Movie and a Pizza

• We went to the Walton Beach City dock; it was free for 24 hours. You had to call the city for permission, then they notify the police. We took a walk to town and found a movie theater. Mike went to get our tickets and asked for a senior citizen discount. The young man at the counter said, "We don't have senior discounts." Mike was a little irritated and said, "Give me two tickets." The young man said that will be $2.00! No wonder they don't give discounts. Mike was really surprised when he gave them $5.00 and got $3.00 change. We enter and there's a pizza place. You go inside and there are tables and chairs. You take your seat and a waitress comes over and takes your order. We had a pitcher of beer, a pie and a box of raisinettes while we watched the movie. Guess who had the beer and who had the raisinettes? The whole night cost about $20.00, you can't beat that!
• The next day we headed for Panama City, Fla. We are in salt water, the spray on the boat does not just fall away like it had been. Now the salt sticks and streaks. We have to be careful when we tie up as we are back in tidal waters. The beaches along the shore are all beautiful and sandy, no more mud. Once again, my hair is a mop of frizz. The dolphins are playing in our wake, I love it.

LuLu's Restaurant, Jimmy Buffett's sister

• LuLu's is a casual bar and restaurant outside of the Homeport Marina. We were told that there's always a chance that Jimmy will drop in. There was entertainment the entire weekend but Jimmy never showed up. LuLu wasn't there either!
• Back in 1964 I worked for a company, United Technical Publications, in Garden City. My boss, Dorothy R., was an absolute doll. I stopped working after Sean was born but continued to keep in touch with Dorothy. We would send notes with our Christmas cards. Anyway, some years ago Dorothy moved to Alabama. I called her from the Homeport and she came down to meet me at LuLu's. There was no band playing when we got there, we were the first table next to the stage. We were talking away, 40 years worth of reminiscing, a member of the band came us to us and said, "You two look like you're having a great conversation, I'm about to start playing and the speaker is right next to you, would you like me to have your waitress move you to another table?" Of course we were moved. I know, you think I'm going to say it was Jimmy...but it was just a local band. We continued to talk for the next few hours, it was great to see her.
• Again the weather did not cooperate, we rented a car and went to the National Museum of Naval Aviation. We went to the IMAX theater and saw "Hurricane on the Bayou." It was all about Hurricane Katrina. We were right in the middle of it, I could feel the wind in my face, what devastation. The dramatic recreation of the Hoa Lo Prison, the Vietnam P.O.W. camp gave me the creeps. How can humans be so cruel? Mike went in a Blue Angel cockpit, it was a little cramped for him. The first plane to fly the Atlantic, combat planes from Midway, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq. Even I could have spent hours here.
• You'll love this...At the marina there was a Meridian dealership. Just for fun we went to look...we must really be sick in the head. We found a 45'9" cockpit motoryacht. It had a washer and dryer (you have no idea how much I spend a week on laundry), central vac system, 2 full heads I could fill this page with the extras. Two state rooms the size of a hotel room. We talked to the salesman and he invited us to a cocktail party. The next thing I know we are negotiating a deal. What a hoot it would be to come home with a new boat, 13' bigger. Anyway, we came to our senses in time. The laundry did not justify the loss we would take on our current boat.

Going to the dogs!

