Saturday, November 23,
At 5:30 am, with nine hours of sleep, and before the sun is up, we are ready for the day's adventure.
Our 6:30 am call to the lock master at Amory Lock and Dam (M371.1) informed us that we had 15 minutes to set the cabin, pull anchor, and be at the entrance to the lock. It was another “get moving fast morning”. Dream Chaser headed out of the anchorage without problem, but Trust Me was hung up on a stump in the side channel and needed time to work it’s way loose. The channel into the anchorage was about seven ft deep, but in places in came up to five ft. Out boat has a draft of four ft with the depth indicator 2 feet below the boat. When you see those shallow depths, all the senses go on alert! So exciting! Trust Me finally removed itself from the stump and joined us in the Amory Lock. We tied up and locked through together!
The final section of the Tenn-Tom waterway is called the “River” and follows the old Tombigbee River. It is a 149 mile section from Amory Lock (M366.3) to the Black Warrior River (M217) with five locks. While we motored this section, we noticed that the waterway appeared more swampy and wild. We began to see markers (white Hilex bottles) floating in the main channel of the river which indicated fish traps.
About 11 am, we split from Trust Me, a mile before the Aberdeen Lock and Dam at M357.5 and motored 1/2 mile through an eerie channel towards Aberdeen Marina. Skeletons of trees spread out on both sides of our path as we wound our way to the marina to fill Dream Chaser’s diesel tanks.
Aberdeen Marina had a great price on diesel ($3.51 per gallon) and a little store with all the normal convenience store supplies including giant dill pickles and boiled peanuts! We filled Dream Chaser with diesel (GULP, GULP, GULP…), but passed on the pickles and peanuts.
A close call…
After calling the Aberdeen lock master from the marina, we were informed that it would be a two hour wait at the lock. DARN! We could see from our AIS that a tow with 12 barges was coming up the waterway to the lock, and the lock master was waiting for it. However, the tow was about three miles away and moving at 2 1/2 mph, so we would easily have time to lock through if we left right away. Trust Me had made it through the lock, earlier, and was down stream aware that the tow was slowing down to a crawl. Mike on Trust Me had been monitoring our marine radio conversation with the lock master and was aware of our dilemma, so Mike called the Aberdeen lock master, and informed him of the tow’s slow pace. This prompted the lock master to call the tow, and the tow captain confirmed that he was delayed. We were given the OK to lock through and raced to the lock. YEAH!
No two to three hour wait!
We celebrated with peppermint mocha coffee and pumpkin bread!
History…
The town of Aberdeen flourished before 1850 when cotton was king and slavery aided the economy. It became an important river town when steamboats coming up from Mobile provided lavish services for passengers and brought exotic goods to the interior. When the railroads came in 1850’s, maintenance of the river was lacking and the town declined. Today, Aberdeen is noted for its picturesque tree-lined streets, quaint shops, antebellum homes, and genuine Southern hospitality.
At 1 pm, we entered John C. Stennis Lock at M334.7. The lock gates were open and the lock master was waiting on us. Come to find out, Trust Me was already inside the lock and had waited for us to arrive!
From M 313.5 for almost three miles, we motor in a zigzag pattern following the waterway from Alabama to Mississippi, and were drawn back to Alabama at M310.8.
About 4:30 pm, Dream Chaser pulled into Pirate’s Cove Marina in Pickensville, AL. No "Ahoy!" rang out, but a swaggering buccaneer appeared to help with dock lines. "Aye", we appeared to be the only transients boaters at the marina, but no Jolly Rogers were flying on the other boats, so we were relieved! A fellow boater had said that the area reminded him of the movie Deliverance. Lesson #1, never say anything on the marine radio that you don't want the world to know, because some of the marinas monitor the channels! After securing the boat, hooking up the electrical, and visiting the marina office, we borrowed the courtesy van and headed to town slowly due to problems with the suspension. Pickensville is a small laid back, backwater kind of quaint. It was established in 1820 and named for the Civil War General Andrew Pickens. Although considered a confederate town, the locals cared for both union and confederate wounded soldiers. It was a booming riverport town until the railroads became established.
The restaurant that was suggested (perhaps the only restaurant) was a BBQ restaurant, Down Yonder, which was “dawn yanda a piece”. Pictured to the left, the establishment was rather unique with friendly servers, tasty food, and hundreds of dollar bills pinned to the walls and ceilings. We chatted with the locals and dined on catfish, ribs, turnip greens, baked beans, and hush puppies. YUM!
As we dropped off the vans keys and walked to the boat, BLIMEY!, the marina's dog barked like he wanted us for supper. Thankfully he was behind a strong chain link enclosure! Upon closer examination, we found that it was just a noisy beagle. We didn't need to batten down the hatches, because no storm was expected, but the evening temps in Pickensville were in the mid 20’s. BRRRRRRR! No Problem! With the heat on in Dream Chaser, we were toasty warm and cozy.
