9/16/2015
Pat headed to the marina laundry with three large loads to
wash and dry. This process took over
three hours to complete due to a dryer being out of commission and a backload
of laundry from other boaters ahead of her.
George took care of other chores aboard, and hired a young lady to clean
the outside of “Reflection” which continued to be covered with spiders and
spider webs and gnats, along with waterway stains. Happily, she did a great job at a very reasonable
price. Later in the afternoon, Al from
“Knot Home’ stopped by to chat, as also did Randy and Cindy with their
“doggies”. Afterwards, we stayed in for dinner and
enjoyed a quiet evening aboard.
Randy, Cindy, Kaye Al, Pat, and George at "Patti's Settlement"
Pat cleaned the inside of the boat and then headed to the
hairdresser at the “Jade and Earth Spa” on the Green Turtle Bay Resort
property. It was a beautiful facility
with a health center, indoor pool, massage rooms, and a beauty salon with
services such as manicures, pedicures, skin care, hairdressing, etc. This was just what the “Admiral”
ordered! After Pat returned to the boat,
she then joined Randy and Cindy, who had just picked up a marina courtesy
vehicle, and they all went shopping at the nearest Wal-Mart Superstore which
was some 20 miles away, while George continued to make minor repairs
aboard. In the evening, we, Randy and
Cindy, and Al and Kaye took the restaurant shuttle back to “Patti’s Settlement”
for a dinner celebration in honor of the completion of the “Loop” by “Knot
Home”. We all had a wonderful time, and
again the food was great!
Green Turtle Bay Marina
“Reflection” and “I Think I Can…” left Grand Rivers at 10
a.m. for a 14 mile trip to lovely Sugar Bay anchorage, where we had stayed
before on our first “Loop” voyage. It is
a secluded spot, and we were anchored before noon. The only other boat nearby was a houseboat,
who had pulled up close to the shore-line.
Randy and Cindy dinghied over to us with the “doggies” for cocktails,
and afterwards we all enjoyed a calm, serene evening.
9/19/2015
Both boats pulled up anchors at 8 a.m. and we headed out
into Kentucky Lake under windier conditions for a 29 mile trip to Paris Landing
State park Marina in Buchanan, Tennessee, where we arrived before noon. Tennessee’s State Park facilities are
absolutely wonderful, and they usually have large marinas, huge park areas,
swimming pools, cabins, camping areas, beaches, hotel/conference centers with
restaurants, and some even have golf courses.
Dockage rates are very reasonable, and a Park Ranger will even pick you
up from the marina in a Park vehicle and drive you to dinner at their facility,
and will then transfer you back to your marina location afterwards. The grounds here were enormous, and much to
Randy and Cindy’s delight, there was a motor-cycle rally and show there this
week-end, along with entertainment and dancing in the evening after dinner at
the lodge. Beer and wine was available
with our meal which was not only very good, but also very reasonable priced. Later on, we went outside to enjoy the 10
piece band, whose performance was exceptional!
Homes along the Tennessee River
Dining at Pebble Isle
We departed Paris Landing at 7:30 a.m. for our 30 mile
journey to Pebble Isle Marina in Buchanan, Tennessee, and arrived there around
11 a.m. We also fueled up there and got
to meet Billy, the dockmaster, whose southern accent was so thick, you could
cut it with a knife. He was the very
image of a “Good, Ole Boy”, and you could see that he often enjoyed a
substantial southern meal or two, which they served right there on the marina
premises. As we got fueled up at the gas
dock, a gentleman who had been sitting outside on the restaurant porch for
brunch, walked over to us,, looked at the stern of our boat, and couldn’t
believe that we had come all the way from New Jersey. He then told us that he
had been there once to visit a cousin in Toms River, which ironically is only a
few miles away from our home. Once we
got tied up, we spent the rest of the afternoon reading, napping, and watching
T.V., and in the early evening we went to the restaurant with Randy and Cindy
to enjoy the “Chicken Fried Chicken with Gravy” which was on the menu, and we
all raved about it! It was even better than we remembered from our last trip!
