Tennessee Tales
September 30th marks one month since
we left Lake Michigan….and we do have many “tales” to tell. As I write this morning, we are sailing down
the Tennessee River on a cool fall morning.
We’re about half way through the state of Tennessee headed for a bit of
Mississippi and then into Alabama! So,
here’s what’s happening in our little corner of the world.
Paris Landing State Park
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A bard owl at the lodge. It had a crushed wing and this group found them and they keep them since they cannot go back into the wild. |
When I last wrote, we were just getting started
on Kentucky Lake and it was raining. The
day continued to be a bit soggy until we tied up in Paris Landing. If Paris Landing is any indication of the
State Parks in Tennessee, they do a FINE job!
The marina itself was lovely, as well as the beautiful surroundings,
campgrounds, walking trails and the lodge/hotel on site. As soon as we started to tie up, we heard a
familiar voice…a gentleman named Tom from the boat Q’s End came right over to
help us. He and his wife were the people
from our 1st Wal Mart shopping trip in Illinois. They had been in this marina for several days
playing a few rounds of golf. It’s
always good to catch up with where everyone has been. For dinner, we walked to the gorgeous lodge
for an “all you can eat” seafood buffet.
I won’t even mention how many times the three of us headed back to the
dessert bar J.
Fishing Boats
I think you must have to own a fishing boat in
the state of Tennessee to be an official citizen. They’re everywhere and going fast in their “state
of the art” boats with all of the electronics on board! At both marinas we have visited, each day
there was a fishing contest going on. I
believe they were catching small mouth bass and catfish.
Pebble Isle Marina
Last night, we stayed at the Pebble Isle Marina,
which was a great place, too! Of course,
as we pulled up to the dock, there were some more friends we had met farther up
the rivers. So, as all good loopers do,
we had to have a little get together.
Steve had promised to make margaritas for our sailing buddies on Time
and Tide…and he produced! The first part
of the party was on board Kathryn, but as more boats arrived, we spread on out
to the dock! There were lots of good “tales” of the river from each boat as we
exchanged experiences. The restaurant at
this marina is called The Gray Heron and they had some tasty delights! (one
being a HUGE hot brownie, covered in ice cream and whipped cream…delicious!)
Our waitress told us about the gray heron who resides in the marina. We had seen it flying here and there all
afternoon. All the way down the Illinois
and Mississippi Rivers, we had seen blue herons, but here their cousins, the
gray herons, are prominent. They are
very large birds, especially when they take flight!
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Our gray heron...do you see him? |
So, our destination for today is to Clifton,
Tennessee where there promises to be another great marina. We have a sailing book called Skipper Bob’s
Cruising from Chicago to Mobile to help us plan our trip and places to
stay. There is, also, a website called
Active Captain that people write reviews of places they have been and have
stayed along the river. So, this helps
us each day to make our plans. So long,
dear friends!
Scenes From the River:
Louisville and Nashville RR Bridge with span removed
An abandoned dock that stood here before they flooded the river to make Kentucky Lake in the 1940's
More barges
Can you see the lighthouse home in the trees?
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A wise man builds his house on a rock! |