If you’ve ever traveled anywhere within a few hundred kilometers of Chattanooga, Tennessee, you’ve been bombarded with enchanting barn roofs and billboards telling you to “See Rock City.” What is Rock City? It is an wonderful appeal on Lookout Mountain where it’s claimed you can view seven countries: Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama. There are stunning rock formations, 140-foot falls, a suspension bridge and the Enchanted Trail. The painted barns are part of the charm of the country landscape and help create a long, boring drive down I-75 much more interesting.
Throughout those seven countries and more, many people have picked up a charming souvenir — the See Rock City birdhouse — and put it somewhere with pride. They’re more prevalent in the South than bottle trees. Here are a few I found across my Atlanta neighborhood this weekend.
This birdhouse was suspended with pride in this lovely urban garden in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward.
A few blocks away from the Studioplex (a former cotton warehouse), another birdhouse fits right in at a photographer’s art-filled contemporary attic.
In a bungalow bed-and-breakfast in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood, a See Rock City birdhouse sets the tone for a fun and relaxing stay.
One of my neighbors has this great fence with posts that are topped off with an eclectic assortment of birdhouses. Obviously, a See Rock City one is included!
Following my brother and his family visited Rock City, I told him he would better have brought me a birdhouse. I had never mentioned wanting him earlier, but sure enough, my sister and my sister-in-law know me there it was, all put together for me on my birthday.
I have not found the perfect place for it yet, so I have been moving it around and checking out what my neighbors do with them.
Tell us : What kind of items add regional or local color to your hometown?