I'm looking at the Chattanooga Aquarium out my work window right now, wishing I could go see the fish today instead of working.
There's quite a lot of things to do here, as long as you're not looking for pinball. 
We've got a nice downtown with tons of chain and local restaurants, with the biggest attraction being the Aquarium. There are actually 2 buildings, one for freshwater and one for saltwater that includes a butterfly garden and extensive petting area. The downtown waterfront area has boats with daily tours: the Southern Belle is a riverboat with lunch cruises and a burger bar on their stationary actual-boat dock, and the River Gorge Explorer is owned by the Aquarium and a custom high-tech speed boat that goes further out in the water so you can see more wildlife. Across the river is North Shore with lots of little local shops (Olive Chattanooga is a favorite for specialty oils/vinegars/food and free tastings) and Coolidge Park has a carousel and giant water fountains for the kids to play in. The TN Valley Railroad Museum has daily rides on the train, which goes through a ridge tunnel to a giant turntable and flips the engine around to come back. The zoo is growing and very nice, with lots of interactive things for the kids to do including camel rides. I don't drink, but there's quite a few breweries around town that give tours. I also don't eat out that often, but really like Urban Stack for good local burgers, and they're housed in the original luggage building for the Chattanooga Choo Choo, which is just across the street. It has train cars you can eat in or spend the night in. And just down the street is the Incline (72.7% grade for 1 mile,) Rock City (rocks, waterfalls, See Rock City! birdhouses, gnomes, and fudge,) and Ruby Falls (underground waterfall and cave exploration.)
http://www.tnaqua.org/
http://chattanoogariverboat.com/
http://www.tnaqua.org/plan-your-visit/river-gorge-explorer/
https://www.olivechattanooga.com/
http://www.downtownchattanooga.org/new/play/parks-and-recreation
http://www.tvrail.com/
http://www.chattzoo.org/
http://urbanstack.com/
http://choochoo.com/
http://www.ridetheincline.com/
http://www.seerockcity.com/
http://www.rubyfalls.com/
