Guntersville to Chattanooga via Goosepond

The first photo is Muriel and Shelly in one of the narrow passageways at Rock City. The second photo is heading up the Tennessee River just below Chattanooga. The third is me taking
Carlie ashore one morning while we were anchored on the way to Chattanooga. The fourth photo is a small ferry we saw in Alabama just before we crossed into Tennessee. Dedicate this photo to Ron Mercer.

Sunday we left Guntersille, Al about 8:30 am and cruised 45 miles up the river to Goosepond Colony Marina. Two of the boats did not make it to Goosepond. One hit something leaving the dock and the other had a bad bearing. Both went into Alred Marina which was close by. It sounds as though both got good service at Alred. Freedom’s Turn got their damaged prop removed and repaired and back on the water by Monday. Going There got their shaft pulled, which another marina failed to get done, and they expect to have the bearing replaced and be back on the water tomorrow. We were joined at Goosepond by two other boats from North Carolina. We have not met either of them before but the both know C Life. We all left Goosepond together this mouring and ran 50 miles up the river to an anchorage just above Nickajack Dam. It is a nice, well protected anchorage with plenty of room for all seven boats. We will move on to Chattanooga tomorrow.
The leaves have become noticeably more colorful this week. The mountains along the river are taller and rise more directly from the river. The channel is usually quite narrow with islands along the sides but with large areas of shallow water outside the islands. We stopped today to turn around in the river and take a picture of a small ferry which loads on one side of the river from a one lane gravel road and crosses to a similar one lane gravel road on the other side of the river. This was right at the Alabama, Tennessee line. We are in Tennessee again tonight. We have about 40 miles to go tomorrow to get to Chattanooga and no more locks.
We woke Wednesday morning to 32 degrees and thick fog. We watched a flock of wild turkeys in a clearing on shore. When I tried to wipe the dew off the dingy to take Carlie ashore it would not wipe, it was ice. As soon as the sun hit the water the fog dissipated and we were able to get under way about 8:45. We traveled the last 40 miles to Chattanooga in glorious sunshine and beautiful vista of the Tennessee valley as the trees take on fall colors. Soon after we arrived in Chattanooga and got the boat tied up Muriel and Shelly and I walked into downtown to look around and ride the free electric bus. Chattanooga has put a lot into making the downtown and its waterfront tourist friendly. When we arrived back at the marina the group was going into to eat dinner. So we all in town and ate barbeque. On Thursday we went to the Tennessee Aquarium which is right on the river front. We spent the entire day there and enjoyed it very much. After drinks with everyone we ate on the boat. On Friday morning we picked-up a rent car and drove to the incline railroad and rode it to the top. It is the steepest railroad in the world at 72.8% grade. We toured the battlefield at the top and enjoyed the view of the river from high on the bluff. We say two of the boats we came up the river with headed back down stream.
When we left the incline we drove to Rock City. This is something we have seen advertised for years but never knew much about. Several people had told us it was well worth visiting and we now have to agree with them. It is an amazing park which wanders around through rock canyons and over rock, across two suspension bridges, past several overlooks, and above, in front of and below a water fall. At one point you walk through a long passage way through the rocks, really a cave, where each side room is a scene from a different fairy tale. We had intended to go to Ruby Falls next but agreed that would be pushing an enjoyable day too far. We headed back into town and turned the in the car. When we got back to the dock everyone else was here and ready for the Halloween party. Each boat had been given a small pumpkin by Bella Luna to create a jack-o-lantern. We carved ours and some of the boats carved them, others drew them. One boat did the great loop ensign on theirs. We all shared drinks and snacks on the dock and shared trick or treats from each boat to each boat. The owner of Annie came down the dock and agreed to play his calliope for us. We saw his boat in Florence, Al. where he now lives. The boat is an amazing 50 foot coaster style boat which he built himself. Muriel and I stayed aboard a while and visited with Ron and his wife Carol. It took 16 years and untold dollars to complete the boat. She created several stained glass windows which grace the boat. The workmanship throughout the boat is amazing. Inlayed floors, tables created just for the boat, a huge coffee table which is actually a tool box with about 15 drawers all filled with Ron’s tools. It is a beautiful piece of furniture.
Chattanooga will be the site of the nation’s second largest rowing competition beginning tomorrow. There will be 980 boats in the races. There will be single, double, quad and eight man, and woman, competition. They will be mostly collegiate teams with a few rowing clubs represented. The city expects 10,000 people to attend along the river front. We will be leaving about 8:30 in the morning and will be escorted out of the competition area be the Coast Guard.
In all, we have enjoyed Chattanooga.

