When we moved to the beautiful emerald coast of Florida about a year ago, one of the first couples we met were David and Paula Thaggard. They are kindred spirits, serial entrepreneurs that ran a very successful construction and interior design firm in Tennessee for years. Wanting to unwind a bit, they purchased a home on the emerald coast and opened up a froyo (frozen yogurt for the less hip) shop for their oldest son and his wife to run.
Paula, Lynn and David
We became fast friends and last weekend they invited us to their beautiful home in Tennessee. And beautiful it is. They built this home and most of the other spectacular homes in this upscale neighborhood. The quality of the home is impeccable, no expense was spared. Paula is an incredible interior designer — you would think this is a model home. Here are some pictures that have no way of doing it justice, you would have to see it to fully appreciate it.
Beautiful home of the Thaggards
Heated pool with waterfall
View of the pond
They live in Cleveland TN, about 30 minutes north of Chattanooga. On Saturday, we explored Chattanooga, as this was our first experience here. Chattanooga is re-surging city of about 200,000 people, sporting the fastest internet in the country — 1 gigabyte internet speed.
Chattanooga has a rich history. Its early inhabitants were Cherokee Indians — they were forced out by the US government in 1838. They left for Oklahoma, the exodus was called the “Trail of Tears” because of all of the fatalities along the way.
Chattanooga
It was also an important city in the Civil War, and fierce battles ensued here. After the war, it became a major railroad hub and industrial city. That is probably why you will recognize the phrase “Chattanooga Choo Choo”.
Chattanooga
Chattanooga
We spent most of Saturday exploring the city. We walked to the statue garden, walked the pedestrian bridge and enjoyed a nice dinner at a new upscale bar called the Flying Squirrel. Here, we met one of David and Paula’s daughters — Jennifer. It was great meeting her and her girlfriend, they were great fun to spend time with.
The Flying Squirrel bar
Beautiful Chattanooga architecture
David, Paula, Steve
Wanna fly?
Lynn giving a high 5
As we were walking through the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel, we happened on to this carriage. Notice the dog, it is a Dalmatian / Hound mix and was more than content just hanging out on the carriage.
Dalmatian Hound mix
When we were downtown, we saw this awesome car. David and I thought initially it was a Corvette, but upon closer inspection, we think it was a kit car built by someone. Very cool.
Not a Corvette — a kit car
I can’t end coverage of our trip without giving David and Paula a hard time about their flip phones. We are always giving them crap because when they text with these phones, they have to press the “2” key 3 times just to type a “C”. But I gotta say, they are pretty fast with it. But come on, you can afford an iPhone, get into the 21st century! By the way, the picture quality below is indicative of a flip phone :).
David and Paula — proud owners of flip phones
What’s Next?
We are about to embark on a 3 month trip to the West | Northwest United States. We will start our trip spending Memorial Day with our boys in Breckenridge Colorado. We will then head up to the Grand Titans and Yellowstone National Park for a week or so, then to Oregon, Washington and Vancouver Canada. Stay tuned for updates!
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