2026 Aug 1, Mystery Trip (Chattanooga, TN & Scottsboro, AL) with Backroads Tours LLC

 We had to be on the bus in Madison, AL, by 7 A.M. We were up by 4:30 and on the road by 5. We are traveling on bus 1048 with Eagle Christian Tours in Rome, GA. Driver Barbara Dudle

We stopped at Bojangles in Athens for breakfast. Hubby ordered a steak and biscuit, and I ordered a sausage and biscuit. We spent $10.75.

We arrived around 6:30, and the bus was already there waiting for our guide, Kelley Wolfe, before we could load. 

We were on the road headed to Scottsboro to pick up additional passengers. Around 8 A.M., we were headed to our Mystery stop. 

We arrived at 9:58 A.M. at the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, which was built in 1895. 

The incline uses a cable system where two cars are connected by a cable, allowing one car to ascend while the other descends.

America's Most Amazing Mile climbs to 1,450 feet. On a bright day, you can see for miles, but the day we were there, it rained and was very overcast.

Our guide purchased our tickets.

We took a group photo, used the restrooms, and then loaded onto the incline. 

If you have trouble walking or climbing, I recommend sitting at the top of the Incline car. 

The car is sitting at an incline, so you have to climb up and down steps to get in and out. 

We began our ten-minute journey up Lookout Mountain at a 72.7 percent grade at the steepest part.

At the top, we visited the gift shop where we purchased a bag of mini moon pies. 

We walked to the observation deck to take in the view below, but it was very foggy, and it began to rain. 

We went to the lower level to see the 100-horsepower motors in operation. You could feel the motors vibrate when you sat down in the restrooms.

After an hour at the overlook and gift shop, we once again loaded onto the incline, which did not seem as steep as when we loaded at the bottom. 

On the way down, we saw a buck deer in the forest and a fake owl. 

Once below, we unloaded the incline and headed to our bus for our next stop.

We stopped at the rest area in Jasper for a restroom break. 

Then onto Scottsboro, where we met up with our guide, Angie. 

We ate lunch and did a quilt craft at a new small business called Still Water Studios in Scottsboro.

The food was catered by Simply Yaya.

This included Classic Chicken Salad Croissants, Ham & Swiss Sliders, Italian Pasta Salad, Vegetable Platter, Fruit Platter, Chips, Chess Bars & Bottled Water.

Our next quick stop was at Payne's Soda Fountain and Sandwich Shop, where everyone was treated to a scoop of their favorite ice cream.

We enjoyed eating our ice cream on the bus while Angie gave us a quick historical tour of Scottsboro.

We said goodbye to Angie and the passengers parked in Scottsboro around 3:30 P.M.

We arrived at our destination, Gabe's in Madison, around 4:30 P.M.

Loaded into our car and began our journey home.

We stopped at Walmart in Athens to pick up a few items.

We stopped at Lash's in Rogersville for our take-home Low Country Boil (dinner). 

They have the best seafood in town. It was a very busy night for them.

We had a great time with old and new friends exploring new places and new faces.

Photo

8554-8585 Incline Railway 9:58–11:09 A.M.

8586 Group Photo

8587-8591Tennessee Welcome Center Jasper, TN 11:03 A.M. time change

8592-8294 Still Water Studios Scottsboro, AL 12:09–12:14 P.M. Lunch

8595-8599 Payne's Soda Fountain and Sandwich Shop 3:12–3:17 P.M.

8600-8605 Tour of Scottsboro, AL 3:23 P.M.

🚌🚌🚌🚌The Bus ride and the Driver

With one bus, a token, and a senior bus pass, the family walked out the door of the Ronald McDonald House.

They walked down to Thirty-ninth and Chestnut Streets to take the SEPTA Bus to downtown Philadelphia.

The long-awaited bus comes to a screeching halt.

The driver immediately spots the little girl in the wheelchair.

The front door remains closed as he walks to the center of the bus to lower the lift.

When the lift is level with the road, the bus driver gets out and wheels the little girl onto the ramp.

He raises the lift back up and rolls the wheelchair into place. He buckles and straps the little girl in. 

The bus driver struggles to keep his cap on because the little girl in the wheelchair keeps pulling it off. 

The little girl had everyone on the bus in stitches.

When the bus driver completes his task, everyone on the bus claps because of his patience with the little girl.

The bus driver walks back to the front of the bus, opens the front door, and lets the rest of the passengers board.

Passengers are putting tokens or cash fares into the transit system as the bus scurries away, or scanning their bus passes.

The buses rule the narrow roads as they travel downtown. 

A conversation between the little girl's grandmother and an older woman began.

The woman said, "I once went to the hospital to hold the babies, but they would not let me because I did not have insurance." They missed a great opportunity."

The bus arrives at Sixteenth Street, and the little girl is wheeled again to the chairlift and onto the sidewalk.

The family thanked the driver, he opened the front door again, the passengers boarded the bus, and he scurried down the street.

At Liberty Square, the family visits the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the grave of Benjamin Franklin.

The family decides to take the seventy-minute amphibious DUCK.

There is no chair lift; the little girl has to be lifted onto the Duck, and her wheelchair is left behind.

The little girl squeals with laughter as the wind hits her face, and when the DUCK hits the water, she squeals even louder.

It was very dark when the DUCK ride ended.

The family pushes the little girl safely back to Sixteenth Street, then rides the bus to Chestnut and Thirty-ninth Street.

The family arrives at their stop; the little girl and her wheelchair are unloaded, and they walk safely back to the Ronald McDonald House.

There has been a lot of violence going on outside the downtown area of Philadelphia.

Just the day before, there had been a police officer shot in the face during a routine traffic stop.

The next day, the family takes a taxi to the airport.

After the mother pays the taxi driver, she soon realizes that she has been taken to the wrong airport.

The mother takes out her cell phone and calls Angel Flight. Angel Flight, in turn, calls the pilot and tells him what happened.

Angel Flight told the family to stay where they were, and the pilot was on his way. 

Angel Flight is a free service (provided by privately owned airplane pilots) that volunteers its services to people with children with special needs.

The little girl had to be loaded and unloaded onto three different airpanes. She didn't mind, for she was going home.