Another Entry to get some photos in the Blog

These photos loaded in the opposite order from what I intended. The first is the group with whom we have cruised all summer seated together at the rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park. From Muriel there is Peggy and Guy from Southern Comfort, Sam is a sailor who joined us at the rally, Clarissa who has been with Blue Max all summer, then Eileen and Bubba (Bill) Maxwell on Blue Max and Shelly, Bud and Muriel. The second photo is Shelly tending to the boat in the 93 foot deep lock, deepest we have locked through. The next photo is our group leaving the same lock. The fourth photo is where we entered the lock passing a tow which had just locked down. The last photo is the maze of barges we had to negotiate as we left the marina at Florence and traversed the three mile canal to the lock.

I am going to enter another blog just to get some more photos on the blog. I have never figured out how to get more than five photos at a time onto the blog. I failed to mention that we found the Andrew Jackson Monument just above the Guntersville Lock and Dam. It was engraved into a rock cliff years ago and has not been maintained. It has gotten difficult to find because trees have grown up from below the rock bluff and partially obscure the monument. Last night when I walked Carlie as we walked back toward the dock we say a tow boat approaching and I thought he was coming into the basin where we were tied-up! I thought "boy, this could get interesting!" He did not enter the basin, but tied-up to a wall just outside the basin.

Decatur to Goose Pond via Guntersville

The first photo is the channel leading into Goose Pond Marina, those are all lilly pads. The second is the 5:00 "meeting" at Guntersville, seven boats represented. The third photo is the seven boats at the free dock. The fourth photo is the gray bat caves in the bluffs along the river. The last photo is just a pretty bluff along the Tennessee River.

Well, I am going from not blogging to frequent blogging. We just happen to be in a marina tonight which has wifi. We are at Goose Pond Marina, Al. It is in a goose pond!, way off the channel of the Tennessee River through a narrow winding but well marked channel. The way in is all surrounded with lily pads and the marina is surrounded by lilly pads. We spent last night at Guntersville, Al at a free dock. Carlie and I walked around town last night and Muriel and several others from some of the other boats walked around this morning before we left. We were one of seven boats who left Joe Wheeler together but two of the boats had to go into a marina this morning for repairs. One had a bad bearing on his drive shaft and the other must have hit a submerged object this morning right at the wall where we spent the night. Hate that for them both. We had a long day yesterday, 8:30 to 4:30, but a short day today, only 26 miles and no locks. So we arrived at Goose Pond before noon and borrowed a couple of cars and went into town for a hamburgers and a visit to the unclaimed baggage store and of course, WalMart. It was windy last night and all day today, gusts to over 30 miles per hour. Luckily, on the river, the wind never gets enough fetch on your beam to be much of a factor except for heeling the boat. It is cold here, in the 40's tonight and into the low 30's by Wednesday night. Our heat pumps work very well.

Wolf Island to Decatur, Alabama

The first photo is Shelly when she received her prize for winning first place in the kayak race at the rendezvous. The second photo is Ron and Connie on the docks with Muriel and Shelly. The third photo is "Bubba" Bill rowing the dingy to the dock after winning the dingy race rowing blindfolded and backwards. The fourth photo is Shelly and Judy ready to start the kayak race. The last photo is our group at the Space and Rocket Center.

