In Which the Ringmaster Appreciates His Home Town - Day 2

We got started around 9am with a free breakfast in the hotel lobby. It was pretty good, not just donuts and coffee, they had eggs, biscuits, and sausage among other items.

The Trip to Cleveland State Community College took about 5 minutes, the work we had to do there took about 2 hours. By noon we were done with the prospect of nearly a full day to kill.

After returning to the room to watch a little more Telemundo and Celebrity Fit Club, we set out to Chattanooga. It wasn't a bad drive, in 30 minutes we were passing the Chattanooga Choo Choo and were shortly parked near the Tennessee Aquarium.

First stop: Taco Mac. I had been here once before with Jim and Ruth last January. Taco Mac is a pretty good bar downtown on Market Street. They serve alot more than just tacos, but to begin my tasty oddyssey of Chattanooga, I ordered one beef and one chicken hard-shell. Man! The beef taco was big and tasty, it was heartily seasoned with cumin and came with a great house picante sauce. It was one of the best tacos I've ever had. After that, the chicken taco was kind of bland and tasteless, but still good.

Next: A brief walk around the block to see what there was to see. We walked around the aquarium and browsed the visitor's center (blessed air conditioning.) The heat was getting to us, so with some brochures and and a strategy we were on our way to The Hair of the Dog Pub!
The Hair of the Dog Pub is in an OLD building that kind of sticks out from the more modern facades around it. It's small, unassuming, with windows tinted so dark that we couldn't see the open sign until we were at the door.

Inside, was a different era. A well worn bar, old, but cared for tables, antique cieling fans and a staff that makes you feel totally welcome make The Hair of the Dog one of the best Irish Pubs I've ever been to, but it gets better! For a couple hours we sat around socializing, then I coudn't stand it anymore...I had to order some food. The menu was humorous and a delight to read, I chuckled at several of the side notes and irreverant descriptions of the dishes, but the bottom like was this was some serious pub food! Bangers and mash, Cottage Pie (Shepherd's Pie without Lamb,) fish and chips, meatloaf, along with some more standard burger fare made my decision difficult, but it's with great joy that I can report that I ordered the fish and chips.

Now, I've had fish and chips in many "Irish" pubs. In most, you get the same thing, a frozen fish fillet and frozen french fries dropped in oil and served with canned tartar sauce. Not here!!! This was a fresh fish fillet covered in a batter made on site, the tartar sauce was made on premises, and the french fries...oh my god...the french fries were magical. They were cut fresh, cooked a bit crisp and covered in a garlic seasoning salt. I have honestly never had better french fries in my entire life. This was one of those great moments when I actually found something good enough to set the bar for any other version of the dish I ever try. Simply amazing. I could have eaten another basket (and would later wish I had.)

The scorching sun went behind the clouds while we were in Hair of the Dog, so we left and set out on the longest trek in our adventure. We were going to cross the river and seek out another Irish Pub with a clever name. We were going to find Durty Nelly's and eat bread pudding. Little did we know that this might be the biggest disappointment we would see.

Continued when I get some more time....