Glögger: Jon turns 30 and goes flying high!

For Jon's 30th birthday, I wanted to do something big for him. I mean, you only turn 30 once. However, we have a brand new kid -- he's great but can be unpredictable and we are "trying" to watch our budget. So how could I treat Jon to a wonderful 30th birthday weekend AND watch our pockets? Umm, Chattanooga of course! Maybe not the destination most people think of when planning a 30th party, but they don't know what they are missing!

We developed a secret love affair with Chattanooga a few years back when Jon and friends entered a triathalon there. The whole town came out to support the racers and we had an awesome time watching the double A baseball team, The Lookouts, get into a collasal brawl with the other team. It was a place that we enjoyed pre-baby so maybe it would be good again with Calvin. Rolling the dice here but I thought it would work.

I rented a house on Lookout Mountain and it turned out to have AMAZING views of the valley. One entire wall of the house was made of windows so you could have the view all day. At night you can see the little twinkly lights of the small towns in the valley. It was perfect for us.

For gifts, I went all out. Jon's big gift was flying up to 4,000 feet in a hang glider at the hang gliding school right next to the cabin. They have 2 options -- you can jump off the cliff or you can be towed behind an ultralight and then released to glide back down. Jon's present was the latter -- I wasn't going to pressure him to jump off any cliffs on his birthday! Jon's other big birthday present was a weekend with his guy friends in Chicago. I figured they could give him the pub-crawling, shenanigan-filled 30th blowout that I couldn't provide. Fortunately both presents worked out well! Jon discovered a love for hang gliding (once he got over his fear of death) and discovered in Chicago that good friends make for fun times.

We did end up going to the Chattanooga Lookouts Baseball game and we weren't disappointed -- some random couple gave us their extra box seats (awesome!) and it was "Used Car Giveaway" night where they gave away a used car after each inning. Unfortunately we didn't win a new car but we had so much fun getting into the "small" town community atmosphere that Chattanooga provides.