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 scenery along The Cumberland River is truly beautiful.  Anybody who loves waterways should put this on her bucket list.

We hadn’t seen any sign of life until we got near Clarksville, TN.

There was some industry, and then a lovely little town, which we found out was the fourth largest city in Tennessee.

We contemplated passing through Clarksville and heading further south toward Nashville.  It was a super hot day (as they all have been thus far), and I really wanted to plug into power and kick on my AC.  (We can turn on our generator underway and use the AC, but are leery about putting too many hours on the generator.)  Also wanted to have laundry access as yesterday was a super sweaty day.  Mike has been epic in leaving the navigation to me, so I made the decision to pull into Clarksville Marina for the afternoon and night for some much needed AC.  We pulled into Clarksville Marina, which stood up to their 5 star reviews.  About 20 minutes later, the skies opened up and unleashed a gnarly thunderstorm with some severe wind and rain.  I was feeling pretty damn lucky we ducked inside.

After an incredible shower, and some laundry, we Ubered into “town.”  Had dinner at Blackhorse Pub and Grill on recommendation from another boater.  Had great local beer and green fried tomatoes for our first time.  They were topped with a house-made pimento cheese sauce (which sounds gross, but was amazing!).  YUMMY.  Rest of our dinner was good too.

The median age of Clarksville is 30.  There is an Army base near here (Ft. Campbell in nearby Kentucky).  It’s an adorable little town, but nobody seems to be “from” here.  This is the little downtown:

Hoping the weather holds out for us to trek to Nashville tomorrow.  It’s about 50 miles away.  Awaiting the thunderstorm forecast tomorrow.  Fingers crossed!

Happy birthday to Ryan Rigsbee!  We toasted you tonight!  M&M