We’re traveling with 3 or 4 (it changes every day) other boats and it’s nice to have the company. We stopped for 3 nights at Columbus Marina — it was very full with other boats also headed south. There’s been a back up of boats because of minor flooding in southern Alabama due to Hurricane Ida. Also, due to their insurance policy, some boats (QAR, included) can’t get below Demopolis before November 15. About 20 boats left the day before us, so we’re thinking that if we’re 1 or 2 days behind them, there will be more room in subsequent marinas and anchorages.

So we’re taking our time & letting the majority of them get way in front of us. I’d never been to Columbus and was delighted to discover the lovely antebellum homes & restored downtown. Columbus is also the first home of Tennessee Williams and the home of the first state women’s college in our country. It was a good stop. We were delighted to reconnect with Jacob off “Aurora” the 59’ classic Trumpy that we met last year in Demopolis and we enjoyed dinner together discussing all our travels this past year.

From Columbus, we revisited Pirates Cove Marina (still as “rustic” as last year) and saw the family from Kittiwake that we had traveled in 2008. They will be heading down the TennTom a day or two behind us. It’s been nice to see old acquaintances – and also to make new ones with our new traveling companions.

We’re at an anchorage tonight – just downriver from Heflin Lock – with 4 (so far) other boats. Tomorrow we get to Demopolis where we’re looking forward to seeing Connie & Wally (their home is about 15 miles away) – our friends that we met last year at Mobile.

Asheville is a lovely southern city. We were impressed by the renovated downtown area that was vibrant on a Sunday afternoon with pedestrians visiting boutiques, art galleries & restaurants. Our main goal in Asheville was to tour the Biltmore Estate on Monday – and our tour lived up to all our expectations. It’s a magnificent home with 250 rooms & 43 bathrooms – built by George Vanderbilt (a son of Cornelius) in the late 1890s. This is the largest home in our country & is still owned by descendants of George who are actively involved in all aspects of the running of the estate. Most of the Christmas decorations were up, except for a 30’ tree in the banquet hall. The gardens are splendid and we could imagine what they look like in the summertime (the gardeners – I counted at least 11 – were planting tulip & daffodil bulbs). We were both reminded of the Newport, Rhode Island “cottages” during our tour. This stop is highly recommended…..

On Tuesday we left Ashville and headed south on the Blue Mountain Parkway, but about 10 miles down the road we had to turn around ‘cause it was closed (a rockslide). After a short detour, we got back on the Parkway & followed it south to its end where we picked up the road thru the Smoky Mountains. Such a beautiful drive!!! Every turn had a lovely view of the mountains – which really do look smoky! Hank loved driving our rental with all the twists & turns of the road (by the way, they – the roads –are beautifully kept). At one point we saw 15 to 20 trucks that all had dogs in the back. We stopped & asked what they were hunting – bear & wild boar. The dogs are “plaths” & are bred for this mountainous terrain – they’re beautiful dogs. One of the hunters told us that they had killed several bear today, but that they had “misplaced” 5 dogs & were all out looking for them. I said that we’d keep a lookout & bring them back if we saw them…..

We were about “mountained” out when we finally came down back into Tennessee along the Tennessee River basin where we headed to Cousin Libby & Don’s lovely Chattanooga home for another “second annual visit”. We had dinner Tuesday night at The Boathouse, one of Chattanooga’s best. Libby took Wednesday off from her business, so we had a good time “girl shopping”. Wednesday night Don grilled steaks and we entertained their friends Jack & Elaine & Steve & Donna whom we had met during our trip last year. A highlight for me on Wednesday was seeing Libby’s daughter Julie & her grandchild, Elizabeth, who is just an angel.

I had 2 stops planned on Thursday during our ride back to QAR at Aqua Yacht Harbor. The first stop was at the Unclaimed Luggage Store in Scottsboro, MS which was a major disappointment. We’ve never seen so much junk – most of it should be taken out & burned! The second stop was at the home of General Joe Wheeler for whom the Wheeler Lock & Dam and the state park are named. There are “historical” markers for the general & his daughter (who was a volunteer nurse in 3 wars), but the gate to the home is padlocked & you can barely see the large home. We decided that it was abandoned and would soon be overtaken by weeds & small animals.

All in all, it was a wonderful road trip!!! We got back to Aqua Yacht Harbor Thursday evening, where QAR was still out of the water. Something unplanned was going on with QAR so extra time was needed to do repairs (I think that’s pretty typical!).. We spent Thursday & Friday nights on the hard there & went back in the water yesterday afternoon. My sister & brother-in-law came to see us (bringing other goodies from the garden) & we went to Catfish Hotel for some of the best catfish I’ve ever had – it’s still one of my favorite foods. We had an early dinner so they could get back home before dark & also so we could watch the football game. Tennessee beat Memphis 56-28!!!!