We arrived at Grand Harbor, Ms as planned on Saturday but a little later. We were held-up for 2 ½ hours waiting on the Pickwick Lock. There was a tow which had to be split entering the lock when we arrived. As we were talking to the Grand Harbor Marina for docking instructions we were surprised to get a reply from Eddie L. from the boat Eagle’s Nest. We had met them in Waterford, NY and traveled most of the Erie Canal with them. We later saw them a couple of times in Canada and stayed in touch. They live about ½ mile downstream from Grand Harbor and had crossed their wake about three weeks prior. We got to Grand Harbor late in the afternoon and got the courtesy car to go to town to eat dinner. The marina is a beautiful facility with very new docks and condos on site. The dock master is a live aboard boater who really looks after the transients.
On Sunday we got the other courtesy van, a full size Chevy van, and eight of us went to the Shiloh Battlefield. We spent over half the day touring the battlefield. It was quite impressive as we drove through the area where nearly 24,000 Federal and Confederate troops were killed in battle. After touring the battlefield we drove to the Catfish Hotel for a Sunday afternoon catfish dinner. This was the best catfish we have had since we last ate catfish in Mississippi. Following this we made the ritual trip to the nearest WalMart. Shelly was able to contact Bill Wallace, a very good friend from Laurel, Ms and I had a nice chat with him while Muriel was in the store. Our cell phones have been useless most of the time we have been on the rivers. We decided to spend Monday at the marina so the women could get the laundry done. On Monday evening Eddie and Janice from Eagle’s Nest came over and we all had a chance to visit a little over the five o’clock hour. They also travel with Southern Comfort in the Erie. This accomplished, we took a leisurely departure about 10:30 on Tuesday morning.
We are really killing time until the AGLCA rendezvous which starts on Monday on next week. We have a week to make 60 miles up the Tennessee River to Joe Wheeler State Park and Marina. The first thing on our agenda was to visit a very small cove just off the river about 2 miles upstream, we are traveling on the Tennessee River, where there is a small water fall in the back of the cove. You can stick your bow right into the water fall. This would make a beautiful anchorage but would be very small for more than two boats. We entered one boat at a time to view the falls and then waited out in the river while the other boats entered.
We continued a few miles up the river to mile 225 and turned in to Bear Creek. A local boater had told us to run about two miles back into the creek, which is about ½ mile wide, and turn into the third cove on the starboard. This is a beautiful, uninhabited cove in about 15 feet of water. We immediately got the dingy down and put Shelly ashore on the south shore to hunt through a gravel bar for stones and then took Carlie to the north shore to run. She had a ball roaming the hillside. Afterward we all three went swimming in the beautiful water, 72.5 degrees. We are planning to eat aboard Blue Max tonight. They are making lasagna, Peggy is making a pie and Muriel will take the salad. Of coarse there will be a happy hour first.
Tomorrow we plan another short day to travel from this anchorage to Florence, Al., about 25 miles, where we will moore at a municipal marina right in town and walk to a Mexican Restaurant for dinner.
Well, it turned out that we could not walk to the restaurant but the marina had a courtesy car so we got the best Mexican food since we left NC. Then we made the ritual trip to WalMart. Before we went to eat, Muriel and I took the car to ride through the town of Florence. It is an impressive town. There are many older homes which have been kept in excellent condition. In the morning we called the next lock and found that he had only one tow coming down and none coming up so we got to going quicker than we had planned. We arrived at the lock as the operator got it ready for us to enter. We waited only a few minutes and entered the deepest lock we have locked through yet, 93 feet of lift. We were amazed at how quickly the lock filled. We were lifted and out of the lock very quickly. The next lock was about ten miles up the Tennessee River. As we arrived, a tow was exiting the lock and as soon as he cleared the lock the operator blew his horn for us to enter. We arrived at Joe Wheeler State Park Marina just after noon, a trip which could have taken several hours longer if we had not gotten right into the locks as we did.
It was great fun to see all the looper boats already at Joe Wheeler and then watch the others arriving over the next several days. What a group! Shortly after getting settled in at the marina Muriel and I took Carlie for a walk on the nature trail near the marina. Along the way we saw one herd of seven deer and a couple of smaller herds. Carlie goes crazy when she sees wildlife. There is a beautiful lodge right in front of us at the marina where the rendezvous meetings are held. Joe Wheeler State Park is an amazing facility, marina, lodge, rental cottages, golf course, and a lot of woods. On Saturday morning we rented a small van and got into Rogersville, the nearest town, to look around and Muriel got her hair cut. On Sunday we went to the Aero Space Museum in Huntsville. It was an eye opener to stand at the base of the Saturn V rocket and see the immense size of it. We were with Blue Max and Southern Comfort. As we stood there wondering at the rocket, it came out that Bill had supplied NASA with some of the parts used on the rocket engines. Amazing!! Muriel and Clarice and I rode a machine to simulate G-forces and then Muriel and I rode a ride which shoots you up to simulate the forces which the astronauts experience on launch. It shot us up and then coming down we were out of the seat, suspended in the harness, for several seconds.
Rendezvous registration was Monday afternoon with seminars running all day on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday on what to expect along our route from here on to Charleston, SC. There was time each afternoon for tours of the other boats and for a kayak race on Tuesday and a dingy race on Wednesday. Shelly and I entered the kayak race and Bill and I entered the dingy race. The dingy race required a navigator and the helmsman was blindfolded and the dingy had to go in reverse around a course with the navigator directing the helmsman. Bill and I decided we would do better with him rowing and without the motor. We won the race. Shelly won the woman’s division of the kayak race. Everyone said there was no doubt who would win the race when they say the determination on Shelly’s face.
The highlight of the week for us was that Ron and Connie Mercer joined us on Monday. It was great to see them. Ron looked great, well, Connie looked great also, but that was expected. Now we have to decide where we spend the next several weeks before we arrive in Mobile Bay.
Well, last night we decided we would not take the boat to Chatanooga but would rent a car and drive there. This morning Muriel went out to walk Carlie and came back and said, “it is so beautiful, we can not stay here, let’s get out on the water and go.” So we scurried around and got away about 30 minutes behind the other boats headed that direction. We had a beautiful and short trip up the Tennessee River to Decatur where we are in the municipal marina for the night.
We have pretty good strength on our air card so I will try to get this posted today. It has been a long time since I have had time when we also had internet access.