The Tennessee River
Today we left Pebble Isle Marina at 8:50 a.m., which was a
little later than normal, because we and Randy and Cindy wanted to wait in
order to partake in the wonderful Cinnamon Rolls that the marina offer gratis
to its customers each morning. They were
definitely worth waiting for, and were filling and delicious to say the
least! Our 53 mile trip took us to
Double Mile Anchorage and we experienced some areas of sea smoke along the
way. “Reflection” pulled in first and
anchored, and then “I Think I Can…” anchored a short distance away. This was a lovely, serene setting with slight
current, and out of the way of any barge traffic.
9/22/2015
Sea Smoke on the Tennessee River
Tennessee River scenes
Pickwick Lock
Lock visitor
Both boats were on our way at 8 a.m., and immediately upon
entering the river we experienced thick sea smoke conditions which came and
went a number of times during the day.
Luckily, we do have AIS and radar, and these instruments helped us
discern the movement of any vessels ahead and behind us on today’s 59 mile
trip. After going through the Pickwick
Lock we arrived at Pickwick Landing State Park at 4 p.m. The marina was hard to see until we got close
to its narrow entrance which appeared to be surrounded by woods. However, we soon discovered that in reality
this was a lovely 1,533 acre Tennessee State Park which had not only a 124 room
inn, but also indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a conference center, a 250
seat restaurant overlooking Pickwick Lake, cabins, a beach, and a championship
golf course. Again, as we had at the
other State Parks, a ranger picked us up in his vehicle to take us to dinner,
and then returned us later to our boats.
This was “southern hospitality” at its best!
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| Tennessee River near Pickwick Landing
Today’s destination was only a short distance of 9 miles
away – Grand Harbor Marina in Iuka, Mississippi or Counce, Tennessee, depending
upon where you are standing. This is
still considered the Pickwick area where the borders of three states converge:
Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, and it is often difficult to know exactly
where you are. We pulled in at 9:30 a.m.
and were quickly welcomed by Jeff, the General Manager. Cindy headed directly for the laundry which
was located a few steps away from her boat, and Pat soon followed. Randy and Cindy decided that they would like
to make the trip north on the Tennessee River up to Chattanooga, so they would
spend only one night here, while we would be making that trip after the AGLCA
Fall Rendezvous in Rogersville, Alabama.
So we planned to go out for dinner together tonight to celebrate all our
good times together on mutual “Great Loop” adventure. Later we heard that four other “Looper” boats
would be coming in today, and early in the afternoon we spotted “Knot Home”
with Al and Kaye pulling in, and George got on the radio, and told Al: “Hey, I
thought we got rid of you guys!”. We were actually delighted that we would see
them again, and we took their lines as they headed in to the slip right next to
us. Kaye shortly took off for the
laundry room, but they joined us for drinks aboard later, and we learned that
they were leaving the boat here for a week while they paid a surprise visit to
their daughter’s house in Mississippi, in order to celebrate their
grand-daughter’s birthday. We used one
of the marina’s courtesy vehicles to go into town for our farewell dinner at “The
Rib Cage”, of course, known for its Barbecued Ribs. The food was terrific, and we and Randy and
Cindy had a great time.
We said our “Good-Byes” to the Petersons and Gigit and
Cricket about 8:30 a.m. with promises to stay in touch until we see each other
again at Banana Bay Marina in Marathon, Florida in January. Then we spent the rest of the day working on
our seminar presentation for the AGLCA Fall Rendezvous in three weeks.
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Shiloh National Military Park
Shiloh Church for which the battle was named
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Today we commandeered one of the marina’s courtesy vehicles
so that we could tour the Shiloh National Battleground Park, and as well do
some shopping in Counce. The drive to
Shiloh was lovely and our tour there began with a film about the actual two day
battle between the forces between the north and the south over a period of two
days. After the film and a visit to
their bookstore we then went on the driving tour of the various sites with a
multitude of monuments and cannons galore.
It was very moving, and our last stop was the cemetery itself with its
lines of tombstones, many of them with gravestones for the unknown
soldiers. Afterwards, we went back to
Counce and had lunch at “Freddy T’s”, followed by a quick trip to the grocery
store. After our full day, we enjoyed a
quiet evening aboard.