• We traveled 54 miles and decided to call it a day. We pulled into Bates Lake to anchor. At the opening it was only 3 feet deep, in the morning the tide should be high, so getting out will not be a problem. We went in first and then two other boats followed us. Once past the entrance we had plenty of water. The other two boats had dogs. Since it's a lot easier for us to drop our dinghy, Mike became the dog service (Buster must be turning over in his grave). Mike picks up Tango and Bootie and takes them to shore to do their thing. I really should have taken a picture of Mike and the dogs.
• We took a dinghy ride up and down the lake - a collection of beautiful homes, shanties, house barges and boat garages. As you got further up the lake it became a real swamp, with Spanish moss hanging from the trees. The cypress trees come right up out of the water. I'm still looking for alligators.
• The next morning we wanted to leave early; we had 65 miles to go to get to the next port. The weatherman is still talking about bad weather coming. Mike picked up the dogs and headed for land; he now brings doggie goodies with him. One of the other boats pulled anchor and had a tree trunk attached to it (about 8' around). They had to use a battery operated seawall to cut it lose. You never know what these guys have on their boats. What a production!
• We are now in Dog River Alabama. I got up early, 5:30 a.m. and it's still dark - I couldn't sleep. I had a cup of coffee and decided to run to the laundromat and get the wash done so we could have the day to play. It rained hard during the night and because it's high tide the water is up in the parking lot. Living on the water most of my life, floods do not bother me. I put the wash in the machine and hear on the TV that there is a tornado watch. Next thing I hear is a siren, similar to the fire whistle at home, and then it sounded like God was talking to me. Real loud he said to take cover, a tornado is coming. I run back to the boat..Mike is standing there...did you hear what I heard... I think I heard a tornado is coming..Yep that's what I heard. Now what? I asked Mike what should we do? We are on an island and surrounded by marsh...there's nothing we can do. The ducks, geese and pelicans have not left. We could see the dark clouds and feel the pellets of rain. Just relax 'til it passes. We went outside with the other boaters to see what they were doing, you guessed it, everyone was having coffee and talking about the last tornado. I was so happy that we rode the extra miles yesterday, I would not like to be stuck in this while on the river. Around 10 o'clock we got the all clear. It just rained all day.
• We took the courtesy car and went to Battleship Memorial Park to see the submarine USS Drum and the USS Alabama. We walked the decks of this 680 foot 70 million pound (under battle conditions she weighed well over 90 million pounds) battleship. Can you imagine she had a crew of 2,500 men aboard?! The ship was commissioned in 1942. The gun turrets were like small houses, yet the spot where the men running the guns was very small. The captain's quarters were much smaller than I expected. The enlisted men's mess and bunks were made so that there were 3 shifts. There was always someone in your bed. While we were taking the tour many "old guys" would say "Remember Smitty, he slept here with his feet in my face." These "old guys" were 19 and 20 when they served on the ship. This put a face to history.
• We went into a flight simulator. Then we went on a pontoon fighter taking off from the deck of a ship. What a rush! A touch of reality comes about when you can feel and touch history, not just read about it.