This morning we’ve been cleaning – it’s needed. Cousin Kay & Charles are coming for a visit & lunch this afternoon. And then I’ll have seen all my cousins in the past month except Marianne in New Jersey! Tomorrow we’re supposed to finish up with our repairs & we plan to head down the TennTom on Tuesday – subject to change of course.

Since our 40th anniversary on the 18th we’ve covered a lot of ground. My sister took us back to Birdsong Marina on the 21st where we fueled & loaded QAR with all the goodies we collected while home – lots of canned goods, tomato juice for Hank, the last of the garden vegetables…. We headed south, spending the next night at Clifton Marina; then Aqua Yacht Harbor & then we anchored at Six Mile Creek (where we had anchored last year during our first trip down the river system). We went thru the Wilson Lock (a lift of 92’) and Wheeler Lock (84’) and arrived at Joe Wheeler State Park Marina just in time for the AGLCA fall rendezvous.

We had waited too late to register for the rendezvous, so we were there to visit with other loopers & to meet “new” loopers. There was a full house for the rendezvous (they can only handle 200 people in the banquet hall, which really limits participation), but we had a good time anyway visiting with other loopers when they weren’t in seminars or dinners. We was also glad to have some time for us to do “boat chores”.

We left there on Wednesday and locked down both Wheeler & Wilson Locks without any wait – our 138th & 139th locks since we begin this voyage last year. It was a rainy, dreary day and we were glad to pull into the Florence Marina around noon.

Florence is the home of my great-aunt, Della Gwynne Rhodes, who celebrated her 100th birthday last April. We got the marina’s loaner car & had a wonderful visit with her & her caretaker, Sarah. My aunt continues to be a remarkable woman who still lives alone in her very nice apartment. On the way to see my aunt we visited the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in Alabama. This part of the state also is the home of Helen Keller and the great blues man, W.C. Handy. As with all of West Tennessee, northern Alabama is also covered with Civil War battlefields & history.

From there we returned to Aqua Yacht Harbor at Iuka, Mississippi. We’re still on the beautiful Tennessee River enjoying the wonderful fall scenery. Aqua Yacht Harbor positions us to head south down the TennTom to Mobile.

But, we’re not ready to do that yet. We’re leaving QAR at the marina for some maintenance work to be done & going on a week-long road trip – or as Mark calls it – shore leave!

Today is our 40th Wedding Anniversary !!!!! And we’re celebrating in Jackson, Tennessee where we got married at the First Methodist Church all those years ago.
My sister & brother-in-law (Gene & Jobie) took us out for a wonderful brunch.

We left QAR at Birdsong Marina on Saturday and will be here on the farm for a few days before we continue on down the Tennessee River.

The next day we continued our journey down the Mississippi (still in dreary weather) to the confluence of the Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers at Fort Defiance. We turned left into the Ohio which was 2 feet below flood stage, so we still had to keep a vigilant eye out for garbage in the water. Our speed slowed down considerably – we were now going up river, still meeting tows & barges. Both the locks in the Ohio had lowered their wickets, so we just sailed right over the dams – cutting at least 2 hours off our trip. Our anchorage at Metropolis from last year was now too exposed to the strong currents, so we continued to Paducah where we anchored for the night behind Cuba Towhead (with 3 other looper boats behind us).

I had a beef stew going in the crockpot all day — we were glad to have a delicious dinner already made. Shortly after dark here comes a tow pushing a barge that he proceeds to park about 30 feet in front of us! It was amazing to watch his expertise & I think the tow captain was pleased when Hank complimented him on his excellent boat handling skills.

We had a heck of a time getting the anchor up Wednesday morning, but Hank finally managed to get rid of the long chain that was wrapped around it. However, he had to cut the anchor marker line. Then we were on our way to the Tennessee River!!!! We were so glad to leave the Mississippi & Ohio Rivers behind.

We had no wait at the Kentucky Lock where we were lifted 57” up to Kentucky Lake (surprising; it’s notorious for long waits to lock thru) and arrived at Green Turtle Bay at noon to be met by several other loopers! We had a good dinner last night at the marina restaurant with 12 others who are doing the loop and today we’ve done “boat work”. We have a mechanic coming tomorrow am to look at one of the engines that has a drip and then we’ll head “home” to Tennessee.