GTB to Wolf Isle, via Panther B, Pebble Isle, Kelly's & Wolf Isle

The first photo, cruising is so much fun, cleaning fenders after use in locks. They become gross. The second photo is a hand carved wood quilt at the Paducah quilt museum. Muriel was awed by the beauty of the quilts on display. They are not just quilts they are art. Photo three, Carlie gets her first of the month bath so she can get her medications. Photo four, some of the trees are beginning to change. Photo five is some of the boats we anchored with at Panther Bay.

On Sunday evening all the loopers at Green Turtle Bay gathered for the usual cocktails, snacks, and lies (fellowship). There were about a dozen boats represented. We ate so much snack food I did not need dinner. After dinner we took the crew from Blue Max on a mystery trip to get ice cream for Bill’s birthday. We were a month to the day late but we had not seen them in that long. The next morning we left GTB with at least seven other boats, five of us running together. We had a beautiful travel day and ran to an anchorage called Panther Bay. It was quite pretty and the trees are starting to change so they were pretty also. We got anchored in time to enjoy some exploration time in the dingy and about a one mile walk with Carlie. Muriel had marinated meat for shish kabobs which we prepared on the grill. Dinner was very good! Shelly did the dinner dishes and we all got to bed early and got an excellent night’s sleep. Muriel and I rode together in the dingy to take Carlie ashore and visited with the other boats in the process. We considered briefly staying put because rain was in the forecast but decided to move on. I guess none of us really expected the heavy rains we got. We traveled 33 nautical miles almost entirely in heavy rains and thunder storms with visibility often less than ¼ mile. We hated we had left the anchorage and missed all the scenery along the way. Our lesson learned for today is that when we think it is going to rain, stay put and relax for the day and travel when we can enjoy the scenery. Kentucky Lake is a beautiful location. We arrived at Pebble Isle in light rain and got tied up nicely. The starboard engine would not shutdown. I had to enter the engine room and stop it manually. It will probably be a loose wire on the shutdown solenoid. Easy to fix when the engine room cools down.
We plan to move on tomorrow but not to go far. We have 13 days to travel less than 200 miles so we need to enjoy the good anchorages in Kentucky Lake.
Well, it rained all night, 3” to 4” and forecast for rain today, so we decided to sit out the day here at Pebble Isle and move on tomorrow. We borrowed the courtesy car along with Southern Comfort and Blue Max and made the WalMart run. This is a habit! So far, a little fog and mist but no rain. Bella Luna and C-Life left this morning. They want to get on to Grand Harbor Marina to drive on to Shiloh, Ms to visit the civil war battlefield. We will probably visit there when we get there.
We left Pebble Isle Marina on Thursday morning after enjoying homemade cinnamon rolls, made by the marina, and filling with fuel and pumping out. We finally got away about 9:30 am. We had a beautiful trip to Kelly’s Island where we anchored behind the island with our three boats and were joined by Brown Eyed Girl. They are a boat from Tega Cay, on Lake Wiley, near Charlotte, NC. They had a couple cruising with them so we ended up with 12 aboard Sunshine for the 5:00 hour. Very enjoyable time and a beautiful anchorage. There were no bugs and Muriel and I sat out on our sundeck long after sundown and enjoyed the Tennessee music coming from some campers on the far bank of the river.
We had a leisurely morning and got away about 8:45 this morning to spend another perfect day on the Tennessee River. We had planned to stop at Swallow Bluff Island to anchor but arrived there before noon and decided to continue on to Wolf Island, another beautiful anchorage behind two islands. As soon as we arrived we got the dingy in the water and took Carlie and Shelly ashore. Carlie and I walked around the island and Shelly collected rocks and fossils along the bank of the river. When I took Carlie back to the boat I bumped the boat and Carlie went over board in the middle of the channel. She never looked back at me in the dingy trying to get along side her to pick her up. She set her sights on the bank and swam all the way to the bank and I picked her up there. This was exceptional for Carlie who had to be taught to swim by Anne. Tonight we had 5:00 on Southern Comfort with Peggy supplying the munchies. She out did herself! It was great. Three boats, Southern Comfort, Blue Max and Sunshine. Oh! How we miss the rest of the combination, Ithaka. Chip and Michelle have returned to their business in Naples, Fl. There were so many good times with the four boats this summer that they are sorely missed.
We plan to run the fifty miles, with one lock, to Grand Harbor tomorrow. We will get a car there and drive to the civil war battlefield, Shiloh. We are all looking forward to this. Grand Harbor is about one mile into the Ten-Tom Waterway. We will spend a couple of days there and then head 70 miles on up the Tennessee River to Joe Wheeler State Park for an ALGCA rendezvous which starts on October 20. This will give us several days to anchor out and enjoy life on the way to Joe Wheeler.