9/26/2015
Under overcast skies, we headed out today at 7:50 a.m. for a
40 mile trip to Florence harbor marina in Florence, Alabama. As we made our way, the fog and light mist
deteriorated to rainy conditions, so we did a considerable portion of our
journey from our lower helm station so that we could stay dry, and by the time
we got to our destination around noon, the weather was considerably
better. We were quickly tied up and went
in to the marina’s restaurant for lunch , which was quite good, and upon our
return we relaxed and took naps. At
sunset, one of the slip holders came by and asked George if he would like to
participate in their evening ritual of a gun salute at sunset with a home-made
cannon. When George said “Yes!”, he let
him do the firing. However, George made
the mistake of not wearing ear-plugs, and his ears were ringing afterwards for
several days! We finished our day by
going back again to the marina restaurant for dinner.
9/27/ 2015
Florence Harbor Alabama - Collegiate Bass Tournament
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Wilson Lock - 95' lift
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At 3:45 a.m. Pat woke up to a flash of light that was shining
through our blinds, and when she got up to investigate, she could see that some
bass fishermen were launching boats off the nearby boat ramps. This was somewhat reminiscent of our
experience here six years ago, when a major bass fishing tournament was being
held here. This one was quite a bit
smaller, so Pat went back to bed. By the
time we were ready to leave, there were about sixteen bass boats lined up in
slips with two participants standing on each vessel, and we found out that they
all represented various colleges and universities who were competing against
each other at that level. We never knew
that bass-fishing was considered a collegiate sport! Over the loud-speaker an official called for
attention, and asked everyone to recite the “Pledge of Allegiance”. This was followed by a wonderful singer who
sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” a cappella.
While each fisherman held a hat over his heart, a blessing was then
offered, and finally the rules were explained.
Then all the boat engines started up, and each vessel was called in
order and then was released to “GO” at the starting line by the signal from the
official. Then they were off! This was
America at its best, and the scene was very patriotic and moving! A short time later we pulled away from the
dock, and as we got underway, when Pat was pulling in our lines and fenders,
she heard something drop in the water.
Unfortunately, it was her cell-phone that slipped out of her jacket
pocket and sank. She was not a “Happy
Camper”, but George assured her that we would get a replacement as soon as we
could find an AT&T store. Today’s
journey took a distance of 21 miles through the enormous Wilson Lock with its
95 foot lift, followed by the Joe Wheeler Lock with “only” a 45 foot lift, and
we arrived at Joe Wheeler State Park Marina before noon. Danita, the
dock-master, met us at our slip via a golf-cart, but our assigned slip was
taken up by a large house-boat. She said
that the boat was definitely not supposed to be there, and she was going to
call the owners and have them move the vessel.
At any rate, we got settled and then went up to the dining room at the
lodge where a brunch buffet was being served.
We also stumbled upon an Indian artifacts show which was being held
here, and George purchased a Trilobyte, which was a fossil about 250,000,000
years old, which was found in Morocco, and is an ancestor of the horseshoe
crab. There were only about four “Looper” boats so far in the marina, but we
knew that when we return from our trip home in two weeks, the scene will be
very different. Every slip will be
filled, and then some! As of today, we
have gone some 4,103 miles!
9/28/2015
Today’s activities included organizing our things for our
trip home, and finally moving our boat into its assigned slip late in the
afternoon, after the house-boat moved to another section of the marina. Later that evening, we also had dinner at the
restaurant at the lodge, and did some more exploring there to check out our
speaking locations, etc.
9/29/2015
Today was a full day of packing, cleaning the inside of the
boat, de-frosting the refrigerator and the ice-maker, and setting and
re-checking our outside lines and fenders.
Later that afternoon George was picked up by Enterprise Rent-a-Car and
was driven to Florence, a town some 20 miles away to pick up our vehicle. After that, he had some shopping to do at one
of the Wal-Marts there, and he did not get back until dark. We then headed out to dine at the lodge’s
restaurant again before its closing time at 8 p.m. We went to bed a short time
later, since we wanted to awaken at 4 a.m. tomorrow.
9/302015
We were up on time, and George went into the lodge and
wheeled a baggage cart down to the dock which we loaded up with duffle bags,
boxes, a cooler, and other additional items, as well as defective boat poles,
which we are returning to the manufacturer.
