Day 33       Pisgah Bay,

 MM30.1 Tennessee River, Kentucky

Monday, September 27, 2010

Dockside Cafe at GTB  

Jetty on Kentucky Lake

Kentucky Lake

Kentucky Lake

Deer grazing near tonight's anchorage

Breakfast at Dockside Café close to GTB reminded us of Jamaica … “soon come”.  We were the only customers, but it turned out to be worth the wait.  We anchored at Pisgah Bay about 2:00 … a “delightful anchorage” with a few deer grazing on the distant shore.

More than 2 dozen picturesque bays dot the shores of Kentucky Lake.   All of them offer beautiful overnight anchorage, so we selected one of the closest to GTB (5 miles) so that we could enjoy a beautiful day at anchor.       

Total miles: 5      Total bridges:  1      Total locks:  0

Day 32        Green Turtle Bay, Grand Rivers, Kentucky

Sunday, September 26, 2010

St Matthew on the Lake Lutheran Church

9:30 services at St Matthew on the Lake Lutheran Church in Benton, Kentucky.  What a warm, friendly, caring congregation!  We were truly overwhelmed by their hospitality.  Thank you so much to Pastor Meier and all of the members of St Matthew on the Lake.  We enjoyed meeting everyone and sharing coffee and pastries after the service.  The gift packet was greatly appreciated. 

Back at the boat, we caught up on laundry, cleaning, and general maintenance.    

Total miles: 0      Total bridges:  0      Total locks:  0

Day 31       Green Turtle Bay, Grand Rivers, Kentucky

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Janice Kaye's Salon and Tanning

Lite Side Cafe

Paducah Barbeque on the River

Flood protection seawall

Riverfront plaza opposite the seawall

Damaged $125,000 prop

We took the GTB courtesy van to Grand Rivers where Jim got a haircut at Janice Kaye’s.   Her business is located in a cute little building that she and her dad built themselves.   After the haircut, we stopped at the post office to pick up a box of mail that Brenda’s sister sent from home.  Thanks, Gussie, for taking care of everything!   

Breakfast at the Lite Side Café was delicious – eggs benedict on croissants.

At 5:00 we again borrowed the GTB courtesy van and headed to downtown Paducah for the annual Barbeque On the River Festival.  There were lots of people and lots of food vendors with proceeds going to the vendor’s non-profit organization (schools, churches, police department, fire department, etc.)  

The Paducah waterfront is very impressive with countless hand-painted murals that span numerous city blocks on the flood protection seawall.   While the murals face the city, the other side of the seawall features a beautiful waterfront plaza. 

After enjoying delicious barbeque sandwiches, we went to Wal-Mart and stocked up on the basics. 

Total miles: 0      Total bridges:  0      Total locks:  0

Day 30     Green Turtle Bay, Grand Rivers, Kentucky

Friday, September 24, 2010

Commonwealth Yacht Club at Green Turtle Bay

GTB Health - Fitness Center open to loopers

Pool at Fitness Center



Green Turtle Bay

Pulled anchor at Dryden’s Creek about 11:00 and arrived at Green Turtle Bay Marina about 1:30.  We encountered a few showers along the way, so we picked up our speed for a while to outrun them.  Safe in our slip at GTB, we relaxed with spaghetti dinner on board.   

Total miles: 20      Total bridges:  0      Total locks:  0

Day 28     Dover Island, MM 90.5

Cumberland River, Tennessee

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Like glass

Best burger in town

Lucille II ferry at Cumberland City, Tennessee

Water like glass … Dream Catcher pulled anchor at 7:45 am and arrived at Cheatham Lock and Dam about 8:30.  We called ahead and the lockmaster had the water ready for us, so there was no wait.  We were out by 9:00.  Arrived at Clarksville at 11:45 and were greeted by fellow loopers Wes and Jeannie on “Miss Ruby” which was already tied to the city dock.  They have been living on their boat for 3 years, so they were very helpful and knowledgeable about the loop.  We ate lunch at Frank’s (cheeseburgers, fries, and a soda for $5 including tax).  A delicious lunch in an old-fashion diner with food prepared as we watched.  Walked around downtown, found a wine store, and discovered that 4 bottles of wine fit in Jim’s backpack!   We then stopped at Kelly’s Burgers which was close to the dock.  Even though it was as restaurant, they were gracious enough to sell us some milk and a loaf of bread.  Dream Catcher left Clarksville about 2:30 and anchored behind Dover Island at mile marker 90.5 on the Cumberland River about 6:45.

