Get Off The Couch: Chattanooga celebrates 175 years

photo Lisa Denton and Barry Courter

BARRY COURTER: Lisa, you'd think it'd be hard for a 175th birthday to sneak up on someone, but it did. Did you know Chattanooga is celebrating the anniversary of its incorporation, and there are a bunch of events planned to help honor the occasion? And a lot of them are priced just right.

LISA DENTON: Cha! This did kind of sneak up on us, but I guess when I turn 175, I won't have much to say about it either.

Actually, there is a website that the city has set up - cha175.org - where you can find out everything that's going on. Did you know that you can pay $1.75 for tacos at Mojo Burrito today or pay $1.75 admission to get into the International Towing & Recovery Museum on Wednesday or Chattanooga Zoo on Friday or see an Imax film on Saturday? And if you're in the market for a new mattress, MurMaid Mattress on the North Shore will let you have a premium set for $175 off.

BARRY: It's a pretty extensive calendar of events and special offers, including the Chattanooga Symphony Wind Quintet performing Tuesday from 11 a.m. to noon at City Hall. The full symphony will honor veterans with a performance that night at Memorial Auditorium.

Also Tuesday night, the Chattanooga Choo Choo will offer a walking tour complete with some behind-the-scenes looks at the historic terminal. That starts at 7 p.m. On Wednesday, you can ride the Incline for a $1.75 between 1:30 and 6 p.m.

I haven't found where the cake will be, yet, though.

LISA: Me neither, but I do know where you can get ice cream. Clumpies on Frazier Avenue will give you $1.75 off a purchase of $10 or more on Saturday. Even if there's no cake, I like these prices.

We'll save so much money, we can spring for the premium seats when the CSO presents "Pirates of Penzance" by New York's Gilbert & Sullivan Players on Saturday. This production always makes me think of the quote from "Pretty Woman" when the old lady asks Julia Roberts' character, Vivian, "Did you like the opera, dear?" And she gushes, "It was so good, I almost peed my pants." And Edward (Richard Gere) tells the startled woman, "She said she liked it better than 'Pirates of Penzance.'"

BARRY: I can see where that scene would stand out for you.

This is a busy week for the CSO. "Pirates" is described as a "rollicking romp," and the use of either of those words means it's a good time. Both together, well, I don't think I have to tell what that means.

If you need more enticement, the production includes "swashbuckling buccaneers, bumbling British bobbies, frolicsome Victorian maidens and dotty 'model of a modern Major-General.'"

It's got it all.

LISA: All that romping and frolicking and swashbuckling sounds pretty exciting. I daresay that qualifies as a caper.

Get event details every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at www.ChattanoogaNow.com.

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.

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