October 28, 29 & Monday the 30th;  Grand Rivers KY to Buchanan, TN

Due to rain and then cold nights and cool days, we spent a few extra days at Great Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers Kentucky after our adventure in Nashville. Friday was predicted to be rainy and it poured in the afternoon and improved in the evening a bit. In the morning I returned the rental car 40 miles away in Paducah and did a little food shopping and then found a consignment store, hoping for some additional warm clothes. That happily worked out and I did a wash later in the day, meeting additional loopers in the laundromat. Its still amazes me how many are still heading south out of the Great Lakes this time of year!

We ate dinner with our Euchre friends Chad and Michelle on our boat and unfortunately the guys won the tournament (of course we play women against men – ‘marriage saver’ rules). It was fun and we’ll miss them and the S/V Certain Way as they take their boat up to Nashville and we head south.

We managed to stay warm enough Saturday and, thinking we would leave in the morning, went once more to Patti’s with friends Nancy and Rick (Andiamo) and new friend Chris, Jen and Emily from Toronto – Canadians-eh? Nancy and Rick crossed their wake here – almost a year from they day they started the loop! Note the winter clothes being worn in the photo – it was in the 30’s!

On Sunday the chill was too much for a day on the water, so I made plans with Nancy to walk around the little town of Grand Rivers. We ambled around Patti’s again and saw some interesting plants and lawn ornaments and I  bounced on the pink tractor.

Monday the October 30th to Buchanan TN
Today we got our pump-out at the fuel dock and were getting a push off when Dirk saw that there was no oil pressure in the starboard engine. Stop the bus! The issue took a while to diagnose, but after a going through a lot of oil and getting some help from friends, the problem turned out to be an extra oil filter gasket left over from changing the oil filters earlier in the week. Various boat owners chimed in “that happened to me once”  and helped cheer up Dirk.  We finally left a few hours late and arrived here at the Paris Landing State Park Marina around 5pm. Two other loopers from Green Turtle Bay are here and we toured the Shangra-la, a 1975 Taiwanese-built trawler that actually has two stories including a stand-up engine room. Dirk was a little jealous.

The trip down here on  Kentucky Lake was beautiful. We saw a house boat zooming along – probably moving it to it’s winter home before it get too much colder.

 

 

October 26, Thursday – Drove to Nashville and back

We decided to rent a car to drive two hours to Nashville rather than travel by boat for a week (and then come back). Fortunately the Enterprise rent-a-car in Paducah is willing to go the extra miles (40 minutes) to pick up people from this well-known, large marina. We had hoped to see an Opry show in Nashville but were too late to get a reservation at the famous Ryman Auditorium. However we did enjoy a self-guided tour of the home of the Grand Ole Opry House from 1943 until 1974. It was unused for a while and could have been torn down but is once again a Opry and concert venue thanks to many enthusiastic fund raising patrons. The tour included a number of movies of the Ryman history and stories of the woman, Lula Naff, show promoter and theater manager, that single-handedly turned the Ryman Auditorium into a desirable place for the famous people of her day to perform starting in 1914! Performers included Katharine Hepburn, Harry Houdini, Bob Hope and the Ziegfeld Follies. The Opry started using it in 1943 and the rest is Opry history.

The statue is of Little Jimmy Dicken’s, a Nashville favorite.

We walked up and down the ‘honky-tonk’ street of Broadway, listening to country western music of all sorts from open bars along the way. Most bars are narrow and have 3 or 4 stories, each with their own entertainers! We ate lunch on the Toosies roof and later looked at Cumberland river views from the New Famous restaurant roof top.

A very fun day!

October 25, Wednesday Green Turtle Bay (GTB)

A quick recap… We’ve just navigated rivers I’ve heard and sung about and here we are. We went from the Mississippi (purple)  to the Ohio River (orange) to the Cumberland River (green) and now we are in Grand Rivers, a town between two lakes (Kentucky and Barkley and the beginning of an amazing wilderness area).

After a great on-site marina cafe breakfast (pecan pancakes for me) we got the ok to move our boat to the transient area and, with the help of our friends, are now with the rest of the late loopers! During the day we met a few more travelers and others came in from previous stops. Interesting to be getting to know more loopers on the part of the trip when I thought we’d be the last ones! Here are a few Green Turtle Bay photos – more to come.

Yesterday was a catch-up day, on laundry, food and Dirk changed the oil. Our reward was great though. A group of us (11) were picked up by a Patti’s Restaurant van and had a wonderful dinner in a very beautiful restaurant, elaborately decorated for Christmas already.  They are known for pork chops and outrageous desserts, but have many other excellent choices. We ate too much but oh well!

The desserts were over the top and wonderful:  mile high lemon meringue and Kentucky chocolate pecan pie.

