Fall on the Tennessee

I have neglected to update our blog for a week because we have been off the boat touring Tennessee by rental car. Since we moved south out of Lake Kentucky we entered the next beautiful lake on the Tennessee River, Lake Pickwick. We locked up through a 60' lock into the lake, and spent several days at Aqua Yacht Harbor. There we had some service work done to the boat, plus used their courtesy car to tour Shiloh National Battlefield. 24,000 lives were lost over a two day battle in the trees and open fields of southern Tennessee near the Shiloh Church. The Tennessee River actually played a major role in this battle as the Union army was routed the first day by the Confederates. But Union reserves arrived by boat at Pittsburg Landing near the battlefield, and overwhelmed the Confederate army on day 2. We took Rock Chalk right down the river past Pittsburg Landing. It is hard to imagine the carnage that took place in those two days, with soldiers shooting at each other from 100 ft. away from each other. If you get a chance, you should visit these Civil War battlefields. Very humbling.

Just a few miles past the dam that makes Pickwick Lake, the river becomes the border between Alabama and Mississippi. It then turns east and starts a 100 mile trek across northern Alabama before it turns northeast and crosses back into Tennessee. That is where we are now. We have the boat at Joe Wheeler State Park and Marina where there will be a Looper Rendezvous starting tomorrow. But last Monday we rented a car and took a 4 day loop through places in Tennessee that we had not yet seen by boat. We spent an afternoon at the Rocket and Space Museum in Huntsville, Al. This is the place that Werner Von Braun built the first rockets that took man to the moon in the 50's and 60's. The Saturn V rocket lies on its side inside this museum and one can only be in awe of its massive size, and what it took to lift the Apollo capsule to the Moon. All the US rockets that have been developed over the last 50 years were built at this facility.

From there we drove over to Chattanooga for several days. It is a beautiful town on the banks of the Tennessee River. We could have taken Rock Chalk up the river 150 miles, and through two more locks and lakes, but we ran out of enough time to get there and then back to this park for the Rendezvous. There is an aquarium on the banks of the river which is as good as any facility we have seen up or down the country. Chattanooga has done a very nice job with its revitalized downtown and river bank. From there it is just a two hour drive up to Nashville. Shelley and I spent a rainy day bar hopping from one live music bar to the next on Broadway in downtown Nashville. We listened to some great music with some very talented artists that have not quite made it to the Grand Ole Oprey. But they are good. We spent the evening at a Blues bar for a nice change from country. All in all Nashville is a great place to spend some time and enjoy the music.

The nights are cold now, with temperatures down in the high 30's. There is a freeze warning tonight for northern Alabama. The trees are in full colors, and each morning there is a beautiful fog/mist as the water is so much warmer than the air. The air is very dry so the star gazing is crystal clear at night. We have been using our heater each night but it still gets pretty cool inside the boat. Good sleeping.

After the Rendezvous we will head back west to the Tombigbee Waterway which starts in Lake Pickwick and head south to warmer water and air in Mobile, Alabama. That will take 6-8 days and another 13 locks to reach sea level. We are currently at 650 ft. above sea level so we have a long ways to go downhill. We are 75% through the Loop and this next section(From the Tennessee to Mobile Bay, then across to Florida) ought to be very interesting. More later. Marc