Sunday, November 24
Pirate’s Cove was so quiet and peaceful that we slept until 7:30 am. With the sun streaming through the windows and clear blue skies overhead, we ate breakfast and planned our day.
About 10:30 am using the marina courtesy van, we headed to First Baptist Church in Pickensville. We were warmly welcomed by the pastor, his wife, their daughter, and dozens of the parishioners. Great music, great message, great people! A reminder to be thankful for all God has given us!
“Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing
Power and majesty, Praise to the King,
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar,
At the sound of your name.”
After catching a ride to the Columbus regional airport, we rented a car and took off to explore the area. Our afternoon started with a fabulous lunch (catfish) at Veranda in Starkville which is a university town. We spent the rest of the day exploring Columbus, West Point, and Aliceville.
History and a bit about the area…
The town of Columbus, MS, previously called Possum Town, has a rich heritage and lots of Southern charm. Even before Columbus native Tennessee Williams wrote “A Streetcar Named Desire”, the town was recognized for its kindness to strangers. During the Civil War, The residents of Columbus cared for over 3,000 wounded soldiers and took them into their homes. Shortly after the war, a group of Columbus women honored the war dead from both armies with bouquets of fresh flowers. It is said that this gesture gave fuel to the national holiday, Decoration Day or Memorial Day. Columbus, MS is remembered as the city “where flowers healed a nation”.
The home of Tennessee Williams is now used as the Welcome Center for the town of Columbus which is pictured below.
Waverly Mansion, pictured below, is one of the most photographed antebellum homes in the South and is located near Columbus Built in the 1840's, the building is a Greek Revival home and is a National Historical Landmark. It is unusual due to the self-supporting curved stairway and octagonal cupola. During plantation days, it was a massive self sustaining farm which produced massive amounts of cotton. Confederate commander Nathan Bedford Forrest visited often and used the cupola as a look-out post. This plantation was the site of the first national bird dog field trial. It is said to be haunted by a number of ghosts that roam in the house. Currently, it is the home of the Snow family, but open to the public for tours. When we visited this mansion- perhaps it was my imagination, but for a minute I thought I heard music and saw men in frock coats and women in beautiful satin and lace dresses with hoop skirts sitting on the porch sipping mint juleps. Did you see them?
On our way back to the marina, we swung bay Aliceville, a small neighboring town. For two years during WWII, this area had a prisoner of war camp set up to hold 6,000 German prisoners who were brought in by railroad. As we drove through town, we noticed an interesting storm shelter near a school. It is picture below.
About 8:30 pm, Greg, our Minnesota friend who refers to himself as “2nd bilge rat 4th class Fall”, stopped for an overnight on his way to visit family in New Orleans. Greg was our second captain during our crossing of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. After catching up on all the lastest news, we called it a night.
Monday, November 25
We woke at 6:45 am to overcast skies. After securing the boat, we headed towards the Columbus Regional Airport. With flight schedule changes, we had four hours before our flight was to depart, so decided to drive to West Point. West Point was the site of an important Civil War battle and a major military post. First stop was Mossy Oaks, a hunting shop, in West Point. It's obviously a popular business, because wherever we went people were wearing camouflage clothing. Old downtown had cute shops along the main street, and we chose the Ritz Cafe, a Southern soul restaurant, for lunch. Stepping into the Ritz will take you back in time to the days of classic movies. Memorabilia covered the walls and sound tracks played while we dined. The blue plate special was chicken or pork with creamed spinach, black eyed peas, sweet tator fries, sauteed veggies, and fried okra with corn bread.
Good ole Southern food!
Point of interest-Very few women's restrooms have men lining the walls! These three guys drew my attention!
Ahhh, those famous blue eyes!
Screen legend, superstar, heart throb,
and founder of a charitable food product
company. Did you know that he was
a bit embarrassed when in the late 1990's
his salad dressing grossed more than his
movies!?
Who could resist Elvis?
The American singer, musician, and actor was the
King of Rock and Roll!
Actually, his family was poor, and he was born in a two-room shotgun house in Tupelo, MS not far from West Point, MS. He had a twin brother who died at birth, and Elvis remained an only child.
Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys, starred in musical westerns when I was a kid, WOW! The popular actor and singer was loved for his good-guy image. Do you remember his horse, Trigger, and his dog, Bullet? Those were the days!
Steve said that "ladies" were in the men's restroom, but I can't put those pictures in this blog!
As we drove through these neighboring towns, we noticed that we saw churches everywhere. One corner in West Point had churches on three of the four corners. Actually, we didn't notice any bars!
Howlin' Wolf, Chester Arthur Burnett, was born near West Point. He was a well know 1950's Chicago Blues performer (singer, guitarist, and Harmonica player).
We visited the Duke Pecan Co., a pecan shelling factory where most of the pecans come from eastern Georgia. However, we were informed that they do custom cracking of local's nuts also!!! :)
Off to the airport for the 2:30 pm flight through Atlanta. We were eager to spend time with family and friends and be home for Thanksgiving.
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