 

 

 

Tuesday, October 24 –  From Paducah KY to Grand Rivers KY and the famous Green Turtle Bay Marina

Before we left Paducah I headed to an area called Lower Town to a lovely coffee shop (Etcetera) in the artist community. A sculpture garden and labyrinth were next to the shop, making for a peaceful way to start the morning.

We left Paducah with some help from our friends since the wind was blowing us right back into the dock and traveled about 12 miles upstream on the Ohio to the junction with the Cumberland River.

A this stage the Cumberland is winding and not too wide and very lovely, until we encountered a few huge quarries. It was fascinating and a little unpleasant since the work was being done so close to the river and I was getting stone dust in my eyes.

It was getting pretty chilly for outside boating so we moved to the lower helm for a while. But ventured out again when we saw some sun and hoped for its warmth.

About 30 miles later on the Cumberland River we came to the Barkley Lock that lifted us 57 feet to Lake Barkley. We also saw some friends had written their boat name on the ballard post, so we did too!

We followed the other boat in the lock to Green Turtle Bay Marina. It is well known among loopers and very highly rated. It is well-equipped, large and very welcoming. It’s not their fault its cold hereabouts!

Last night we stayed at the end of the dock for long term residents. It was a pretty walk back to the boat after dinner. but we’ll move tomorrow to the looper area.

October 22 (Sunday) & October 23 (Monday) From Olmstead Lock to Paducah KY

All three boats that anchored together before the Olmstead Lock left early to go through the lock and head about 10 miles to Lock 52 where we knew we’d likely be held up. The Olmstead Lock and Dam is under construction and does not raise or lower boats but all traffic must go through the new chamber. It is a huge, massive construction site that will be done in 2020, and we just cruised on by (when told to).

As we traveled up the Ohio we caught up with Dan, a sailor we met first on the Joliet wall and have been visiting with here and there on the way. This was the first time we saw him sailing, and he was doing it into the wind!

When we called the Lock 52 dock master we were told it would “be a while” and he told us where to anchor until he was ready for us.  When it was our turn (3 peaceful hours later) there were six pleasure crafts (up from the original 3) and we headed into the old, rough lock.

 

We arrived at the new docks in Paducah KY soon after and were welcomed by excellent dock hands in a light rain. After getting tied up we walked around town and were impressed with the dozens of fabulous murals along the large seawalls conveying the history of Paducah.

The group of us travelers had a fun and good dinner together in town before settling in for the night.

In the morning I got some shots of our boats on the dock and of the Padukah waterfront as Dirk and walked into town.

Also, here’s a river map showing how we got this far and where we will be going next…

The town has many interesting buildings from early years of prosperity – we enjoyed the architecture.

Paducah is a UNESCO Creative City and home to artists, fabric artists and quilters as well as the National Quilt Museum. I had no idea how large, elaborate and detailed a quilt can be and was so impressed by displays which included national winners from a number of years. Some quilts took years to complete. There were also special quilt art exhibits in different sections and I took just a few photos (not really allowed).

I would be happy to spend more time in Paducah but we are off to our next destination tomorrow.

 

October 20 and 21, Friday and Saturday; Kaskaskia to Little River Diversion Channel then to the Ohio River

October 20, Friday, was almost our last day on the Mississippi. Of course I took a few photos of tugs and tows, plus a green “can” in the the river to show the current that was pushing as along at great speeds (13mpg).

And we saw what we think are stocks along a sand bar and swarming above us…

The river was mostly rural until we came to the town of Girardeau, which looked like a nice town to visit but there are no docks we could use to stop and take a look.

We spent the night with other boaters in a small river anchorage off the Mississippi mentioned a number of times by others in the looper’s forum called Little River Diversion Channel. It was much quieter and calmer than I expected – a perfect spot for the night. We anchored together with Chad and Michelle of S/V Certain Way which allowed Dirk to teach them Cribbage and for us to learn a new card game in the evening – Euchre. It’s a game with bidding and trump played with partners but only 24 cards. Fun and quick.

Today, Saturday, we reached our first possible anchorage around 12:30 (too early)  so we decided to continue up to the Ohio River and the first lock. We said hello to the Ohio and goodbye to the Mississippi as the Queen of the Mississippi continued toward New Orleans.

Tonight we are anchored on the “Banks of the Ohio”, which is also a traditional song I have been practicing on the ukulele. There are three of us loopers still traveling together and we will get started around 7:30 am to increase our chances of getting through the next 3 locks by the afternoon. The third lock on the Ohio (#52) has been closed or very slow in getting tows and boats like ours through because of flood conditions last week.