Thursday morning we said goodbye as Mark’s friend, Jim, from their days at the Air Force Academy, picked him up. Hank & I ran errands (Walmart, grocery, hardware store, etc), got back to the boat for laundry & some cleaning. A large weather front dumped tons of rain in the area for Thursday, & also on Friday, we stayed a couple extra days at the marina. So, on Friday Mark and another friend (Bob), also from the Air Force Academy days, came so Bob could see QAR. We all went out to lunch and then we got to say goodbye once again!

The rain has finally stopped, but it was very cold last night (in the 30s) and foggy this morning. We left St. Charles Marina at 9:15 and traveled 48 miles to Hoppie’s south of St. Louis where we’re tied up for the night. The river is rising because of all the rain & you wouldn’t believe the junk in the water! We dodged limbs, trees, & all sorts of garbage all day. The water is so muddy it’s hard to describe – it’s not like chocolate milk or coffee with cream – it’s so disgusting & not attractive at all. We really have to keep our eyes trained on the water to avoid all the debris. But, there’s lots of current so we’re making really good time & conserving fuel as we travel at 10 to 11 knots!

Hoppie’s (the last marina until we get to the Tennessee River), consists of 3 barges tied together with a walkway to shore – pretty basic, but they have fuel & shore power so I’m happy. It’s going to be cold again tonight so we like shore power for heat (which means we don’t have to run the generator). Tomorrow we have about 40 miles to go – to the Kaskaskia Lock at the Kaskaskia River where we can tie up for the night. We’re now repeating our passage down the rivers of last fall & are hoping that this trip will be as smooth. Right now a very large tow with 15 barges passed & we’re still rocking from their wake (this is not a very protected dockage). After our night at the lock we’ll anchor for a couple of nights before we reach the Ohio River & then the Tennessee River.

This morning, October 7, 2009 at 10:47am, Queen Ann’s Revenge crossed her wake at the confluence of the Illinois & Mississippi Rivers. She came to a stop, where appropriate thanks were given to mighty Neptune, King of the Seas & Aeolus, Guardian of the Winds, for a safe passage of 6,600 stature miles around the Great American Loop. We fired our antique black-powder signal cannon in honor of the event & we’re cheered by passing tow drivers. We stuck the white Looper flag & hoisted the gold Looper flag. We popped the cork on a bottle of champagne & toasted the event with our dear friend & cousin Mark (our official photographer) who’s been cruising with us since Chicago.

We’re having so much fun that we’re going to continue down the rivers !!!

One year ago today we left Dubuque, Iowa on this great adventure! We’ve been over 6,000 miles & will cross our wake where the Illinois River meets the Mississippi – in a week or two!!!! What a grand time we’re having!!!!

10-03-2009

On the 25th we parked QAR at Marine Services Marina on the Calumet River & were met by our cousins Judi & Mark for several days with them at their great home in the Hyde Park area of Chicago. Our son & daughter-in-law, Bradley & Stacy, came from Des Moines for the weekend, so we had a wonderful reunion. We always eat so good at Judi & Mark’s!!! We had — Mark’s famous pot roast, perfectly grilled steaks, a fabulous lobster dinner – plus Italian at Piccolo Mondo & Hank’s most favorite pizza at Pizano’s downtown.(Oprah says it is the best thin pizza in the USA ) And we all had the famous Chicago Hot Dogs at Maxwell Street. After 6 days we waddled back to the boat & headed south. Traveling with us for a week or so is Mark — So for me it’s like a vacation cause he does all the things I usually do on the boat like dock lines, fenders, locking thru, navigation, driving QAR, etc. I’m most thankful!!!!

Right before the carp barrier there is a large sign informing you — Danger – Electric Charge in Water – Do Not Stop, Anchor or Fish – No Mooring or Passing – Type 1 Life Jacket Must Be Worn. The Coast Guard waits to “check you out”. You must call a phone number where someone reads you all their disclosures & asks if you’re aware of the danger (we answer “yes”). Then you’re allowed to pass thru about 400 yards of the electric barrier. Afterwards, the Coast Guard boat that’s stationed at the other end of the barrier clears you by asking if you’re all okay. Boy, were we relieved to pass thru that “carp barrier”, especially after all the previous publicity. And I was wondering if it was my imagination that my feet were “tingling”. The AGLCA and the Waterway Guide people were instrumental in working with the Corps of Engineers & the Coast Guard to smooth a path for those of us who are headed down the river system and we’re most grateful for their efforts. We also appreciate that we didn’t have to pay $600 for a tow boat to guide us thru like some of the earlier loopers ahead of us! We continued on down the Illinois River.

We passed thru 2 locks that day & spent the night tied up at the city docks at Joliet. We have about 300 miles to go on the Illinois River til we meet the Mississippi River just north of St. Louis where we will cross our wake and complete our loop!

