Here we go again! Another North Carolina trip report...

   When they say steep, they mean steep...

   At this point, we're almost to the summit of Lookout Mountain. You can see the mountaintop station in the distance.



Getting closer...




... and closer...



... we're almost there...



... and, we have arrived!

Thanks, Bob.  I haven't been on the Incline in a couple of decades, but that was almost like taking the ride all over again.

   The mountaintop station has a tri-level observation deck that allows for some spectacular views of the Chattanooga area. It's said that on a clear day you can see seven states from up there.








Here's the entrance to the upper station. There's a sizable residential community on top of the mountain, and many of the residents use the incline as a commuter rail line to get to work every day. CARTA city buses bound for downtown Chattanooga connect with the incline at the lower station.

   This next group of photos were all taken from the various levels of the observation deck.

   And a few more...

   This is the gift shop located inside the upper station.




Now it's time to board the car for the trip back down the mountain.

   This short "passing zone" is the only double-track section on the incline railway.








And finally back to where we began. The round trip takes roughly one hour.




"Okay, okay, let's go! Everybody out! C'mon, let's go... we're tired of looking at you all!" 

   Before driving into Chattanooga to have lunch ( about time, huh? ), I got a couple of nice shots of one of the cars on the line's only overpass that crosses a paved street. Pretty low clearance here... definitely not a truck route.

You definately need to stop in and do the Ruby Falls tour. Really nice.

Let me see if I have this straight: you went from Spartanburg to Chattanooga and managed to skip Asheville? That's an accomplishment right there!

TJK

TJK


Let me see if I have this straight: you went from Spartanburg to Chattanooga and managed to skip Asheville? That's an accomplishment right there!

TJK

Yep, it was quite an accomplishment, and one that you can credit ( or blame, from my viewpoint as the guy paying for the gasoline ) on my "co-pilot" Ms. Garmin. Believe me, it was her idea, not mine!

The Pic's are just awesome, thanks for sharing... Yes I am suffering envy..

Once again, I've had to put this critter on the back burner for a few days while I traveled to Pittsburgh to consume obscene amounts of delicious roadfood ( many thanks, buffetbuster, for everything ), but now it's back to work. Let's see if I can possibly get this report finished by the end of the month...


   Enroute to the Roadfood-reviewed Zarzour's for lunch, I drove through downtown Chattanooga, where I passed by the corporate headquarters of Krystal, the southern fast food chain with burgers similar to ( but not as good as ) White Castle.

   With the aid of my aforementioned co-pilot, I arrived at Zarzour's just before noontime. It's a rather unusual restaurant as the place is open only fifteen hours a week, 11 AM to 2 PM Monday through Friday.



Zarzour's has been in business since 1918, and while it's primarily a meat-and-two cafe, they're well known locally for their hamburgers.




The burger that I had there was quite good, and was sided by better than average fries. My only quibble was that the burger was well done, and I like mine medium rare. However, it was my own fault since I forgot to mention this to my server.

 

The staff at Zarzour's is very friendly, and I was a bit surprised to learn that my server is an occasional lurker on this website. When I told her my screen name, she recognized it and said that she has looked at my trip reports. Whaddaya know, I've met my public!

   After lunch, I headed north out of Chattanooga on US 27 towards Kentucky, but first I took a short stroll along the city's riverfront to take a few pictures. The most photogenic thing that I found along there was the old Walnut Street Bridge.




The Walnut St. Bridge is a multi-span truss bridge that was built in 1890 and carried vehicular traffic across the Tennessee River until it was closed in 1978. After almost ten years of disuse, the 2,376 foot structure was converted into a pedestrian bridge, one of the longest in the world.

   Here's a few shots taken along northbound US 23 as I headed towards the KY-TN state line...

   This abandoned railroad bridge in east-central Tennessee is in the process of being dismantled, and both of the structure's connections to solid ground have already been removed.

   This great old Smokey the Bear sign probably goes back to the 1950s.

   Shortly after crossing into Kentucky, I spotted this old Ashland sign at a former gas station. At one time, Ashland stations could be found all over the Bluegrass State, but several years ago the company got out of the petroleum business and sold its refineries and gas stations to Marathon.

   By the time that I arrived in southern Kentucky, it was dinnertime and thoughts of pizza were bouncing around inside of my head. Unfortunately, as I discovered in Lexington a few months ago, finding non-chain pizza in KY is about as easy as finding a brain in a politician's skull. Because of this, I ended up having dinner at Donato's in Somerset, not far north of the KY-TN line.




Donato's is a small regional pizza chain that at one time was owned by McDonald's, and they have roughly two hundred outlets in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky ( possibly other states too, but I'm not sure. ) I ordered a small sausage pizza and found it to be pretty decent for a chain, certainly better than the national "big four" ( Pizza Mutt, Little Sleazer's, Papa's In The John and Dummyno's ) It was good enough that I would consider going there again if nothing better was around.

There's a Mellow Mushroom in Lexington. Small chain pizza shop out of Athens, Georgia. Never much cared for it myself but I'm in the minority.

TJK

   With dinner out of the way, I continued north on Route 27 to Lexington, and from there headed east on US 60 to Mount Sterling KY to get a room at a motel that I've stayed at many times before. The next morning ( day number last of this nine day journey ) I started the day with breakfast at the nearby Jerry's Restaurant, one of the handful of survivors of a once-prominent KY chain.









I ordered my favorite southern breakfast, country ham with scrambled eggs, hashbrowns and toast. Not the best that I've ever had, but still an enjoyable way to start a long day of travel.

   After breakfast, I drove north on KY 11 to Maysville, where I crossed the Ohio River on the Simon Kenton Bridge. This was the only time that I've ever seen the bridge illuminated during the day.




On the other side of the bridge is Aberdeen Ohio, where the Dairy Yum Yum drive-in has been part of the scenery for decades.

CB-
I'm a little surprised to see the hamburger listed on the Zarzour's menu.  In the Hamburger America book, George Motz mentions their burger is not on the menu.  Must be something they have only started doing recently.  Either way, it sure looks like my kind of place. 

   From Aberdeen , it was west on my favorite highway, US 52, to Cincinnati, where lunch would be at another Roadfood-reviewed place known for their hamburgers, Zip's Cafe.







My burger at Zip's was a real beauty and tasted great too. The fries were also very good. Many people in Cincy feel that the city's best burger is found at Terry's Turf Club ( not yet RF-reviewed ) and I'm going to have to try it soon to see how it compares to the one at Zip's.

   Here's a few random shots taken as I approached downtown Cincinnati from the east...

   This twin-towered complex is the world headquarters of Proctor and Gamble, and was built in 1985.

   This bridge, on the eastern edge of downtown Cincinnati, has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. Until several years ago, it was painted a rust color and I wish that it had been left that way. Update: according to www.bridgehunter.com , this structure is known as the Columbia Parkway Bridge. If I remember correctly, Columbia Parkway is US 50 heading east out of downtown Cincy.

   Heading northwest out of the city towards the Indiana state line, I stopped at the Li'l Goodie Shoppe in Miamitown for a soft-serve chocolate cone. I was too busy enjoying it to remember to take a picture.