Day 2: October 21, 2026 Museum, Park, Museum Comment via blog

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Yea, that is a waffle of insane greatness. You've seen them here before, but until now they were all from Aretha Frankensteins in Chattanooga. This one is on the counter of the Knoxville outpost, which was opened just ahead of Thanksgiving in 2023. There's a good chance that, even if you didn't recognize the insanely great waffle or bother to read the signs out front, you might have known this was an Aretha's by the ceiling decor.

An here is something by which you might recognize the city of Knoxville. It's the Sunsphere from the 1982 World's Fair caught in a drive-by photo.

Possibly because I'd known about it but had not yet visited, I headed to the International Towing & Recovery Museum first when I reached Chattanooga. The history of towing is definitely an interesting one, and the museum displays items of all ages for visitors of all ages. The seeds of the industry were planted by Ernest Holmes with his development of truck mounted towing rigs. The first two vehicles in the third picture are examples of his earliest products. Up front is a 1913 Cadillac with an example of the first towing bed Holmes patented. Behind it is a 1913 Locomobile with an example of an earlier towing bed. This model was never patented but is essentially the setup Holmes developed initially.

I noticed a lot of big gear in the parking lot when I arrived, and wondered if it was part of the normal exhibits. It was not. Demonstrations and training for heavy duty recovery were happening. Spectators were permitted as long as they kept their distance, and I certainly did that. Recovering cement trucks and semis is not as simple as tying on and yanking. A lot of pretty technical talk preceded any action. Although I didn't understand much of it, I was impressed with it, and even more impressed by the action.

I watched an introductory video when I entered the museum and picked up a statistic I had to verify with a docent. Tow truck crews suffer three times as many fatalities as all other first responders combined. The Wall of the Fallen in front of the museum honors some of those lost.

Herein lies a cautionary tale about doing your research. I had the name of the sculpture and punched it into my Garmin. It led me to what was obviously the right place because I could see large sculptures beyond several soccer fields. Not knowing any better, I trudged across the fields and even forced myself to climb the small hill because I knew I was missing something. There my error became obvious. Not only could I see all of the sculptures but I could see the conveniently located parking lot I should have been in. After a reverse trudge, I did reach that lot, but I had used up most of my walking capacity for the day, and didn't make it to many of the sculptures.

This really cool art car was a bonus behind chain link fence across the street from the sculpture park.

Just inside the entrance to the Coker Museum is the Mini I included in the journal of my 2010 visit. There are other cars nearby along with a paint booth and woodworking shop where spoked wheels for antique vehicles are made. This is a working custom and restoration shop with museum displays tucked into various spaces in the work areas.

This is the museum proper with lots of yellow cars. The pale yellow car in the second photo is a 1914 Lozier. The three in the next picture are all White Yellowstone tour buses. From left to right they are a 1925, 1936, and 1937. The last photo is of a pair of Stutz Bearcats. The one on the left is a 1914 model but I could not find a model year for the one on the right.

Dinner was at the City Cafe Diner in downtown Chattanooga, where even the salad is above average. Same with the broiled flounder, and I'm sure that's true of the desserts, but all I did was look.

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