Tuesday, October 22
This morning before we left our dockage at
Florence, we took a nice walk through the park
area and came upon this pretty maple tree
in the middle of the path. The colors of fall in this
area are a little late in arriving, but we find touches
of color here and there along the way.
This morning as we headed up the Tennessee River from Florence, AL, we are enjoying the quiet and the colors that appear along our route. With Pickwick Lake beginning at MM 207, we have motored by awesome limestone bluffs, shores lined with hardwood trees, quiet bays, and cypress trees turning gold as fall progresses. This is a truly beautiful part of the country.
Wilson Lock and Dam
You see the turbulence as the water begins to fill
the lock. Boats are told to tie up at the ends of the locks due to the tremendous turbulence
when the lock fills from the middle.
The massive steel gates as seen from our boat.
As we approach Wilson Lock and Dam at MM 259.4, we were in awe of the massiveness of the structure. One looper exclaimed when he caught site of the dam, “Damn that’s one big dam!”. The dam has a lift of 93.5 feet and is the biggest lock in the eastern North America. In 1925, Wilson Dam was the highest of its kind.
The blinking yellow light turned to a green solid light, and we entered Wilson Dam with no wait time. We secured our mid-ship rope to the bollard, the movable vertical post on the lock wall, and waited for the lock to do its job. The lock has huge steel doors and concrete walls almost nine stories high. Locking took awhile as it takes about 50 million gallons of water to fill, so we found a comfortable, sunny spot and relaxed.
Wilson Lake is only about 15 miles long, but has depths of up to 125 feet. This lake has more private lakefront homes per mile than any other lake in the state, it reminded us of Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota. We motor onward, as the lake has limited anchorages.
This one is for sale!
Fifteen miles later, at MM 274.9, we entered Joe Wheeler Lock and Dam, the lowest dam of all dams on the Tennessee River at 72 feet. It is, however, the third longest at 6,342 ft. With no wait, we entered the lock, and as the water rose, up went the Dream Chaser.
After clearing the dam, we motored about three miles to Joe Wheeler State Resort Park near Rogersville, AL. The park is named after Joe Wheeler who was a Confederate Major during the Civil War and was nicknamed “Fightin’ Joe”. After the Civil War, Mr. Wheeler was active in Congress and prominent in Alabama’s history so many attractions and places in this area bear his name. This is a beautiful area with a great marina, good restaurant, and nice walks through the woods near the lake. The pool would have been inviting if it had been warmer. But it was cool!
We pulled into the marina, tied the dock lines, plugged in the electrical, and decided that we needed a walk. Off we went, confident that we knew the way. We had attended the AGLCA rendezvous last fall and had hiked the area.
After about three miles of enjoying the path through the woods along the lake, we took a shortcut through the woods and ended up temporarily lost. A short time later, we made our way to the restaurant in the lodge, and enjoyed a wonderful meal with large portions of tilapia, rice, steamed veggies, sweet potato fries, and salad. As night began to fall, we made our way back to the boat and turned in early for a good night's sleep.
Wednesday, October 23
Our morning began cool and sunny with high cumulus clouds. There was no forecasted threat of rain this week. Yeah! We are getting company on Thursday, so we are hoping for great weather. It will be cold at night, but that should hasten the fall colors.
Steve had visited the lodge, earlier this morning, and returned with fresh, hot coffee. Such a treat on a cold morning!
This map shows our route from Joe Wheeler State Park to Decatur, LA.
At 9 am, we threw off the bow lines and motored out of the Joe Wheeler Marina harbor.
As we entered Wheeler Lake, Our AGLCA flag and our US fag were flying straight out due to the stiff wind. It was a bit bumpy with up to 1 1/2 ft waves on the lake.
The Delta Mariner.
A large ship, the Delta Mariner from Huntsville, AL, met us as we were headed up river. Curious as to what it was carrying, the captain replied that the ship was carrying a fuselage from Huntsville to Cape Canaveral, FL.
Before we arrived at Decatur, we radioed the railroad bridge (a 9.8 foot lift span bridge), at MM 304.4, to have the bridge raised. They kindly complied, and we passed under the bridge without having to wait. A former Memphis and Charleston Railroad bridge in this same location had been burned by the Union army to stop Confederate advances during the Civil War.
After clearing the railroad bridge, we spotted Decatur off our starboard just before we passed under the highway bridge. To our port was the Riverwalk Marina where we planned to dock and overnight for Wednesday and Thursday nights. The marina is in a great location with good protection, but no amenities except electricity. We docked, tied up, and while Steve worked on projects in the boat, Mary took off in the rental car to treat herself to a pedicure in town and buy provisions for the week.
Decatur was built on land taken from the Cherokee Indians in 1820 which became an important military center during the Civil War. In spite of being almost completely destroyed by Union troops during the Civil War, Decatur grew back into a prosperous industrialized city.
