Once you hit the Tennessee River, life slows down, and stress levels drop significantly. The first marinas we visited had a small town feel and exuded southern hospitality. At Pebble isle, the manager treated boaters with cinnamon rolls which he personally baked fresh that morning. At Clifton, Sofie, a great southern gal, cheerfully grilled great cheese burgers for those of us who arrived late in the day. The river itself slows down and widens dramatically into reservoir lakes created by dams, part of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Kentucky, Pickwick, and Wheeler lakes are pristine and enjoyed by many who own or rent large houseboats, some, 65-75 feet long.The area also must be the bass boat capitol of the world. Bass tournaments are frequent here, and one we saw included 350 boats!
Leaving Clifton marina with ten other boats, we entered Pickwick Lock, the first of many that Linda and I did alone. The next lock, Wilson is the largest of the locks on the rivers, and the largest east of the Mississippi. It moves boats up and down 93 feet. All of these locks have floating bollards built into the lock walls. Basically using floating cans which rise and fall with the water, Linda looped a line around them from midships to keep us close to the wall.Just before Wilson is the town of Florence, one of the few towns actually built on the Tennessee. Built around impressive stone bluffs on the river, the town and the neighboring town of Muscle Shoals have a rich history and was the home of Helen Keller and the father of the blues, W.C. Handy. With a courtesy car, we explored the town and reprovisioned at Walmart.
After Florence, we attended the American Great Loop Cruisers Association rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park Marina in NW Alabama. Over three hundred cruisers and wannabee loopers were in attendance, and we learned a lot about what to expect ahead and met many nice and interesting people. For the most part, cruisers are a laid back bunch, a fact made clear by some of their boat names such as "Adagio" and "Noah Genda". While the rendezvous lasted only three days, we stayed at this beautiful location for a week. And though we moved 60 miles upriver past the entrance to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, which moves cruisers south toward Mobile, the diversion was worth it. Next we are to move back through those 60 miles and two locks, stopping again at Florence, to begin the Tenn-Tom.
