Recently I went paddle boarding in downtown Chattanooga with Amanda from Exploring Chatt. We talked when we first met earlier this year about how we both had always wanted to try paddle boarding on the Tennessee River downtown. (Well I called it paddle boarding, she called it SUPing) So we made plans to try it out this summer. Come with me on the adventure on this weeks episode over on YouTube.

Since neither of us had ever been paddle boarding before we got rentals from one of the companies downtown. I would love to tell you which one or how much the two hour rental cost, however I honestly do not know.  Before we went she had worked out a deal with the company for promotion on her blog so we both got to utilize the paddle boards free of charge.



The morning of paddle boarding

Since it rained almost every day in July I was kind of nervous we were going to get rained out the day of our adventure. That morning when I woke up it was pouring rain at my house, and when I texted Amanda she told me skies were clear out by her and we were still on for the day. By the time I got to the launch location at Coolidge Park the rain had cleared up.

I parked on the street and was a little nervous since street parking is only good for two hours and we had a two hour rental. I decided to be brave (or stupid) and take my chance at not getting a ticket for 2 minutes expired by the time I was finished.



Standing up on a paddle board

Once we got to the water we were both a little nervous about standing up on the paddle board. There were a couple of dudes in the water with some sort of super fancy kayak adjacent things. One of them was really friendly and helpful talking us through how to successfully stand up on the paddle board.

Full disclosure, I came completely prepared to fall in the middle of the Tennessee River downtown but standing up and balancing on the paddle board was so much easier than I thought it was going to be.



Paddling to Maclellan Island

Once we were both comfortable on our boards we started paddling over to Maclellan Island. The 18.8 acre nature preserve in the middle of the Tennessee River has a mile and a half of trails you can explore.

There is also a picnic table in the middle if you take a snack with you. I took a break on the picnic table while she was filming and narrating the area.

There was a right lane closed ahead sign on the middle of the island and we were split on how we thought it got there.

Thankfully Amanda didn’t make me explore too many of the trails and ya girl got to be back out on the water fairly quickly.



The caves below the Bluff  View Arts District



We paddled across the river to some caves below the Bluff View Arts District and as soon as we were about smack in the middle of the river it started raining.

The rain was cold but honestly felt pretty good as we made our way over to the caves. We didn’t do any spelunking but I did try and get some footage of a waterfall that popped up while we were there.



Paddling back to Coolidge Park


After we explored and the rain settled down we paddled our way back to Coolidge Park. Now, as much as I would like to pretend I was 100% a paddle boarding super star, I can not lie to you. On the way back the water was a little rougher because of the storm and at one point going back I did fall. I fell right on my butt on the board and I stayed there just like I fell all the way back to shore.

I had so much fun paddle boarding I want a board of my own. I asked Santa for one for my birthday because that’s totally how it works and I’m hoping I find one all wrapped up and beautiful for me this weekend.