October 26-31, 2015 - Grand Harbor to Demopolis

We spent two uneventful days at Grand Harbor waiting for repairs and for Patricia to pass.  Finally on Wednesday morning, the TV was fixed (yeah), the windlass was working (yeah), and the rain had passed (we thought).  We had docktails one evening aboard No Zip Code (Kenny and Kathy).  Jonathan (Salty) was also there.  We pulled out of Grand Harbor at 7:00 am and turned south on the Tombigbee for the last leg of our trip.  We saw blue sky for a few minutes around 8:30 but it was rainy most of the morning.  It finally cleared up in the afternoon.  The weather the rest of the week was great.  Friday morning it was very chilly (48 deg) and very foggy when we left our anchorage, but cleared up after that.  We anchored out 3 nights before pulling into Demopolis on Saturday.  We went through 10 locks with only a 30 minute wait twice.  The anchorages ranged from nice (Fulton Lock) to nicer (Columbus Cutoff) to great (Rattlesnake 1).  Wednesday and Thursday we traveled about 60 miles each day; Friday was a long day - 105 miles, 11 hours (our longest day).  We were a little tired but happy to pull into a great anchorage.  Already anchored were Kilt Dancer, Melinda B, Pearl, Firebird and Moni Joan.  We left our anchorage Saturday around 8:50 for a quick 9 mile trip to Demopolis.  We fueled up and were in our slip by 10:00.  After a quick trip to Walmart (along with Rob and Sandy from Sandrobber), we just settled in for a rainy day. We were supposed to get the courtesy car to go out to dinner, but when we went to get it (in the pouring rain), there was no record that we had reserved it. So back to the boat for dinner. 

Entrance to Grand Harbor from the road

Leaving Wednesday morning in the fog and mist

The first blue sky we had seen in several days

Along the manmade channel of the Tombigbee Waterway

Areas for water runoff from the rain

Our Wednesday night anchorage - not the picturesque places we like

(but you have to take what you can get on the Tombigbee)

We did get a great moon though

A nice start to our Thursday trip

Nice calm waters, narrow canals

Aberdeen Lake - one of the lakes along the way

More calm water and beautiful scenery

Early Friday morning fog (and cold)

Come on sun - burn this stuff off

A little later - back to beautiful scenery

Anybody need to make a phone call?

Hard to see - but several turtles sunning themselves on the logs

Limestone cliffs

More cliffs

The view from our anchorage Saturday morning

October 22-25, 2015 - Guntersville, Grand Harbor Marina

We spent two more days in Guntersville running errands and visiting with Jack and Jane.  Jane and I spent some time walking around the downtown stores of Guntersville.  The weather was great, so Jack got his jetski out and let us take it for a ride.  It felt great to ride a jetski again.  New Loopers Kit and Pam (Indigo Jayne) came into the marina Thursday.  They had just started the loop in Green Turtle.  We all had docktails together and then went out for dinner.  Saturday morning we said goodbye to Jane and Jack.  Hopefully they will make it to Mobile for our wake party.  We left Guntersville around 7:30 and made it through the lock with no waiting - a good start to the day.  We took two days to get to Grand Harbor Marina.  Saturday night we anchored out by the Wheeler Lock in a beautiful cove.  Early Sunday morning Jack saw 5 deer come down to the water for a drink.  We left our anchorage around 7:20 and by 10:00 we had made it through the Wheeler and Wilson Locks with very little waiting.  Since rain was headed our way (Tropical Storm Patricia), we decided to head into Grand Harbor Marina.  Once we were docked we met John and Cindy (Encore, also a 43' Hatteras).  We had docktails together and then toured both boats to check out the differences.  Since we were in a marina, we were able to plug in our cable and watch Sunday night TV.

Pam - Indigo Jayne

Great day for a jetski ride

Goodbye Jane and Jack

Leaving Guntersville - A little more color in the trees

Passing the painted rock - again

Getting the last view of the mountains

View from our anchorage on Wheeler Lake

Wilson Lake - more color

Last ride in the Wilson Lock - a 94 ft. lift

(the biggest lock we will be in)

It's starting to rain a little

I think Patricia has found us

October 20-21, 2015 - Nashville, Lynchburg

We left Tuesday morning for our two day trip to Nashville and Lynchburg.  Our first stop in Nashville was the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.  We grabbed some lunch and walked around the hotel.  It is absolutely beautiful.  Since the hotel was close to a Bass Pro, we managed to spend some time there and also in the attached mall.  We did find a real bonus at the mall -- a Chuy's Mexican Restaurant!!  We naturally had to have a quick dinner there before heading to the Grand Ole Opry.  The Opry was great.  Some of the performers were – David Nail, Connie Smith, the Willis Clan (12 brothers and sisters who were terrific), and Rascal Flatts.  The performances were great and we thoroughly enjoyed the evening.  Wednesday morning, after a tour of downtown Nashville including the Bluebird Café, Ryman Auditorium, and the state capitol, we headed to Lynchburg to tour the Jack Daniel’s Distillery.  Our tour guide was very entertaining and the tour was very informative.  We actually went into the buildings where the whiskey is made and saw the various steps in the process.  We ended with a tasting of 4 different whiskeys.  The interesting thing about the distillery is that it is in a dry county. They can't really sell you the whiskey, but they can sell you a commemorative bottle (that just happens to be filled with whiskey)!  We then had lunch and walked the square around Lynchburg, which contained many Jack Daniel’s souvenir shops.

Gaylord Opryland Hotel

Beautiful glass sculpture at the entrance

You can tell we're in Music City

More interior shots

Touring the hotel

Chuy's - like finding an old friend!

Ready for our evening at the Grand Ole Opry

That's Rascal Flatts performing

The famous Bluebird Café

(it's in a strip center south of downtown)

Ryman Auditorium - the original Grand Ole Opry

Now on to the Jack Daniel's Distillery

Jack was there to greet us when we walked in

Many displays regarding the history of the distillery and how the whiskey is made

Some of the buildings on the grounds

The cave where the clean, mineral free water is taken to make the whiskey

(this cave is the reason the distillery is located in Lynchburg)

Three Jacks on the rocks

This is how many bottles come out of a barrel of whiskey

Finally, the tasting room - Bonnie explains the various whiskey we're going to taste

Around the square in Lynchburg

Our group photo from the tour