 

October 19, Thursday Hoppies Marina in Missouri to the Kaskaskia Lock in Illinois

It certainly is easy to move from Missouri to Illinois and back on a daily basis – just cross the river! We started off the day in a sweet town in Missouri and now we are back in Illinois at a dam and lock in the middle of nowhere.

Today, as planned, we got a late start so that we could enjoy the famous Blue Owl Cafe and wander in and out of the many craft and small shops in the little town of Kimmswick. The breakfast was delicious and the display of pies and cakes were very inviting. I took some photos of the Levee High Apple Pie and we bought a small version  to eat later. Our new friends traveling the loop on a Hunter sailboat joined us for the Blue Owl adventure.

There are so many little shops that the town put up sign posts…

The Mississippi River was very helpful today – with the current’s assistance we were speeding along at 13 mph (versus our normal 8mph)! It was mostly a serene ride with occasional cement and stone factories. We even felt and saw some blasting. There were also some interesting homes along the way.

The Kaskaskia Lock is on the right side off of the Mississippi, and we won’t be going through it but it’s a good place to stop overnight. We tied up to the lock walls once we arrived and joined  boat friends Paal and Betsy for a dingy ride to shore and a walk around the nice park.

October 18, Wednesday; Down the Mississippi past St.Louis to Kimmswick, MO

Tonight we are staying on the west side of the Mississippi River in Missouri at the famous Hoppies Marina. Hoppies is famous not because of its facilities (old barges), but because (1) it is the only marina for about 200 miles between the Alton IL marina we just left and the next (Peducah Kentucky) marina and (2)  because one of the owners, Fern, provides boaters with suggested safe anchorages for the next part of the journey.

This morning we first moved to the Alton Marina fuel dock for diesel and a pump out and then were joined by two other boats to go through the lock just a half mile away. After a few hours we saw the St. Louis Arch in the distance and then we were right there in front of it.

I loved getting the straight on  photo from the front of the boat with the Old Courthouse behind the Arch.

I had to go to the front of the boat to spot logs for Dirk to avoid – there was an amazing amount of logs, branches and wood in the water as we passed though the waterfront and beyond.

The river became slowly less industrial in the next few hours.

All our three boats arrived at the Hoppie Marina within a half hour of each other, tied up and looked around. The marina consists of a barges tied together along the river and is rough, but the dock hands are excellent and the river advice we received was very valuable since it is up-to-date. However there are no facilities at all but they do have fuel.

A bonus is that the small town nearby has a popular Cajun Smokehouse restaurant where we all shared a good meal, and a semi-famous restaurant and bakery called The Blue Owl (home of the Levee High Apple Pie!). We may check that out tomorrow.

October 17, Tuesday, Dirk’s Birthday – Still at the Alton Marina

We had planned to leave Alton yesterday morning, but the temperature was in the low fifties after being in the 40s at night, and we weren’t too excited about leaving this nice marina and being cold at the top of the boat all day. And also, our friend Dodie (John’s wife) was returning from a conference  in the afternoon, and if we stayed just one more day I could see her and catch up a bit. So we changed our plans to stay over Monday night.

Monday we did some boat projects, went to town for lunch and gathered other loopers and boaters for simple docktails in the early evening.

As we were telling people our destination for our trip the next day, new looper friends Nancy and Rick (Andiamo) suggested we call and make a reservation as they heard that the marina, Hoppies, might be full for Tuesday night.  And they were! Not being sure of another marina or anchorage in easy distance, we decided we’d have to stay yet another extra day.  We followed the docktails with dinner with Dodie and John plus another couple at restaurant a short walk from the marina.

Tuesday – Dirk’s Birthday – A birthday breakfast at the marina, and later Dodie and John took us to lunch to celebrate his Birthday. Dodie gave him a do-rag/kerchief, hand rag which Dirk put to good use right away.

Later that afternoon Dodie and I went to the pool patio area to enjoy our ukuleles and singing for a few hours. What a joy that was! We said goodbye for now as we won’t see them in the morning, I finished celebrating Dirk’s birthday with some presents and cupcakes, and we are now relaxing in warmth due to the  small electric heater I purchased today for these cold evenings.

 

October 16, Sunday Alton IL

Yesterday the temperature climbed into the high 80s, today it stayed in the 50s and was windy. Just sayin’!

I got up and out early and headed back the to Unitarian church, this time for the Sunday service.  It was nice to sing and listen and relax in a  familiar setting. Everyone I talked with was friendly and I ended up going out to lunch with the church historian and her husband. I really enjoyed hearing about their good times and challenges – I could relate a bit.

I returned to Dirk and the boat and then visited various people as we discussed plans for the next few days. Most loopers and other boaters traveling south to Mobile are leaving tomorrow, and we probably will too. Hopefully it will warm up a bit.