Now we had to carefully make our way up the ramps, and maneuver around
the outdoor swimming pool in the dark, go up in the elevator, through the main
lobby, and then to our vehicle. This
process took a few minutes, but we were in the car and on our way by 5:10
a.m. Today we were headed to Richmond,
Virginia, where we would visit with George’s sister, Pat, her husband, Al, and
their four grand-children: Charlie, Allie, Anna, and Henry, at our nephew and
his wife’s home, since Pat and Al were baby-sitting them there while their
parents were out of town. The mountain
scenery as we passed through the states of Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and
Virginia was breath-taking at times, and at certain times we were not even sure
what states we were in because of boundaries that were not clear-cut. After our 500+ mile trip, we finally arrived
at their home after an 11 ½ hour drive. We had a great visit with everyone, and
were treated to piano solos by our oldest great--nephew, and our great- nieces,
as well as to a Halloween costume display by our youngest great-nephew. Maizie, their dog, also joined us for a very
fun evening!
10/1/2015
We said our good-byes after 7 a.m., and the weather started
to quickly deteriorate before we even got out of the neighborhood! Not only was a “Northeaster” predicted to
come up the Atlantic coast, but Hurricane Joaquin was also moving north in the
Atlantic, and the governors of a number of eastern coastal states had declared
a “State of Emergency”! The trip north
from Virginia through Washington, D.C. and Baltimore is always difficult, but
with the heavy rain, combined with the heavy traffic, as well as the resulting
car accidents made this 320 mile trip a real “treat”! We finally arrived home (after stops for
breakfast, lunch, gas, and a new cell-phone at our local AT& T store)
around 3 p.m., and after a quick inventory of our food and beverage supplies at
home, Pat immediately headed out to the supermarket and the liquor store to get
supplies to handle the possible storm conditions. What a “Mad House”! Other people were also stocking up on
everything and were getting ready to hunker down. Later that evening, we enjoyed not only
catching up with our neighbors, Lou and Judy
from across the street at their house, along with Ernie and Kay, our
next-door neighbors, but also the terrific Chinese take-out dinner from our
favorite neighborhood restaurant. We
were only sorry that we missed being with our other neighbors, Tony and Evelyn,
who left shortly after we arrived home, since they decided to try to avoid the
storm by “Getting out of Dodge”, and heading southwest to their condo in
Florida by by-passing the eastern sea-board route!
10/2/2015 – 10/17/2015
The predicted storms happily did not hit our area except for
some high winds and rain, and we spent our time at home keeping our regular
doctor appointments, going to our regular hairdresser and barber, and going
through our mail. We also got to have
our nephew, Ken, and his wife, Nancy, as well as our friends ,Lou and Judy, for
dinners at our house, and also were able to meet Pat’s cousin, Steve, his wife,
Chris, and daughter, Stephanie, for dinner at “Pete & Elda’s”, one of our
favorite Pizza restaurants in Neptune, NJ.
On our way back to Rogersville, Alabama, we stayed at a lovely boutique
hotel, “The Bolling Wilson Hotel” in Wytheville, Virginia which was named after
Woodrow Wilson’s wife, who was born here.
We arrived back at Joe Wheeler State Park the next day late in the
afternoon with our car completely loaded with boxes of materials for our
presentation at the AGLCA Fall Rendezvous on the topic of the Florida Keys and
the East Coast of Florida. Pat had contacted almost every Chamber of Commerce
and Department of Tourism along the route, and they supplied us with hundreds
of brochures and booklets about their areas, and “Waterway Guide” supplied us
with bags to handle these materials. We
also did book signings for our two books, and participated as “Experts” in the
separate Men’s and Women’s break-out sessions.
We also opened our boat for the “Looper Crawls”, which were essentially
“Open Houses” on participating boats. During those two afternoons,
approximately 60 “Loopers” toured our vessel. Meals, Cocktails Parties, and
various sessions on a wide variety of topics including up-coming areas that
attendees (those who are planning, those in the process, and those who have
already completed) would be encountering on their journey were part of the
“Rendezvous”.
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