Deja No-Vu

     When it comes to waterfalls, Mark and I have a somewhat spotted history. We lived in Venezuela for two years,and never made the trip to see Angel Falls,the world's largest (in vertical drop). Similarly,we raised even our own eyebrows last spring by blithely turning right at Buffalo,and ignoring the siren call of Niagara.
      On the other side of the coin,when in St. Lucia (the South Bronx of the Caribbean-beware!) we fell prey to some cascade near the sulfurous "Drive thru Volcano" that sold itself as a treasure,complete with natural hot springs. That one turned out to be a couple of fetid bacteria laden cement ponds and a trickle of water splashing down onto a discarded tire.
      So yesterday,on the road from Knoxville,we were beset by signage touting RUBY FALLS!, the frequency and insistent nature of which put that for JR's cheap cigs and Nascarwear to shame. Once we dismissed Mark's notion that it was advertising for a housing development----like "Draper Estates",we were hooked. One sign even proclaimed this place to be one of the top 10 Natural Wonders of the World.
       Of course we were a bit skeptical nonetheless---these signs, all 100 miles of them, were screaming red in color; "BREATHTAKING", not the drab brown and white that signify a bonafide Federal/State sponsored natural or historic attraction. But these misgivings were overcome by the realization that we were in line for a twofer: ROCK CITY was right next door.
     Well,to cut to the chase, RUBY FALLS! turns out to be an underground waterfall plumetting into a rather theatrically lit cave. Adult admission,$16.99. (Shades of Howe's Cavern,near Albany NY)  We passed. ROCK CITY was further up Lookout Mountain,and by further up I mean well above the ceiling of the densest fog I've ever been in (this coming from a Cape Codder). We didn't see the 7 state view,or any rock formations,but nor did we run into any with the truck and trailer. So we called that a wash.
     Returning to the highway we passed a sign for the CHATTANOOGA CHOO CHOO---a BROWN sign.