The Chattanooga Community Kitchen is one of the primary homeless centers in Chattanooga.  It’s a few blocks north of Main Street, right next to the railroad tracks.  On our first day there, we meet Br. Ron Fender.

Br. Ron Fender, a case manager at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen.

Br. Ron Fender is an Episcopal monk with the Gregorian brothers.  He’s lived in Chattanooga for the past seven years.  He walks down Main Street, ministering to the homeless people there. He loves Main Street, but he also sees the misery first hand.

“For me, Main Street is a sad place.”

He’s seen some horrific things: a homeless man died in his arms, he’s helped a young boy who was being prostituted by his parents for crack, he witnessed babies living in the woods just off of Main Street.

Yet Br. Ron still finds hope and humanity here.  He is a man with an overflowing amount of compassion for the down and out, yet Br. Ron is not a pushover.  Part of his vow as a Gregorian monk, he says, “is to live dangerously through his ministry.”  Br. Ron faces danger everyday on this Main Street, and he does not back down.

A man sits outside an abandoned building on Main Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

We finally arrive on Main Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee.   Kara and I will be here for two weeks documenting the city’s infamous Main Street.  During our story research, we discovered a website called “Trick the Johns” which is a site created by residents of a neighborhood on Main Street that is trying  to rid the area of prostitution.

We were intrigued to document a Main Street that is not the place  politicians are talking about when they say, “We need to get back to Main Street.”

Chattanooga’s Main Street is a known  prostitution stroll.  On this Main Street, people sell crack.  Right off of this Main Street, there are homeless camps and abandoned buildings.  Yes, the city is revitalizing a portion of Main Street near the downtown area. But out of the more than a mile or so of Main Street which stretches west to east, the revitalization covers only a few blocks.

We park the car at a gas station on the corner of Main and Holtzclaw and take a few pictures of buildings and people out on the street.

A man shows off his leg brace as he walks over to the gas station on Main Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

A sign on an abandoned building on Main Street.

Crossing Chattanooga's Main Street.

I walk down Main Street  and take a few photos, too.  As I’m crossing the street, a truck whizzes by me and a man yells out “PROSTITUTE!”

What?

I’m shocked. I’m wearing a below the knee dress, far from revealing.  In fact, I think it’s a little dowdy.  I look around to see if anyone else is on the street…perhaps he was talking to someone else.

Nope.

No one else is around, it’s just me. Apparently, the only women walking on Main Street in Chattanooga are prostitutes, or at least that is what people assume.

We’re on our way to Chattanooga where we’ll spend the next two weeks recording and documenting its Main Street.

Before we get there, we pull off and take a few pictures on Main Street in Hayeseville in North Carolina.

Looking down Main Street in Hayesville, NC.

A boy sits outside of a store on Main Street in Hayeseville, North Carolina.

A sign on Main Street in Hayesville, NC.

Selling some Boston Butt on Main Street in Hayesville, North Carolina.

It’s been five days since we started our Main Street trip, and we decide to take a little break.  We drive through Great Smoky Mountain National Park and then eventually make it to Highlands, North Carolina for lunch.

The Main Street in Highlands, North Carolina is a tourist trap. We take pictures anyway and grab a pizza and then leave.

A man drives down Main Street in Highlands, North Carolina.

Pretty much sums up the Main Street in Highlands, North Carolina.

We’re hungry and Asheville, North Carolina, where we’re staying for the night, is too far for dinner.  We’re trying to figure out where to go and break out the iPhones.  Three people on four iPhones.  There is a contest, whoever can find the best place to eat…well, the prize was never figured out but that was a race.

James finds a place on Chowhound called the Town House in Chilhowie, Virginia.  People rave about it.  “As good as any place in New York City.” It’s on Main Street but way out of our Main Street travel budget.  Our hope is to hit Johnson City for some BBQ.

But we decide that we might as well pull off the highway and onto Chilhowie’s Main Street to take some pictures.  Jesse gets out and goes up and down Main Street.  There’s not much there. The rest of us just sit in the car.

An abandoned building on Main Street in Chilhowie, Virginia.

Suddenly, James jumps out of the car without saying anything (what?), leaving Kara and I wondering what the hell is going on.  Then Jesse runs over, camera swinging, face grinning.

“I just talked to the sommelier of the Town House and he invited us in to eat.”

What?

“Yeah, I told him about our project and he said to come in.”

Let’s just say that this is the best free meal we’ve ever had.

Amazing free food from the Town House in Chilhowie, Virginia on Main Street.

The Town House doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of Main Street Chilhowie.  Over dinner the four of us talk about how towns developed and what the flash points are for a place like Napa Valley.  Around the restaurant are framed archival pictures of Main Street from the 1800s.  Jesse talks about how Main Street business development has changed.  In the early 1900s, Main Street was about moving forward, looking to the future.  Then in the 70s people started to look back, as far back as the 1800s.  Main Street became a way of redevelopment through nostalgia.

We meet the Town House’s owners, Kyra and Tom Bishop.  The two are there with their son’s fiancé who is having a birthday celebration.  Tom Bishop is a fourth generation Chilhowie resident.  The couple met in high school.

Tom and Kyra Bishop, owners of Town House restaurant in Chilhowie, Virginia.

Kyra and Tom own the mill next door  and say they wanted to build a place to entertain clients.  I can see why, the valley here is beautiful.  Tom takes us outside and points out where the old post office used to be.

The situation reminds me of Sinclair Lewis’ 1920 novel Main Street.  Lewis was cynical and critical of Main Street life, but the book did capture the enthusiasm that people had across the country to make their town something bigger, something to celebrate and show off.

The Bishops love this place and they want others to love it, too.

Main Street in Chilhowie, Virginia.