We spent most of the month of September traveling down the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.  We were blessed most days with warm, sunny skies & calm seas.   We visited 10 towns after we crossed under the Mackinac Bridge (we left Lake Huron behind) & entered Lake Michigan – our 5^th Great Lake (we have now sailed or boated on all 5 Great Lakes)!  From Harbor Springs in the north to South Haven in the south we enjoyed these towns — all with a charm of their own. We especially enjoyed Grand Haven where we had to anchor out the first night there ‘cause the marinas were full due to the salmon tournament.  Then early Sunday the 20^th we moved to a marina & watched the boat traffic up & down the Grand River all day.  By 5 o’clock there were only 3 boats at the marina. 

At South Haven we were the ONLY boat in the marina — it must be a signal that it’s time to move south.  We did have a very interesting morning tour while there of the Lake Michigan Maritime Museum before we left for St. Joseph.  At Pier 33 in St. Joe we took on 200 gallons of diesel @ $2.61 – we should not have to fuel again until we reach the Tennessee River. On Sept. 24 we arrived at Michigan City, Indiana – the 19^th state that we’ve been in since we started this voyage.  We’re also back on Central Time — & will be until we get to Florida sometime in December.

On the 25^th we had a lumpy ride with 4’ to 5’ seas to the Calumet River.  Fortunately, we only had about 20 miles of that!  The Calumet River is just east of Chicago; a very busy river with lots of commercial traffic.  We had one lock (our 122^nd lock) tied up at Marine Services Marina for a few days.  We’re spending several days with our cousins Judi & Mark in Chicago.

9/25/2009

We’ve been having wonderful weather – warm, dry days & cool nights. We really watch the weather on Lake Michigan – you don’t want to be caught out there in heavy seas (or any lake for that matter). The lake is cooperating & behaving herself so we can pick our way south. We’d begun to think that we’ve the only loopers out here, but after sending email messages to the looper network have discovered that there are a couple others still on Lake Michigan.

Since I last wrote we’ve visited Frankfort, Manistee, Pentwater & Grand Haven. All nice small towns with municipal marinas that we really have enjoyed.

At Pentwater, last week, a resident caught a world record brown trout (over 46 pounds) & since we’ve noticed lots of fishing boats headed in & out of the lakes & bays. I wonder if the world record had anything to do with that??? At Manistee we had a resident mink swimming & playing all up & down the dock area. I thought that it was a little bit too comfortable around people & we stayed clear! At one point it was right beside the boat & didn’t leave until I made a Large noise. You know, mink are notorious for being mean animals, but they make great coats! First time we’ve ever seen a mink in the “wild”…..

The marinas have been mostly empty — except when we got to Grand Haven on Saturday afternoon (I had previously told Hank that it was not necessary to call for a reservation since there was lots of empty space). It turns out that Grand Haven has its Salmon Fishing Tournament that Friday & Saturday so there was no room. Lots of fishing boats & many were rafted. We went past the marina, toured the Grand River & found a wonderful spot to anchor for the night. Sunday morning a slip opened up for us & we were there by 10 am to watch all the boats & boaters. Boats large & small cruised by all afternoon & evening. We missed the art show, the weigh-in of fish, the salmon cook-off & the party that followed (the story of our life – we’ve also missed most farmer’s markets all summer & STILL haven’t had any decent tomatoes). This is by far the busiest marina & river we’ve seen in the past 2 months. By 5 o’clock Sunday evening we were at the marina with 2 other boats – back to what we’ve come to expect these past few days. I’m still unhappy that we weren’t able to get any fresh fish!

Hank – “We met Harry & Leslie on Somewhere out of North Carolina doing the loop. He is a fellow retired Navy Commander, but a brown shoe. For those who may not know, the Naval aviators wear brown shoes, while we ship drivers wear black shoes. He flew A-7’s off carriers and we had a lot to talk about. He was on the USS Independence in the Mediterranean while my Destroyer, USS Meredith, was plane guarding for them way back in the 1960’s. Their Sea Ray 34 “died” in Charlevoix, so they now have a Regal express cruiser. They go a lot faster than us, so we may not see them again.”

So, after all this nice weather, we had rain last night, blowing this morning & cloudy so we decided to stay here another day. We CLEANED this morning, so I’m happy. Hank is great about doing anything that needs to be done! We walked up to the very small Coast Guard Exchange to replenish our liquor locker that had been emptied out during our stay in Canada (way too expensive to buy too much there!). We put a pot of chili on & will be ready to leave early tomorrow morning for South Haven – a 50 mile trip that will take about 7 or so hours. Chicago, here we come!!!!

Tomorrow is the first day of autumn. We’re noticing that leaves are starting to change color.