Lower Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway

• Demopolis, Alabama...We pulled in, filled-up, pumped out and and got our slip assignment. Went to the slip, turned to stern, and started to back up and came to an abrupt stop. Oh Sugar, Honey, Ice, Tea, we hit something...Did we damage the props? We docked the boat in another slip and Mike went to the dock master to let him know something was wrong. Turns out that a house boat had just left that slip. It was there for the past two years. There was all kinds of stuff under it. Tree stumps, branches and logs. We took the boat for a ride to make sure we didn't have a vibration or any other problem. There didn't seem to be any, but we all know Lucky Eddie, next week the rudders will fall off.
• The rest of the weekend was uneventful. We took the bikes for a ride to church, did some walking and ate at the same restaurant 3 times.
• Next stop on the hook in Bashi Creek about 80 miles south of Demopolis. The entire creek is only about 12 feet wide, we had to use a bow and stern anchor (thanks to Walter K's parts store we have a second anchor) to keep us straight.
• Mike took Ruth and her dog Tango to the ramp for a walk. While at the ramp he met a family from Alabama; they were on a pontoon boat. Mike started a conversation with the young father. The guy had never met someone from N.Y. before...Mike thought he was going to touch him. Anyway the family had been fishing and offered Mike half of the fish. They didn't look like they could afford to give their dinner away. Mike explained that I would not cook the fish on the boat, it would stink for a week. We thought that was real southern hospitality.
• The man told us about the alligators in this area. He said when it got dark we should take our spotlight and shine it across the river and in the bows along the shore and we would see a pair of red eyes. Just when I thought I was safe from sharks, I have to worry about alligators. We got up at 3 in the morning, grabbed the search light and started checking along the shore. Remember this shore line is all trees and vines. We couldn't see anything, we heard fish jumping, water spilling down the side of the mountain, the call of the coyote, the buzz of the mosquito and felt the bite but no alligators. We looked up and saw more stars then you can imagine, but no alligators. Do you think that good ole boy was putting us on?
• There's a place along the river called Bobby's Fish Camp. It's early around 12 P.M. but we decided to stop for the night. Bobby has two floating docks about 100'. We called Bobby and he said " just pull up" and tie up. There's no electric or water. We waited but Bobby never came down to check on us. Remember we are in Alabama, (Mike keeps hearing banjos) we walked up a hill and at the top was a restaurant, this is one time I was glad it was not open on Mondays. There in the dark corner sat Bobby. He was chewing tobacco and spitting into a soda can. The place was really dirty. All I could think of was Bates Motel. Bobby didn't move from his seat. It was $1.00 a foot and if we used a charge card it was an extra 5%. A real character.
• As the day went on we became the dock master. Boaters would call, we could hear them on the radio. Again, Bobby would tell them to just pull in. When there was no more room and more boats were coming, he told us to work it out among ourselves. A 75', 65', 2-43', a 37' and us on a 100' dock. We started to raft off 3 deep. There were 2 "Bubba Boats" with guys in full camouflage carrying bows and arrows. We weren't sure if they were skin heads or survivalists and we didn't ask. One boat wanted fuel, Bobby said pump it yourself. It cost $900. and the owner had to bring the money up to Bobby. There were also trailors and cabins that you could rent. We kept looking for the candid camera, this just couldn't be real.
• Everyone became friends. That night we took a tour of the 75' boat. I can't begin to tell you, I'm living in a dingy.
• During the night we had wild animals crawling all over the boat. Dennis said he saw them looking in our hatch. We could hear them, the door was closed so we paid no attention.
• Everyone left at 6:30 A.M., in the dark. We all went through the last lock for this leg of the trip.
• I'll aways remember Bobby and not fondly.

Happy Birthday Mike

• There are 9 boats going through one lock. We volunteered to raft off another boat, this way we could all get through faster. I started to talk to the guy that was holding onto our boat. He owns a dolphin boat in Alabama. Three times a day he takes groups out to see dolphins. He loves his job, the kids get so excited when they spot one. I told him I would get excited if I saw one. He also told me to enjoy the next few marinas because as you get further down the river they get pretty raunchy.
• At the next lock a very nice "rollie-pollie" lock master stopped to talk to me. He told me he would call ahead to the next lock and let them know we were on our way. I tried to keep a straight face and thanked him. I think we're all the same, when you pass a car accident, you don't want to look, but you do, you get annoyed at yourself for looking. Anyway, the lock master had a booger that was going in and out as he spoke to me, I couldn't keep my eyes off it. When he finished I wanted to laugh out loud, how can something like that strike me so funny. I wonder, should I have told him...
• He wasn't kidding when he said the marinas would get bad. It's Mikes birthday, let's have a special dinner. Turns out its a dry county. A dry, dry county. You can't even bring your own bottle into the restaurant. Picture the cafeteria in the worst sense. Formica tables, hard fold up chairs and no air-conditioning. That was his special dinner. You did get free ice tea refills, the tea was served in mason jars.
• I didn't have the heart to have the waitress sing happy birthday...
• Next place we stayed was even funnier. You must remember, when you stay at a marina in Alabama it costs anywhere from $.65 a foot to $1.00 a foot, so rather than drop an anchor, you can have electric and know you won't get hit by a barge. I'm really not being fresh, but I guess I would never want to live here. The people are as nice as can be. They just live a different, a more simple life. I don't like to go in a place that's like an out-house. I turned on the faucet and orange water came out.
• We took the courtesy car to go on a little excursion. We were told that there may be a slight problem with the car, they thought they had bad gas. The car had over 240,000 miles on it. Mike said there's nothing wrong with the gas, it needs a new engine. Anyway, it wouldn't go over 10 miles an hour, when you went downhill it did go up to 35mph. We kept having to pull over to let trucks pass us. All I could think of was "Little Miss Sunshine", I'll soon have to get out and push. It would buck and jerk and buck again. It was like riding a bronco. We did have a lot of laughs, the fear was breaking down when we had no bars on our cell phone.
• We went to the Tom Bevill visitor center at Pickensville. A reproduction of the once elegant plantation houses is the first thing you see. You walk through it and can picture Scarlett coming down the stairs. Onto the Snagboat Montgomery. Both the house and the boat are museums of river folklore and history. Remember when Tammy gave the tour in "Tammy and the Bachelor", that's what it was like.
• We made it home safe, just another adventure, that we will never forget.

Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

• More about the waterway. The idea of the waterway was introduced to Congress in the early 1800's and construction started in December 1972. I wonder how long these plans sat on someone's desk. It's 234 miles long and is 280 to 300 feet wide. There are 10 locks along the way, the largest lift is 84 feet. The average lock takes 46 million gallons of water to fill it and takes 12-15 minutes to empty and 14-16 minutes to fill. The locks are 600 feet long and 110 feet wide. Our boat looks like a toy in them. It took 12 years to complete; December 1984.
• It saves uses over 800 miles between the Tennessee River and the Gulf of Mexico. The companies that use it annually save $130,000,000. The average 8 barge tow can move as much freight as 120 rail cars or 480 tractor trailer trucks. A barge can move a ton of freight twice as far as a train and 6 times as far as a tractor trailer on the same amount of fuel.
• The best part is how mother nature decorated the bluffs and shore. Our heads are like being at a tennis match going back and forth.

Battle of Pittsburg Landing

• There are 4,200 acres overlooking the Tennessee River with 156 monuments, 217 cannons and more than 650 historic tablets marking the battlefield. We took the car and drove 14 stops along the 10 mile battlefield. Pittsburg Landing, Grant's last line, Hornets' Nest, Ruggles' Battery, Shiloh's Casualties, Confederate Retreat, Shiloh Church, Union Reconnaissance Patrol, Union Lines of Defense, Invasion of the Union Camps, Field Hospital, Death of General Johnston, The Peach Orchard and Bloody Pond.
• We asked the ranger if she ever walked the entire field. Her response was, "No, but boy scouts often spend several days here camping and walking the battlefields."
• I was very surprised at the size of the Bloody Pond. During the battle, soldiers on both sides came here to drink and bathe their wounds. Both men and horses died in the pond. There was so much blood that the water actually turned dark red.

Shiloh Battlefield

We stayed at Aqua Yacht Harbor in Iuka, Mississippi. (remember how proud you were of yourself when you learned how to spell Mississippi?) We took the courtesy car and drove to Shiloh Battlefield. We saw a 25-minute film about the war and the battle. We went with the troops through the two days of battle. April 6, 1862 and April 7, 1862. This was the bloodiest military engagement in American history. Nearly 24,000 casualties. The economic, farm production and property values reached before the civil war would not reach that level again until the 1900s. This was one of the best tours I have ever been on.

