Our middle child graduated from Ole Miss a few weeks ago with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. We had planned on celebrating with a trip to the U.K. this month, but we now believe the Lord redirected us at the last minute to some place better for our son.
Hubby, my mom, my son, my daughter, and I were scheduled to leave for London late Friday afternoon. At lunchtime that day, we sat around the table and threw out other possibilities. When I mentioned Chattanooga, a place I fondly remembered as where Hubby and I had taken our three babies for our first family vacation in 2004, everyone was in immediate agreement.
Chattanooga has all the things this family adores: an aquarium, a zoo, beautiful outdoor exploration opportunities, and history.
Hubby’s quick fingers found an Airbnb on Signal Mountain that was available beginning the next day—at a significantly discounted rate to boot!
Chattanooga is only 5 and a half hours from our Mississippi location. I had been imagining a much longer drive in Nana’s comfy van.
As soon as we booked the accommodations, our graduate quickly pinpointed several sites of (personal) interest. He found a Lego store in Huntsville and two Bricks & Minifigs businesses, one in Chattanooga and one in Huntsville. One shop owner introduced him to the fifth largest distributor of Lego parts, located in the heart of Chattanooga. Yay!
We succeeded in working these particular stops into a full schedule of tourist attractions, making him a very happy camper!
Hubby and I began to see the previous plan to go to London, Bath, and beyond in a different light as we enjoyed watching each sunset from the screened-in back porch on Signal Mountain each night. We ate home-cooked meals every evening and played our new favorite game—Wingspan—with our new grad who had introduced us to the complicated and addicting game a few weeks before.
Sometimes our best laid plans are not the ones we ought to follow. Our impromptu graduation trip to Chattanooga was incredibly relaxing and fun for the whole family–the perfect way to celebrate our son’s incredible achievements.
