100th day!

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Today marks our 100th day on the loop!  In some ways it seems much longer and some ways much shorter.  We are on the Tennessee River making our way to Chattanooga, Tennessee.  Our original plan was to cruise to Nashville on the Cumberland River, however the one (and only) lock to get into Nashville is closed for a week – at exactly the time we had planned to go.  So our travel plan was revised.

We spent four days at Green Turtle Bay Marina where we attempted to keep cool in the heat.  We have been dealing with plus 35 temperatures for over a week which the locals say is not their normal temperature for this time of year.  In fact, the air conditioners were in such heavy use at the marina that they asked everyone to only have one air conditioner running per boat. Luckily, we had been placed at a dock with a roof (first time ever) and it helped keep the hot sun off the boat (and us). 

The marina was so big that we rented a golf cart in order to get around.  We could also take the golf cart into the town of Grand Rivers and we had a great time exploring.  It is almost a one business town – Patti’s 1880’s Settlement includes a restaurant, gift stores, clothing stores and an ice cream shop. The staff at most of the shops were dressed in period costumes – long dresses (with ruffles) for the women.

Pink Tractor is a women’s clothing store. 

Patti’s Restaurant is in the process of rebuilding after a fire; we met a couple at the ice cream shop and they waxed poetic about the food at Patti’s.  Apparently, people come from all over to eat at Patti’s – so we really missed out on quite the experience (they serve over 350,000 people each year, in a town with a population of 350 people).

Pathway to the shops at Patti’s 1880’s settlement.

The Tennessee River is 652 miles long and it will take us over a week to reach our destination of Chattanooga at mile marker 464.  It also passes through three states:  Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.  We are currently in Alabama and will be in Alabama until almost Chattanooga.  The scenery has been spectacular.

This is part of what was Highland Rim that once covered most of central Tennessee.
This is an abandoned building that was used for the shipment of grain years ago.  The story goes that the building was built so well that attempts to destroy it failed.  So, officials decided to leave it.
There is a lot of Civil War History along our route.  Cherry Mansion, built in 1830, served as General Ulysses S. Grant’s headquarters during the battle at Shiloh. A field hospital was set up in the yard and hospital boats were moored below the house.
This is the smallest tow we have seen.
Flooding influences the architecture and the river frontage.
The campsites we have seen along the river all seem to have roofs.
Cypress trees
Here we are at anchor at Joe Wheeler State Park. We have been anchoring every day so far; the swim at the end of the day is much needed, even though the water is very warm and hardly refreshing. The water is much clearer here than on the Mississippi.

 

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