Tennessee River

• The Tennessee River flowing south and southwest to its confluence (I read that somewhere) with the Ohio River at Paducah, Ky. and flows through 4 states; Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Kentucky.
• We went from Barkley Lake through the Barkley Canal to the Kentucky Lake and Tennessee River. It's really beautiful. Our first night we spent in Paris Landing (I always wanted to see Paris). We watched paratroopers drop from a huey helicopter, twin bladed, into the river. They were Screaming Eagles 101st Airborne. They were to be deployed in the next week or two to Iraq. They were all babies and all we can do is say a prayer for their safety.
• The next night we spent at Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, TN. It seems that the first Johnsonville, Old Johnsonville, is underwater, part of the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Lucky for us the Army Corps of Engineers grabbed their shovels and made the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. By connecting the Tennessee River in Mississippi and the Black Warrior River in Alabama, a direct water route from Tennessee River to the Intracoastal Waterway and the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile Bay was made. This means we can go from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast without having to go on the Mississippi.
• We saw Bald Eagles, I learned that bald means white not hairless. These bald eagles are blackish-brown on their back and breast with white heads, necks and tails their bill and feet are yellow. The female is bigger than the male and they weigh 10 to 14 lbs and can fly 35 miles an hour.
• This marina, Pebble Isle is one of our favorites. We were there for the end of the summer bash. They had a live band "Syndicate of Soul" about 10 pieces. We love to dance and had a wonderful time dancing, singing and drinking to real music. Our legs, feet, back and throats were sore the next day. What's gonna happen when we really get old?
• Next stop Clifton Marina still in Tennessee. In the guide it said 4 restaurants. The town was so desolate that there was only 1. It can be upsetting at times when you see so much poverty. Anyway at Ray's restaurant Mike had chicken and dumplings, white beans, mashed potatoes, creamed broccoli with cheese, corn bread and ice tea for $5.00. Good thing he doesn't mind a little starch for lunch.
• For 10 or so days Mike has been complaining about his ear. There was a walk in clinic in town and he decided to check it out. There was no doctor and he couldn't make a appointment for the next day. When he said he would go to the next town to the hospital, I knew he was getting concerned about the ear. We went to the emergency room and 5 hours later found out that he had done the right thing in taking the Amoxicillin. The doctor (a baby) said it would take time, it would heal, just leave it alone and don't get any water in it. I did not say a word about never getting the 5 hours back that I wasted sitting in the emergency room.

Grand Rivers, Kentucky

• The buzz at Grand Rivers is that it's a dry county. But let's face it, Mike has enough booze on board to open another Mumbles (a bar he owned). We are in a hand clappin, toe tappin, country, gospel, bluegrass, red neck county. Lots of "Y'all". We asked directions; this I will never forget. We were told to go about a mile to where the big tree used to be and make a left. I walked away and started to laugh. I couldn't even tell Mike what I was laughing at for a good 5 minutes.
• At this marina there were lots of loopers. We all got together at 5:00 for cocktail hour and all our war stories were shared. Later several couples got together for dinner. We went to Patti's 1880 Restaurant. The place is known for its 2" pork chops. They give you an ice cold glass for $1.00 and everyone has their bottle in a brown paper bag on the floor next to their chair. Remember it's a dry county.
• We needed some supplies, Mike had to break down and go to a Wal*Mart, (it's all non-union and he hates it), but it's the only store around. This is Paducah, Kentucky. The only thing he saw made in the USA was Budweiser. Anyhow, if you know Mike you understand what I had to go through the entire afternoon.