Total miles:  65      Total bridges:  2         Total locks:  1    

Day 29     Dryden Creek, MM 51.8

 Cumberland River, Tennessee

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Ahhhh

Relaxing, late start.  Arrived at Drydens Creek about 3:30.  Enjoyed a beautiful sunset and then a beautiful full moon.     

Total miles:  39       Total bridges:  2        Total locks:  0      

Day 27     Harpeth Island, Tennessee

Tuesday, September, 21, 2010

Bluffs on the way to our anchorage

We left the Nashville city dock around 10:00 and dropped anchor behind Harpeth Island at mile marker 155.1 on the Cumberland River around 2:30.   It was another beautiful day on the water.  We've had several sunny days with temperatures in the 90s. 

Total miles:  35       Total bridges:  9      Total locks:  0

Day 26      Nashville, Tennessee

Monday, September, 20, 2010

Appropriately named Rock Harbor Marine is located in an old rock quarry.   

Rock Harbor Marine

Nashville's impressive skyline that includes the AT&T building, locally know as the "Batman Building".

Shelby Street Bridge above the Nashville city dock. 

Dream Catcher docked at Nashville.

Shelby Street Bridge

Dream Catcher docked across from the 68,000 seat National Football League stadium, home of the Nashville Titans.

Busy commuter train station next to the city dock.

Park at the city dock

Fort Nashborough

Fort Nashborough

Fort Nashborough

Fort Nashborough

Fort Nashborough

If the boot fits ...

ACM Awards

Randy Travis signing autographs

Legends Corner

Downtown Nashville

Shelby Street Bridge was built in 1909 and closed in 1998 due to its unsafe condition.  The city spent 4 years and about $15 million to convert it to a pedestrian bridge.  Wow!  Very impressive.  With a length of 3,150 feet, it's one of the world's longest pedestrian bridges.  Notice Dream Catcher in bottom left hand corner.

Reflection of the bridge in the Cumberland River

We left Rock Harbor Marine about noon.   We would recommend it for a good place to stay:  friendly boaters, low fuel prices, free laundry and free pump out.   We arrived at the Nashville city dock about 3:00.  While walking around downtown Nashville we discovered that the American Country Music Awards were taking place at the Ryman Auditorium.  It was fun to watch a few of the stars arrive and walk the red carpet even though we’re not into country music.  We again ate at Jack’s Bar-B-Que and got a pound of brisket to go.  We caught some Monday Night Football at a sports bar called Baileys.  Ice cream at Mike’s topped off the day.  We were the only boat at the city dock, so we were able to get the one hookup for water although there are several stations for electricity all along the dock.  A nice place to stay and no charge.   

Total miles: 15    Total bridges:  9   Total locks:  0                                                                            

Day 24 and 25     Nashville, Tennessee

Saturday, Sunday, Sept18-19, 2010

The King and Brenda

Jim joins the legends of Nashville

Legends bar

On Saturday we slept in, enjoyed a big breakfast, and pulled anchor about 12:30.  We arrived at Rock Harbor Marine, Nashville, about 4:00.  We changed clothes, called a taxi, and headed to downtown Nashville for Saturday night.   Dinner at Jacks Bar-B-Que was delicious, the band at Legends was great, and the people-watching was most interesting!  We got home about 1:00 am.  On Sunday we slept in again, then spent the day cleaning, doing laundry, and catching up on miscellaneous projects.