Day 2 & 3 Hola! Awoke yesterday morning to pouring down rain. Didn’t take off until 11:00 from Dry Fork Anchorage. We were bucking a decent current, and sucking down the fuel, so only made about 32 miles. [We are trying to anchor as much as possible as we love anchoring and the serenity of it. Also of huge importance, you can save lots of $ if you anchor versus paying for a marina. Marinas may be a necessary evil…
Night before last, walked to the Thirsty Turtle for a beer. Really beautiful tavern along the resort in Grand Rivers. Went into Paducah (in McCracken County) last night for dinner at The Freight House, a farm to table restaurant which came highly recommended. It did not disappoint! The best meal of the night was the burger, resplendent with pork belly and fried egg: Place had over 200 bourbons and whiskeys, and made a mean cocktail! Beautiful drive after a Thunderstorm…
So, we have been awaiting the finishing of our bimini for the upper deck. For non-boaters, this will bore the hell out of you. I initially didn’t want a bimini, nor the price tag that came with it. After sweltering in the Kentucky and Tennessee heat, I’m more that welcoming this beautiful addition! It does change the lines of our girl for the worse I think, but we can fold it down. Mark, the fabricator, did a bimini and some…
Had a great experience with Terry, the outboard mechanic at Buzzard Rock, on Saturday. New outboard has its initial service done. Really dug the long dock at this place. Took the dink up to Hu-B’s restaurant and bar at Kattawa Marina for a cocktail. Beautiful marina, and a fabulous bar with a beautiful view of Lake Barkley. Back to Buzzard Rock and met with Kent and Heather of Heartbeat for Happy Hour. They said they were taking their boat Sunday…
So, this is for my friend Jackie Clement, who is super impatient. Wednesday morning, while at our beautiful anchorage at Lick Creek, Mike and I took a ride around the Creek in our dinghy. Waters are very skinny here, and we need to heed that. While dinking about, we ran aground a little bit with our outboard; no harm…no foul. The even more scary part was an Asian Carp that was maybe 20 inches long that flew out of the…
Left Clarksville at 8:30am in calm weather. Beautiful, and uneventful, trip down the Cumberland. We had far more commercial traffic than our trip up, which was interesting. Most of the vessels that passed were tows and their gigantic barges. One was the Queen of the Mississippi. When you come upon a commercial vessel here, you hail that vessel and ask upon which side you should pass them. The skippers of these boats have been so nice and talkative, and will…
Departed Nashville ~ 1930. It was gloriously overcast and relatively cool. At least 20 degrees cooler than it has been, which is so welcome. The part of the Cumberland upriver from the Cheatham Dam is so damn stunning. I just love the homes scattered along the coastline. This one had its own motorized lift for a pontoon boat: Stunning scenery: We’ve had so little commercial traffic. Today, we passed by a couple tugs (called tows here) pushing some ginormous barges….
Yesterday, had an Uber drop us off at Union Station and Hotel, an old railroad station. Stunning place with stained glass ceiling panels and such ornate woodwork. Decided to have a beer at the lobby bar. Weren’t planning on eating there, but they had some small plates that looked too damn good. Had a collard green and artichoke dip (with cheese and bacon) and pita chips, and avocado toast with marcona almonds, a pineapple white balsamic glaze and micro greens….
Checked the weather forecast which looked good, so we headed out around 7:30. Clarksville Marina was a great stop. Super exciting day as we were going through our first lock. I called the lock operator, Mark, advised we were a few miles out and asked for any advice and instructions as this was our first time. Mark was awesome and told me he would fill slowly as we ascended 27 feet. The wall was super gummy. Mike stayed at the…
Upon awaking this morning to ~10,000 dead gnats (or something similar) in our cockpit, Mike hosed down the boat, and we took off. Beautiful morning, albeit hotter than Hell, with no wind and really calm water. We were all alone on the river today. The most mellow waters I think I’ve ever been in. The sun was behind the clouds much of the day so, with the bridge doors open, we were able to keep the bridge reasonably un-hot. The…