Grafton to Green Turtle Bay via Alton, Hoppies, Little Diversion, Cumberland Towhead

The first photo is the arch in St Louis as we passed by going down the Mississippi River. The second photo shows Fern at Hoppies, a small marina on the Mississippi, Muriel says if Fern had a corn cob pipe she would be Poppeye. The third photo is Carlie all muddy after her wading in the mud to "go". The fourth photo shows some of the driftwood debris beached along the Mississippi. The last photo shows the three boats, Sunshine, Bella Luna, and Southern Comfort tied to a cell used to secure barge tows on the Ohio River.

The last full day in Grafton we all drove a few miles north along the Illinois River and took a free ferry across the river and drive to the small town of Brussels, Ill., and ate a family style lunch at the Wittmond Hotel which was established in 1847. The building looks unchanged since that time. The meal was far more than we could eat, even though we stuffed ourselves. The meal started with a relish dish and home made sausage and rolls. The sausage was a favorite part of the meal for each of us. This was followed with fried chicken and roast beef, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn. This was followed with dessert, some of us had berry cobbler and some had peach cobbler. The all inclusive price was $11.99. Needless to say, none of us were interested in dinner. The next morning we borrowed the marina’s vehicle for one last trip to the WalMart at Jerseyville for some last minute shopping and Shelly got a new portable DVD to replace the one which had died.
About mid morning we took off for Alton. By this time, 12 days with Jan and Joe, the owners of the Grafton Marina, we almost hated to leave them. But after hugs around we were finally on the move again. We certainly recommend a stop at Grafton. Not only were Jan and Joe great to all their customers but they are just great people and their town was a very nice place to be stranded. It felt great to be on the move again, even though the trip was only about 20 miles. After getting settled with the marina at Alton we decided to pay one last visit to Fast Eddie’s, the biker bar which is famous for it’s $.99, ½ pound hamburgers. Lewis called for a cab and after waiting for a while Muriel and I and Guy and Peggy from Southern Comfort decided to walk the mile to Fast Eddie’s. We did not see Lewis and Dianne or Shelly until we returned to the marina. They swore they and ridden the cab to Fast Eddie’s and eaten and returned to the Marina. We do not know whether to believe them or not.
The next morning we were off for Hoppie’s Marina Service, about 50 miles down river. The Mississippi had more current than I had expected. We saw 12 to 12.9 knots in the St Louis area at RPM which would normally run us at 7 to 7.5 knots. Hoppie’s is a famous stop for loopers going down the Mississippi. Fern, the owner’s wife is quite a character. Muriel says if she had a corn cob pipe in her mouth she could pass for Popeye. She directs all the boats into the dock which is several old barges permanently moored to the river bank. Docking into the swift current is a new experience for many of us. As soon as everyone was in and boats secure, there were seven looper boats that evening, she sits all the admirals, the wives are called admirals, and tells them what to expect as we travel on down the rivers. Then she gets all the skippers together and reviews the river charts to point out the hazards along the rivers and the good anchorages and where to stop and how to handle the boat when leaving her dock in the swift current. She loaned us her Lincoln towncar and we loaded nine of us into it and went into town for dinner. This was her recommendation to the admirals because they would not be able to get off the boat for the next several days.
The next day we left with uncertain destinations. We could run a short day and stop at the Kaskaskia lock or run a fairly long day and anchor at Little Diversion Channel. We decided when we got to Kaskaskia we were running so well with the current we decided to continue on to Little Diversion. This was a very nice anchorage where we could get out of the current and be safe from the tows on the river. When I took Carlie ashore for her evening walk she sank up to her belly in mud. She managed to do her business but she was not happy about it. The next morning she and I rowed along the shore to find a better place. I found a spot with some rocks I thought she might walk on. She immediately slipped off into the mud and just stood there until I got her back to the water and washed her off. She did not get to go until mid afternoon on the boat she was in such agony she finally used the dirt and sod Muriel had dug up and placed on a large plastic storage bin lid.
