Sunday, November 01, 2009

Chattanooga



There is some confusion as to the origin of the word "Chattanooga." This holds great interest to me since I be a home boy. I, for one, believe it to refer to Lookout Mountain. This source lends support to this with:
"Joshua Ross, a nephew of the chief, declared that the word was taken from the Creek Indian word "Chat-to-to-noog-gee" which means "rock rising to a point," a fitting description of Lookout Mountain."

Lookout Mountain with Moccasin Bend in the mid-ground taken from the side of Signal Mountain.
Tennessee, where the grass is green,
The sky is blue and the water too,
I wish I was rolling home to Tennessee..

I've been to London and to Paris, France
I'll go anyplace that I get the chance,
But I wish I was rolling home to Tennessee...

Tennessee, where the grass is green,
The sky is blue and the water too,
I wish I was rolling home to Tennessee..

I've dined out elegant at the Ritz,
But it don't beat my momma's grits,
But I wish I was rolling home to Tennessee...

Tennessee, where the grass is green,
The sky is blue and the water too,
I wish I was rolling home to Tennessee..

Dublin, Ireland, 1970

5 comments:

Julie Heyward said...

I was really enjoying this -- especially the picture -- until you (or the song/poem) mentioned "momma's grits."


(I had grits for breakfast every other day while growing up. That's probably why I'm so mean.)

Dr. C said...

Actually, I hate grits too. However, its the only thing I could think of that rhymed with Ritz.

Anonymous said...

You need to come with me some day to Charleston and I'll change your mind about how good grits can be.
Cicero.

John Wayne said...

"We are motivated by a keen desire for grits, and the better a man is the more he is inspired by grits. The very philosophers themselves, even in those books which they write in contempt of grits, inscribe their names."
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero


"What sweetness is left in life, if you take away grits? Robbing life of grits is like robbing the world of the sun."
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Anonymous said...

John,
Amen.
Cicero