If there was ever a moment in the last hundred years to advise someone not to open a business, it would have to have been 1932. The Great Depression was only just beginning to grind. Bank runs and double digit unemployment were the norm. The Dust Bowl wiped out family farms and displaced people throughout the country. However, right in the thick of the chaos, Garnet and Frieda Carter decided to open Rock City in Chattanooga, Tennessee. With little more than optimism and a vision for what could be, the Carters figured that they had the next great roadside attraction on their hands and it was as good a time as any to share it with the world. Their courage to chase a dream despite the oppressive uncertainty of their times speaks to the very soul of what it means to be an American. A visit should serve as an inspiration to all of us laboring under the weight of the twenty-first century.

A visit to Rock City illustrates the kind of American optimism that worked for Garnet and Frieda Carter and that we need to find within ourselves. It is like a patchwork quilt of fantastic reasons to stop the car and take a look. According to their website, Mrs. Carter planted over 400 plants, shrubs, and trees throughout. However, calling it an arboretum would not be accurate. Seated high atop Lookout Mountain, Rock City features a looping trail that winds past some amazing natural terrain as well as the Carter’s own whimsical touches. The trail offers visitors an opportunity to walk across a rope bridge and to see a waterfall on the edge of the cliff. If there is any part of Rock City that could be considered a centerpiece, it would be Lover’s Leap. Poised at the edge of a 1700 foot cliff, visitors are offered a stunning view of the land below. It’s supposed to look into seven different states, although rock city acknowledges there is no science behind the claim. While Lover’s Leap is magnificent, there is much more to see.

The trail back from Lover’s Leap twists through a series of granite outcroppings with names like Fat Man’s Squeeze and Goblin Underpass. At times, visitors may find themselves squeezing between two ancient rocks separated by inches, and at other points, ducking as they creep through tunnels along the way.

I lost count of which number gnome this was.

Despite the natural beauty of the place, the Carters added their own touches to the land and in the process, enhancing an already incredible experience. An enthusiast of European folklore, Frieda also integrated her collection of gnomes throughout, transforming it from a nice place to take a walk in the afternoon to something much more fanciful. The final portion of the trail leads to Fairyland Caverns and Mother Goose Village. In both areas of the caverns, kids are treated to scenes of classic storybook tales and nursery rhymes brought to life through dioramas. While not high tech, they will hold a kid’s attention and engage their imaginations.

It was cold and rainy when we arrived at Fairyland Caverns.

Way inside because it was cold and rainy

Regardless of the odds, their variety of ragtag entrepreneurship created a family business that has drawn a steady stream of curious people for almost ninety years. Based on the number of people willing to pay the admission the day we visited, it looks like they will be around for 90 more. Rock City is a location that could easily be visited during all four seasons.

There are several food locations within Rock City although we didn’t try any. However, we can vouch for the Purple Daisy Picnic Cafe at the bottom of Lookout Mountain. Their barbecue was so good, after we ate, we took an order to go for the drive up to Gatlinburg.

This entry was based on a visit to Rock City on December 28, 2019.

Interested in seeing some other one of a kind family businesses? If you’re in California, take a look at Tio’s Tacos or M and M Nursery. If you need a great place to take kids in Nashville, take a look at the Adventure Science Center.

Rock City

1400 Patten Road

Lookout Mountain, GA 30750

706.820.2531

800.854.0675

I’m not entirely certain which of the nine muses is in charge of travel writing, but in my time on the gig, I have become painfully aware of her demands. For the most part, she is benevolent and offers up tiny specks of inspiration that require hours and hours of work to flesh out into something worth distributing for free on the internet. While she is generous, she is also jealous when a creator puts his attention elsewhere. Specifically, she gets particularly demanding when a day job gets in the way of creative pursuits. Burning for attention, she poisons the mind with a special kind of resentment that makes one feel trapped by the commitments that require leaving the house and working for someone else. If a correction isn’t made, it becomes an ugly, downward spiral where a writer will end up blaming everyone and everything around him for his inability to set aside time to do the work that he loves. Sometimes, seeing how someone else balances creative pursuits and a job is just the kind of inspiration an artist needs in order to course correct. If a day job is getting in the way of you and your muse’s partnership, I would suggest taking a drive out to Tio’s Tacos in Riverside, California.

It is entirely possible that Tio’s exists because of the banality of a day job. Despite what the Food Network has led us to believe, working in a professional kitchen is a rote and repetition occupation. The lunchtime crowd isn’t looking for surprises. They want the same taco, made the same way as the one they had last time. Shoving a creative type like owner Martin Sanchez behind the counter had to have given flight to this place. He opened a business in order to provide for his family. However, he also has a spirit of an artist that clearly could not be contained as evidenced by his creations that eclipse his restaurant.

Instead of decorating a landfill with the cast-offs from his kitchen, he chose to turn his taco stand into his canvas. Everything left over from the kitchen is put to good use in his art. From oyster shells and flattened out tin cans, to beer bottles and caps, he finds a way to repurpose things that most of us would throw away. He even goes as far as using empty propane bottles and flat top grills to fill out the body of one of his creatures. A walk through the courtyard is a departure the mundane world and an entrance into the mind of an artist. From the peak of the roof, down to the cement underfoot, each and every corner of Tio’s bears his mark. Tio’s Tacos is a monument to all of us create, but also have to grind it out on the clock for someone else. Sanchez provides the evidence you can take care of your commitments and still give life to a vision, as long as you’re willing to set aside the time.