budget,  travel

Nooga Lights and Chattanooga Choo Choo Ice Skating

January 18, 2023 /

After spending the day at Renaissance and Coolidge Park (see my post here), we checked in at our hotel and headed out for dinner. My friend Rachel was great with her recommendations for our stay. We ate at Fiamma’s pizza for dinner and I thought our wood fire pizza was very tasty. We then drove about 25 minutes to Chester Frost Park for their Nooga Lights Show. The week after Christmas was $23 per car, and you were able to do the loop as many times as you wanted too. I did think it was overpriced (I think it should be $15 at the most), but we did enjoy it especially the archway which had so many different light show sequences.

The light displays were original and I especially liked one area that was dedicated to men and women in the services (Air Force, Marines… as well as EMT, Police…) and the vehicles all decked in lights.

We returned to the hotel before 10 and were fast asleep. We ate our free breakfast and once everyone was ready, we headed to the Chattanooga Choo Choo winter wonderland where we had booked an hour of ice skating.

I used to ice skate in PE in middle school in France, but it took me several turns around the rink to remember how to do it. I had to alternate between skating on my own and helping my youngest with his ice buddy (which he enjoyed once he realized he didn’t want to sit on a bench the whole hour), so I didn’t get as much practice as I would have liked. However, I still had a lot of fun. Everyone enjoyed it including my husband, and while a few little spills occurred for some of the family,  little blood was drawn. The ice was melting on one of the sunny side, so we definitely would like to try again on a “real” indoor skating rink one day soon.

I think the area would be really pretty in the spring (as on their website) but they were doing some renovations and work so this was the most picturesque spot.

We had lunch at Slick’s Burgers on my friend Rachel’s recommendation and it did not disappoint! The atmosphere was very family friendly, the prices typical for a great burger ($9-12) and we enjoyed our lunch before heading back home. We did have to park at a meter but it was inexpensive.

We sure enjoyed our second week of Christmas break and while I cannot say that it was super budget friendly, I am glad we chose activities to make it more affordable.

Here is a little breakdown:

  • hotel and breakfast: free
  • Nooga Lights: $23
  • Ice Skating: $68
  • Park Fun: Free
  • Parking: $12 for 2 days
  • Food: around $200

A bientôt!

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