If you go
› What: Museum Hop› Where: Nine area museums› When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Friday, Aug. 9-10› Admission: $20› For more information: 423-894-8028
Did you know the towing industry started in Chattanooga in 1916? Or that one of the most priceless collections of vintage guitars can be found in the Southside?
Discover this and more about Chattanooga when the second Museum Hop is held Thursday and Friday, Aug. 9-10. One $20 ticket gets the holder into nine area museums - a savings of more than $60 over regular admission prices.
Last year's inaugural Museum Hop included six museums. New museums added this year are the International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum, Coker Tire Museum and National Park Partners.
Here's how it works: Register at www.tvrail.com or by phone at 423-894-8028. Then pick up your "passport" at any of the participating museums when you start your tour.
Museum Hop is self-guided, so visitors can set their own pace. As you arrive at each tour stop, have the passport stamped. Visitors with stamps to all nine museums will receive a T-shirt.
PARTICIPATING MUSEUMS
» International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum, 3315 Broad St.
Take a walk through history and learn how the towing/recovery industry started in Chattanooga in 1916. See 18 antique tow trucks and two Model T automobiles as well as hundreds of collectible toy tow trucks.
» Coker Tire Museum, 1317 Chestnut St.
Founded in 1958, Coker Tire started as a local tire shop and grew into the world's largest manufacturer/supplier of tires and wheels for collector vehicles. This museum features vehicles and memorabilia spanning 120 years of automotive history.
» Charles H. Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center, Northgate Mall entrance near Sears
This museum tells more than the history of the highest and rarest military decoration awarded by the President of the United States.
» Songbirds Guitars Museum, 35 Station St.
Explore a priceless collection of rare vintage guitars. You will see the most complete collection of Fender and Gibson electric guitars, along with many other brands owned by some famous musicians over the years.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum showcases the Golden Age of railroading.» Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, 4119 Cromwell Road
Visitors experience the "Golden Age" of railroading through vintage trains placed in an authentic setting. Tour the display yard featuring steam and diesel locomotives as well as passenger and freight cars. Visitors may also take a train ride on the Missionary Ridge Local.
» Bessie Smith Cultural Center, 200 E. M.L. King Blvd.
The Bessie Smith Cultural Center preserves African-American history in Chattanooga through art, research, entertainment and education. The center houses a performance hall dedicated to Bessie Smith, the "Empress of the Blues."
» National Park Partners, Booth inside Bessie Smith Cultural Center
The oldest and largest of America's Civil War parks, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, commemorates the 1863 battles for Chattanooga that marked a major turning point in the war. Learn about the park and its newest addition, Moccasin Bend National Archeological District.
Houston Museum of Decorative Arts contains Anna Safley Houston's massive collection of antique glass, ceramics and pottery.» 6th Cavalry Museum, 6 Barnhardt Circle, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia
Where else can you see an M-47 Patton tank? Long before there was the city of Fort Oglethorpe, there was the Army Post at Fort Oglethorpe. See the history of the 6th Cavalry come alive through authentic weapons, uniforms, photographs, documents and fully restored 1944 Willys Jeep.
» Houston Museum of Decorative Arts, 201 High St.
A Victorian residence in the Bluff View Art District contains one of the finest collections of antique glass, ceramics and pottery in the world, as well as many rare and unusual antiques. The collection is an enduring tribute to the determination of one extraordinary woman who spent half a century putting it together, Anna Safley Houston.