Chattanooga Outdoor Adventures

This is part of my late night Friday bites. My Moveable feast. I get back to the house at 8:00. This means I can meet you guys for dinner at 8:30.

No Senior early Bird Specials folks. I may be older, but I am not ready to go grab my 4:30 meal at Piccadilly and head home to watch Walter Cronkite and hit the sack.

I am aware it's late, but it is when I can get there.

So this week will be Lo Main on where else? Main Street.

This one is a little funky off the Main Street thing.

**This is the FOURTH time I have tried to Schedule this, but if at first you don't succeed pray for better weather.

The way this thing has gone is three times before the weather has been bad, but we will try again.

This is just a repost of the Earlier three other times.

A Little Drunk History from a sober Dude

I was curious why a Christian Liberal Arts college had trails there celebrating Moonshine and its aliases. I am betting this is not a place known for Keg parties and late night debauchery.

Debauchery is even a fun sounding word, but back to the conservative school.

A perusal of their clubs and organizations backs this up.

Badminton Club- For you youngster think pickle ball popularity at one time. That time was the 1930's. One day Pickleball will be the badminton of our era.

Bag Pipe Club-The difference between a bagpipe and an onion? No one cries when you cut up a bagpipe. First Rule of Bagpipe club, don't play the bagpipe.

Growers club-I paused for a second on this. My mind went somewhere else. I thought isn't that also called the devils lettuce? Church school? I mean social acceptance is really growing, but at a conservative school? Apparently it's to grow your understanding and faith. NOT where my mind initially went on what they would be growing.

There are more clubs along these lines.

So it seems like a wholesome place in a beautiful setting, but Moonshine?

The trails were originally called the Gerber Branch area, named after a distiller who continued to produce corn liquor after Prohibition. An entrepreneur of sorts. Visitors can still find piles of bottles near the trails.

Apparently Gerber was kind of a big deal in the production of stump water, skullcracker, wildcat, ruckus juice, Hill Billy pop, and donkey punch. Also known as moonshine.

Ruckus Juice cracks me up.

The Moonshine Trails are a series of trails that branch off from the Chattanooga Connector Trail. The four trails that make up the Moonshine Trails are the Chattanooga Connector Trail, Firewater, White Lightning, and Bathtub Gin.

The trail names seem appropriate for the history, but Bathtub Gin? As long as the Bathtub used wasn't the one at my Fraternity house in college I think you'd be okay. I am pretty sure even the alcohol wouldn't kill the things growing in that tub. The tub at my apartment in college? better... mostly. Would I drink Gin from it? Nope. I might serve it to guests, but me? No.

So we meet at the trail head. Here is a description from All Trails

Too Hot to hike summer series

So the original slogan was Oh Oh Spaghettios. America turned it into Uh Oh Spaghettios as a saying instead of saying other things.

Caught on in most circles, but I can't see a hardened New York Police Detective walking in to a violent Mob hit crime scene and Saying "Uh Oh Spaghettios" Their vernacular is a little different. Well, more colorful.

I grew up with it and other canned delicacies. The now politically incorrect ManWhich (Gender Neutral Which?), Dole sliced pineapples (I could drink a whole can of the juice). Beefaroni (Indistinguishable in taste from Spagehitios) , Dinty Moore Corned beef hash (Got me through College, Over easy egg on top and oh yea!), Chun King Chow Mein (An Asian Adjacent food product) and Van Camp's Beanee Weanees (You don't like yourself for liking these, but you do).

The Electric Can opener was an important appliance in the kitchen back in the day lest you have to wrestle it open with one of those silver crank things with a dull blade.

We were the last of the Feral Children. Mom and dad wanted us to grab a can throw it on the stove and heat up our own meals and then go outside until the street lights came on. What we did was not their concern just do it outside after we prepared our canned feast.

Come to think of it they kind of did the dog the same way. The dog just didn't get the chance to heat it up first. Cold and straight from the can. I guess we were treated slightly better than the dog and his Alpo. Some of his did smell pretty good though.

Canned food has lost it's flair in today's world, but it can get you into a Ball Game. I got in last time they did this for a dollar per can Clam Chowder from Dollar General.

If you bring a can of food you get into the Lookouts for free. Let's meet out front of the entrance with our Spam or other canned delicacies and watch a Ball Game.

Sadly you can no longer get Armour Canned Ribs or Franco American canned Mac and Cheese. Franco American is a term for French Americans, but this was not fine French cuisine. Pretty far from it.