Visiting Chattanooga

 

What is this, a travel blog? Well, no. Riff remains my occasional place to reflect on writing, television, music, and film, but this certainly isn’t the first or even second time I’ve shared some travel photos here and it probably won’t be the last. As a writer who continues to plug away at stories despite barely getting a whiff of financial compensation for it, I find travel can sometimes provide inspiration when it’s lacking. New places stir the imagination. So, with that in mind, I give you some of the sites in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This small city is just two hours north of my familiar Atlanta haunts and it’s proven to be a great place for quick getaways. Good food, a nice aquarium, unique sites, and some beautiful views. If you’ve never visited for a weekend, you should.

 

And just maybe, I’ll get a fun mountaintop-set story out of it.

The Incline Railway

Mountaintop View from Riverdance Restaurant

 

Bluff View Art District

Bluff View Art District

Chalk Alley

Winder Binder Bookstore

Parking Deck Treasure

All Image Credits: Matt Handle

Visiting Charleston

 

All Image Credits: Matt Handle

If you’ve checked out many of my previous travel posts, you know I have a penchant for visiting historic / haunted places. In June of 2024 and again last week in October 2025 I had the opportunity to explore Charleston, SC. Founded in 1670, Charleston features about as much history as you’re going to find in a country as new as the USA. My occult detective Jack Strange, protagonist of the short story “Strange Rituals”, as well as a yet-to-be-published follow-up and a shelved novel, hasn’t ventured to South Carolina yet, but based on all the interesting stuff I’ve seen there, I think a trip might be in the cards for my one-day-hopefully-famous private dick. It isn’t much of a stretch to imagine Jack running into some ghostly stuff in this charming old place. To whet your appetite for that potential strange case, here are some photos I took while wandering the streets, alleys, and swamps of the colonial city once known as Charles Town.

Visiting Savannah

 

All Photo Credits: Matt Handle

While the majority of the occult detective novel I’m shopping to agents this summer takes place in my home turf of Atlanta, a key scene happens in the port city of Savannah, Georgia. This created the perfect excuse to take the family to Savannah this past weekend for a wedding anniversary/Father’s Day celebration where we could not only have a great time, but I could do some fact check reconnaissance as well. Does this mean our trip was deductible? I’ll leave that decision to my tax professional, but it definitely means I took lots of photos. I’ll save the pictures from the Bonaventure Cemetery for a future post since that’s a very specific location in my book but here are plenty of shots around town including the smaller but still spookily impressive Colonial Park Cemetery.

Ruby Falls

I haven't posted in over five months and I don't plan to write a whole lot this time either, but I thought some of you might be interested in the photos I took at Ruby Falls yesterday. Chattanooga, TN is just two hours north of my hometown of Atlanta and it's one of my favorite weekend trips. Somehow in all the times I've visited, I'd never been to one of its biggest attractions, Ruby Falls.

I was missing out. Ruby Falls has a great H.R. Giger/Alien vibe (for my fellow sci-fi geeks) and my family loved it. If you've never been, make a day of it next time you're in the area. The hike through the underground passages provides some great photo opportunities of the rock formations and the subterranean falls are beautiful.

Enjoy the rock formation pics and waterfall video!

All Image Credits: Matt Handle