The 2026 Tennessee Meetup: With an Uninvited Visitor

Our uninvited visitor showed up ahead of time, in the form of Hurricane Isaias. The original plan was to visit Oak Ridge on Friday and Chattanooga on Saturday. The threat of rain, however, forced us to swap Friday and Saturday's agenda. This was important for @neutralobserver and me because we went to Oak Ridge first instead of meeting up with the others in Cookeville on Thursday night. No problem! We simply drove down to Chattanooga the next morning, and met everyone for lunch at Puckett's. There were eight of us in all:

Here's where the gang split up. Neutral observer and I had already visited Chattanooga many times, so we decided to visit two things near where we parked: The National Medal of Honor Heritage Center and the Tennessee Aquarium. The rest of the gang trekked to the Inclined Railway and Rock City. I'll start with us.

The National Medal of Honor and Heritage Center (link:

was our first stop. Like many across the country, Medal of Honor museums are usually dedicated to local Medal of Honor awardees. (Never say "winners" because Medals of Honor are earned.) This one was no exception. Reading (or hearing – the center had many interactive displays) about the deeds of those who earned the medal was quite humbling and deeply moving. I didn't take any pictures in there because it just didn't feel right, you know? I did buy a souvenir, though:

Next on the list for us was the Tennessee Aquarium. There are two separate exhibit halls: The River Journey and the Ocean Journey. We decided to visit the River Journey because neutral observer had her heart set on seeing otters. Unfortunately, the otters broke her heart by not appearing at all. They were either hiding from the public or not on display for some reason. Regardless, the rest of the exhibits featured all sorts of creatures, including catfish, which reminded me of the blackened catfish I had for lunch (Yum!). We didn't take any pictures here either because I already have 10,000 pics from previous trips. Having walked for nearly 3 hours, we got the text that it was time to head back to Cookeville. And now, for the main gang's sightseeing.

There were a couple of places where the rest of the Ricochetti visited. (And by all means, you folks add more details because I wasn't there!) One was the inclined railway, and the other was Rock City.

The inclined railway was actually the second one built. The first was built in 1887, but shortly after the second opened in 1895, the first railway was shut down for good. Here are some pictures:

That's a loooooong way down . . .

I wasn't sure if the third picture was the railway's operating mechanism or Randy's garage door opener. Anyway, I'd ridden the railway a couple of times before, and had no desire to ride it again— scary!

Rock City was the other stop, and there was plenty to see, from the swinging bridge from underneath (you won't see me on it):

To the stone bridge:

To Lover's Leap:

To my knowledge, none of us took the plunge at Lover's Leap. Rock City is also home to a colony of gnomes:

There's even one location where you can see seven states on a clear day:

After everyone rendezvoused back in Cookeville, we all had dinner at the Persis Indian Grill. Here's where I need a picture from someone. Please post in the comments!

Saturday, we all headed off to Oak Ridge to visit the American Museum of Science and Energy. Despite many visits to Oak Ridge while working for the Department of Energy, I never went to the museum. The museum has a fairly detailed history of the Oak Ridge Site, how it came into being, its construction, and the work there during World War II. Again, I didn't take any pictures, so help me out, you all! You can visit the website and take a virtual tour via YouTube:

American Museum of Science and Energy – Inspire the Imagination

In Oak Ridge, Tennessee from October 19-25, 2026 The Oak Ridge Discovery Foundation will bring together civic, academic, non-profit, and corporate partners for a week of educational opportunities, workforce development sessions, tours of historic and modern sites at Department o...

American Museum of Science and Energy

After spending time there, we went to another museum, the K-25 History Center. Again, much of the history of Oak Ridge was covered, except this museum was dedicated to one facility within: the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant. The original massive structure is gone, but its location hosts the History Center. There were plenty of exhibits and displays covering the plant's construction and operation, as well as life for the workers' families at Oak Ridge. Visiting these two museums left me in awe of the effort the United States put into developing, testing, and using the atomic bombs to end the war.

We returned to Cookeville, wiser, but also hungrier. That gave us the excuse to all have dinner at Taverna on the Green, which was primarily a Greek Restaurant with some Italian dishes thrown in. The food was fabulous, and I hope some of our attendees will post some pictures!

Sunday turned out to be a wash, as Isiais provided enough rain to kill any trip to state parks. Instead, we hung around at Randy's house in Cookeville and chatted for quite a while. Finally, some of the group decided to visit a used bookstore. Because our house is already bursting at the seams with books, neutral observer and I skipped that trip and chilled out at Randy's some more before heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

And what a dinner it was! We dined at Crawdaddy's, the same place we ate at the last Cookeville Meetup. It was too chilly and wet to eat outside like last time, so we ate inside. Two of our group had to leave to go home early, so there were only 6 for dinner Sunday:

The food was tasty, hot and spicy if you wanted it, and delicious. I heartily recommend Crawdaddy's as the official final night dinner for future Cookeville Meetups. Again, I'll need other pics from folks.

As I've said before, if you can get to a meetup, consider doing so. You'll meet interesting people and enjoy interesting discussions covering a wide range of subjects that go well beyond politics. You don't have to go to every planned excursion or meal, but I believe you'll want to once you meet some of the people whose posts and comments you read on Ricochet!