For dinner, we chose a Chinese restaurant in Decatur. After returning to the boat, Mary made chicken soup and baked a coffee cake in anticipation of our guest arriving tomorrow from Seattle, WA.
Thursday, October 24
After waking to a cloudy, cool morning about 6 am, we readied the boat and headed to Nashville in the rental car. We completed some errands and, about 10 am, picked up Mary’s cousin Sandy and her husband, Scott, at their hotel. It was great to see them again!
After a quick trip to West Marine for boat needs, Scott suggested having lunch at Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint on Nolansville Road in Nolensville, TN.
What an experience, and what a mouth watering menu! Appearing on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, Guy Fieri had featured the routine of making the Redneck Taco and the process of slow roasting a full size pig. The Joint roasts one pig a day which is then used in the restaurant the following day. When we arrived, the aroma from the roasting pig was wafting across the parking lot. Mmmmmm! So, of course...we had to experience the notorious Redneck Taco which consisted of slow cooked, pulled pork, with slaw over a griddle dropped corn bread hoe cake. Simply delicious!
Love this pig!
Since, Scott and Sandy had not seen Shiloh, we headed southwest to the Shiloh National Military Park. We watched the film describing the battle of Shiloh at the visitor’s center, drove to Shiloh Church, and visited the cemetery. Walking down the path into the woods from the church, was thought provoking. We were strolling on the very grounds where thousands of young men prayed, marched, ran, shouted, fought, and some breathed their last breaths.
As we walked through the Shiloh National Cemetery, near the river, the huge, old oak trees stood dutifully with their large limbs spreading out over the graves. The sun shone through the leaves highlighting many of the thousands of graves that spread out before us. A few graves had monumental markers, some had names inscribed on small rectangular markers, and others merely had a 10” square, white marble posts with a number inscribed on the top. I wondered who 3535 was and how much his family must have missed him. How about the other thousands that were buried here. They were mostly young men caught up in a conflict that turned out to be much more deadly than they had ever imagined. Their graves weren’t marked with a name, because the burial detail didn’t know who they were so the inscription was a number. It was a very peaceful place to be laid to rest.
Scott and Sandy had read our previous blog regarding our great dinner at the Broken Spoke when we were in Grand Harbor, near Pickwick. So, our group decision was dinner at the Broken Spoke Restaurant in Pickwick.
We chose the catfish special, salad, and pecan pie. Delicious!
After dinner and our two hour drive back to Decatur, we hauled suitcases and provisions into the boat and settled in for the night. It was a cool night outside, but with blankets and comforters, we were snug and warm inside our cabins on Dream Chaser.
Friday, October 25
Our morning began with all four of us waking up about 8 am to bright sun, cloudless blue skies and temps in the low 30’s. The crockpot was ready with steaming, hot oatmeal with apples after cooking in the galley overnight. We finished our meal with peach yogurt, cinnamon coffee cake, and hot steaming tea. It was a great start to the day!
After errands in Decatur to Walmart and Home Depot, we returned the rental car and were shuttled back to the Riverwalk Marina.
At 11:30 am, we dropped the lines and pulled away from our dock at Riverwalk Marina in Decatur.
To our port side is the beginning of the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge which will at one point continue on for about 15 miles. This refuge contains 34,500 acres which is rich with ducks, birds, deer, fox, muskrats, mink, beaver and is the wintering ground for Canadian geese.
We relaxed as we enjoyed the scenery while motoring up the Tennessee River at 7.4 mph. It was a great opportunity for Sandy and Scott to experience the boating life and view the beautiful scenery along the way. We met tows with barges and several AGLCA looper boats headed from Chattanooga towards the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Birds were plentiful along the way.
Lunch on board, while underway, was cabbage rolls, a green salad, and turtle brownies for desert. The guys ate their lunch at the upper helm while they manned the controls.
We arrived at Ditto Marina near Huntsville, AL in the afternoon. After gulping 100 gallons of diesel at the gas dock, Dream Chaser motored into her dockage for the night. We finished the coffee cake with our afternoon tea and coffee and our group of four headed for our 3 mile walk on some nearby paved trails. Along the way, we spotted a little skunk, a deer, many birds, and investigated some bolls in a cotton field. Scott and Sandy explained geocaching, and proceeded to find a mini-whatever along the walking path.
Geocaching!
The guys were fascinated by an old train trestle that passed over the trail and had to climb up and check it out. Our route that led us back to the boat took us by a large 83 foot wooden boat, Notorius which was docked in the Ditto Marina. The boat, a 1953 Feadship motor yacht, was once owned by President Gerald Ford, actor Charlton Heston, and a Chicago mob boss. The plans are to restore this boat back to its original glory. The restoration will be a challenge!
After dinner of chicken soup, crackers, and salad, we challenged each other to a few games of Rummikub. With no waves and cool air surrounding the boat, we snuggled into the beds in our cabins, resting for another exciting day ahead.
