Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Pickwick Lake begins at mm 207
on the Tennessee River and is 55 miles long. It is a result of a Tennessee
Valley Authority dam project in 1938. Beautiful homes and marinas can be spotted
along the shore. The lock was a 55 ft. lift to reach lake level.
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| Homes on Pickwick Lake |
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| Lower Anderson Branch |
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| Grand Harbor Condominium and Marina |
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| I like a marina with a sense of humor! |
Today’s voyage was not far… just across Pickwick Lake to Grand Harbor Marina. This is where the Tennessee
branches off towards Mobile, Alabama and becomes the Tenn-Tom (Tombigbee) waterway.
The upcoming AGLCA (American Great Loop Cruising Assoc.) conference would put a hold on our
travels in this direction. For the next
few days we are happy to visit this tri-state area (TN, Miss., and Alabama). My
cell phone had me in a different city and state depending on the direction I
faced! None of which provided a decent signal. That goes for the Internet too! Limelight fell in behind us as we
crossed the lake with Catmandu. They had
spent the night safely at the anchorage. Don said his boat was making a wake
all night and it was not even running. Strong current! Once we settled into our
slip Anita and I walked over to the dock house. Cute swinging tables line the dock. I picked up a chart of Pickwick
Lake from the dock master, Barry Blue-eyes. Funny guy! A sailboat was at the fuel dock, it
was ‘the girls’! At 23ish, these young ladies had traveled the same river route
as us. Katie and Jessie are accompanied by a dog and kitten (Reggie and Bird). They
have a lot of gumption and remind me of a couple other girls we know!
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| Jess and Katie (Reggie too!) |
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| Limelight and Irish Attitude |
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| The end to another perfect day |
One of the couples we met at
docktails was from a PDQ catamaran, Snow Cat. Bernie and Don bought
their boat in Rhode Island, live in Canada and just crossed their wake at Grand
Harbor! They are continuing on to Florida for the winter months. The six of us
took the courtesy car to the Catfish Hotel.
Thirty minutes on winding roads, will we ever get there? It exceeded our
expectations. The food was great but the entertainment was even better. Two Blackhawk helicopters and 8 soldiers from
a nearby Army Air corps base were fulfilling a night flight requirement and
landed out front of the restaurant for dinner! (Their dinner, they assured us,
was on them. We paid for the transportation!) Gentlemen, your service is
appreciated.
Wednesday we traveled to Shiloh
National Military Park where nearly 24,000 Union and Confederate soldiers perished.
Snow Cat, Catmandu, Limelight and Irish Attitude piled into a van for the
trip. The tour began with a movie. It was a very good film that explained the
military strategies through narratives from the perspective of famous generals,
intelligence couriers to young drummer boys. We were all moved and humbled to
be standing on such hallowed ground. The battle of Shiloh was a big wake up
call for our nation. One year into the civil war, people began to realize this would
not end quickly with minimal loss.
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