Muddy River, Ohio River, Clumberland River

• We traveled 44 miles down the Mississippi to the town of Kimmswick, MO, and a place called Hoppie's. On the Mississippi the places to spend the night and get fuel are few and far between. You can not just pull over and anchor because the barges travel 24 hours a day and they can not just stop if you're in the way. We were told to be very careful when we anchored because a barge can break loose and because of the speed of the current you could get hit and God help you if this happens. It's a silent threat because there are no motors and you can not hear it coming.
• Hoppie's is several barges tied together. A wonderful and interesting woman runs the marina. You can not help but like her, she's a little bit mother and a lot Tugboat Annie. From the moment you pull up you know who's the boss. She tells you where to tie up and how she wants you tied up. The next thing she does is tell you to meet her at whatever time she picks because she wants to go over some information with you. At first you say to yourself, who is this woman? You do as you are told and attend the meeting. The information she gives you is invaluable and worth every minute it takes . As I mentioned you have to be very careful where you anchor. This woman gives you her knowledge of the Mississippi and what is happening at that time. She told us that a heavy rain storm was coming and not to take any chances. She said that you can not just anchor in a narrow opening because with the heavy rain a "wall" of water will come down from the little tributaries and you will be swept away and a lot of damage is caused...if you survive. She went over a list of common places to stay and told us which ones to stay away from.
• We left the next morning with our tanks full and ready to get ahead of the heavy rain storms that were due. We rode 110 miles, this makes for a very long day. Between watching for the debris (tree trunks) and the many barges you are totally exhausted after traveling 10 hours. We anchored at Little Diversion Channel. This narrow channel gives you plenty of protection from the current and passing traffic. We were in a valley and it was a very hot spot. We ate and fell asleep early.
• We left at the crack of dawn the next morning and decided to go all the way to the next marina - Green Turtle Bay Marina. We continued down the Mississippi with the current giving us an extra 4 knots. As I mentioned earlier, we had to be careful of our fuel because there's no place to stop. Forty miles down river there's a popular anchorage called Angelo Towhead. Fern, the lady from Hoppie's, told us not to stay there because when the Army Corps of Engineers cleared this land they cut down the trees and left the stumps, with the water low, you can damage your props.
• We made our way to the Ohio River, we not only lost the 4 extra knots but because we were now going upstream we had the current against us and now were losing 2 knots. This river is so much cleaner than the Big Muddy, it's more like the color of the canals at home. There are lots of tows working in this area and you must keep alert. We will have to go at least 60 miles to the Cumberland River. On the Mississippi the green markers were on our starboard and red on our port, we are now back to the red on our starboard because we are going upstream.
• Now the trouble begins. At the locks the barges are taken first. Pleasure crafts don't count. We had less then a 30 minute wait. You pull in and the lockmaster drops down a hook to you, you put your line on it and she (this time the lockmaster was a female) loops your line around a fixed buoy and then passes it back to you. No big deal, we're on our way again. We have now traveled 68 miles. Next lock... we had to wait 3 1/2 hours. Just circling around, against the current using fuel. I'm getting anxious. It's getting late and the fuel gauge is on 1/2. We get through and decide to speed it up a little because it gets dark around 7-7:30.
• We still had 60 miles to go. We had a talk with Dennis and Ruth and decided to just keep trucking, we started to speed up. Mike felt we had enough fuel, what we wouldn't have is daylight to travel unknown waters with barges around bends that we can't see. At home we often drive the boat at night, it's our way of getting every last minute at the club, even there it can be nerve racking because it's hard to see.
• Today we have traveled the Mississippi River, the Ohio River and now the Cumberland River. We were in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky.
• We are on the Cumberland River; it twists and turns and at some points is very narrow. We only passed 2 barges. We are going quite fast, the moon is shining bright. I thought this would be a good thing, instead it created a shadow that made it hard to tell what was a real tree and what was a reflection. We had to slow down, it was just too hard to see cause it's really dark and right off our port was a huge tree sticking out of the water. If we had hit it we would have put a hole in the boat. We came to our last lock for the day, we called the lockmaster and he said come right in, no wait. We pull up but could not see the green light. The lockmaster called us and said "What are you waiting for, come on in." We told him we could not see the opening, he then directed us in, we were able to go right through. When we got out of the lock we were in Grand River, Kentucky.
• We had to go 1 mile to our final destination. It's very dark, we had the search lights out looking for any marker, these markers are private for the marina, we see one and follow it in. Now it is 9 P.M. We pull into the marina, the place is very quiet, no one around. We got lucky, our slips were not in a tricky spot, we were able to just pull in. Another long day, around 13 hours. A hot shower and we slept like babies.
• The next morning we saw a couple we knew. Their boat was on the hard. They did not stop at Hoppie's and went to Angelo Towhead. They needed new props...