andrew arrived. Jim builds websites and helped me a lot with my venture with ‘The Murray Mirror’ I attempted last year.

When Andrew came, he brought our grandarlin ‘Ellie Cheyenne’ who is seven and she was ready to swim even though it was sprinkling. The sun came out again and Jason and I swam with them. My sister arrived with grilling steaks and chicken – she is an amazing grill-miester. Our step grandarlins, Lacey and Macey came to see us as well and caught us up on their college-life and future plans. We had a wonderful time with family.

We had planned to leave first thing on Monday morning, but when we heard that my favorite band “As Isaac” was going to be in concert, we decided to stay one more night and my sister Jill and her husband Jeffrey would join us. That would get in all my family visits and all the things on my list.

I needed the day on Monday to recuperate from our packed week of activities, but looked forward to seeing the concert as well as hugging the dear friends who are As Isaac.

We met my sister outside of Calvary Chapel and we hugged, took a few pictures together and waited for the doors to open. Jason and I got to see Jewel Smith who is Zach and Meleah’s mom. Meleah is the manager of the group and Zach is lead male singer. I had written an article about the lead female singer Rachel some years ago, and have been friends with the group ever since. I guess you would say I am a ‘groupie’.

It was a benefit concert to help them heed a calling to go to Maldova. This local Christian group has a heart for missions and serving whether they are led to serve locally or across the nation. Our hearts were stirred while worshipping and praising God with these young people and their efforts and heart for Him and their beautifully written music they performed.

Seeing As Isaac in concert was a fantastic finale to a fantastic trip.

I don’t believe I have ever been so at ease and relaxed on a trip before, but this trip was also fulfilling. I got to be a tourist in my old hometown yet be with great people who are all family. We were excited to get back home to Murray to see our twin sons, our grandarlins, and our seventeen animals; but as much as we truly love home, Chattanooga is our home away from home.

---

jenjeffreybillington@gmail.com