This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Groupon Getaways. All opinions are 100% mine.
In March I visited Chattanooga, Tennessee with Scarlette and two of my girlfriends for a little girl’s getaway trip with Groupon Getaways. Except we also had children with us. HASHTAG MOM LIFE. We stayed at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel and spent a few days sightseeing in the city. One of our favorite spots was Coolidge Park.
You can actually ride the shuttle to the end of the line and then walk across the Walnut Street pedestrian bridge spanning the river to get to the park. You know, if you are not a person who is slightly terrified of bridges. Particularly bridges over water. 
You can also drive across the river to reach the park. OR YOU CAN DO WHAT I DID. Which was force my best friend to drive us over the river while I sat in the backseat with my eyes squeezed shut listening to Scarlette squeal “YAY WE GOIN OBER DA WATER! I WUV BWIDGES!”
(When I shared about this on instagram a ton of y’all were like “Oh I love jogging over that bridge!” and then I was like “STOP IT RAT NAO, OVERACHIEVERS OF BRAVERY.”)
In the middle of Coolidge Park is an antique carousel that is over 100 years old and I knew that I wanted to take Scarlette on it before our trip was over. She was absolutely enchanted by it. 
She may also have been losing her britches at that point. This is what happens when you are four years old and wear a size 18 month pants but your mother just really keeps trying to make a 2T happen.
In fact, when we were getting our tickets the sweet lady operating the carousel told me that kids 2 and under were free. And I thought she was referring to Tiffani’s baby so I handed her the money for our tickets. Then she gave it back to me and waved towards Scarlette and said that I didn’t need to pay for her tickets because of her age. And then I was like “No wait, she’s not 2. She’s 4!” It always catches me slightly off guard when people think she is so much younger because while I know that she is very small, she just looks so big to me! 
She loved the carousel and every time we went around and spotted Tiff and Laura Anne she would yell “AUNT TIFF! AUNT LAURA! LOOK AT ME ON DIS HORSE!” 
It was only $1 a ride so it was a really fun and inexpensive activity. I’d highly recommend it if you’re traveling with kids, even if you’re just driving through it’s a great place to stop and picnic. Scarlette loved it. 
She was also very enthusiastic and slightly confused about the large blue Rhinoceros sculpture. 
The park is full of great places to ride bikes, canoe, picnic, and even rock climb. It was a beautiful day when we went (albeit a little bit windy on the water.) 
My friend Tiffany of Stuff Parents Need lives in Chattanooga so she gave us some recommendations of places to see and where to eat.
A couple of streets over from the park was a tiny little tucked-away cafe called Milk and Honey. Make this a priority for breakfast. Tiffany told us that it was a local favorite and it was our absolutely favorite meal of the entire trip. In fact, we’ve texted one another several times since wondering if we should make another day trip to Chattanooga solely for their biscuits and burnt sugar lattes.
We also stopped at Warehouse Row on Market Street to do some shopping, which was a great stop because it was full of cute shops, coffee shops and good food. I also loved all the urban work areas sprinkled throughout because I am a girl who likes to work in cute places when I need to concentrate. People in coffee shops I can drown out, a chatterbox four year old I can not, mostly because if I try she starts climbing on my back yelling “MOMMY! MAMA! CAN YOU HEYUH ME?” 
Also, all of these stores were all about giving us free treats while we shopped. Um, sure I’ll have a cupcake, Anthropologie, and also everything on that back wall in the kitchen section, thanks.
One of the things I loved about Chattanooga was that most of the places we ate had a locally sourced menu. Warehouse Row houses a restaurant called Tupelo Honey Cafe that was super good. (And coming soon to Atlanta, y’all!)
We had also bought a Groupon to go on a sight-seeing cruise on the Tennessee River in a riverboat. I know. I hate boats. But I thought it would be fun for Scarlette (although likely incredibly anxiety inducing for me.) Unfortunately it was canceled the day we had planned to go so I tucked them away to take Scarlette and my niece up for her birthday this summer.
We ended up taking to Scarlette to a few other attractions the city offers for families and it was so great to spend the weekend together in such a fun city. We had a wonderful time visiting Chattanooga!
(More from our trip here: Visiting Chattanooga- The Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel & Where To Eat)