As soon as the dense fog lifted we got underway and ran our last miles of the Mississippi River. There were several tight bends in the river where the current was swift and turbulent. There were several diving bouys. These were bouys which had debris caught on the anchor chain that caused them to be submerged most of the time and occasionally surface. A couple of looper boats were damaged by these bouys. Several props were damaged and one boat had to be towed for three days to a place which could haul the boat and replace the bent prop shaft.
We turned out of the Mississippi into the Ohio River at Cairo, Ill. There was an astonishing change in the water from mud to beautiful looking greenish river water. We had read to expect heavy commercial traffic in this area but we were shocked by the amount of barge traffic in the mouth of the Ohio River. This was definitely the most traffic we had encountered anywhere, including New York Harbor. The current in the Ohio was much slower than the Mississippi. Probably one mile per hour or less. We made good time up the Ohio and stopped for the night near the construction site for a new lock and dam. The lock tender gave permission for us to tie to one of the cells over night. Carlie got to go ashore on a sand beach and get into the woods for a very enjoyable walk. We moored rafted together with Bella Luna and Southern Comfort and enjoyed drinks and music together on Bella Luna’s fore deck. There was a lot of tow traffic all night long. Twice during the night tows tied to one of the cells just below us. There were three boats anchored in the river, out of the channel across from us.
In the morning there was dense fog for a while, I got some cool pictures of the three boats across from us leaving in the fog. As soon as the fog lifted we got under way. The first lock had the wickets down which opens the river so that we passed the lock in the river channel and continued on. When we got to the second lock the other three boats were still waiting on an opening. Soon after we arrived the lock tender called us into the lock. We were lucky on the timing. We cruised past Paducah and the mouth of the Tennessee River and continued up the Ohio to just below the mouth of the Cumberland River. There is an island in the river called the Cumberland Towhead. After much discussion over whether or not to continue on into the Cumberland for another 32 miles to Green Turtle Bay Marina. We decided not to push on and get in right at dark and instead slipped into the water behind the Towhead and anchored for the night. This was a good decision and we all enjoyed the anchorage. We again enjoyed some time with the other two boats and some music on Shelly’s jam box.
We got a lesuerly start in the morning and had an enjoyable run up the Cumberland River to the Barkley Dam and Lock. The leaves have started to turn so the hills were quite pretty. We had a slight delay at the lock and upon entering I told Muriel to get a rope on the upper bollard, thinking the lower one would be too low. She was unable to reach the upper to get a line on it and the wind started to blow us sideways in the lock. We finally got a line on the bollard and got ourselves straightened out. It worked out that we used the lower bollard and it was fine, darn! Muriel was right. When the lock was filled we had lifted 57 feet to the level of Barkley Lake and the gates opened and all we could see was a tow sitting in the entrance waiting to enter the lock. A little intimidating but we had room to slip out and get by him. Then the world opened up to the beautiful sight of Lake Barkley. Green Turtle Bay was only another mile into the lake.
Since we have been here we have dined at Pattie’s 1880 Restaurant. The restaurant is famous in these parts for their 2” thick pork chop. I could not eat the whole thing.