Tennessee River

Going down the Tennessee was absolutely beautiful. It was hard to decide which pictures to put in. There were miles and miles of woods and inlets, then miles of beautiful homes and I've put in a couple of those pictures too.


The sun was setting as we were pulling into the harbor at Florence, TN

Here we spotted goats-both black and white coming down to the water.

The decks on these homes were spectacular !

Bob likes to keep busy all the time...and the fly specks on the boat just bug him !

This lock was the biggest yet with a lift of 93 feet. First picture just before it began filling....second one just as the filling completed. The next three pictures show the front of the lock with the gate being lowered so that we could exit...

The very last picture is of our group of Mainship owners who were attending the AGLCA Fall Rendevous at Wheeler Park in Rogersville, AL. This meeting was one of 3 that are held throughout the year. There were over 250 attendees with some by boat (80 transient boats) and the others staying in the lodge or campgrounds. It was a great time visiting with other loopers Seminars were held covering the next segment of the loop--from here to the Gulf and around Florida to Charleston where the next Rendevous will be held in the Spring. Because Mainship boats were the most represented, we thought we should show our numbers ! On Saturday, October 20 we plan to leave here and begin our trip back on the Tennessee about 70 miles to the Tenn-Tom waterway. We figure we have about 800 miles to get to Burnt Store Marina so we should get there about mid-November if the weather stays good !

Cumberland River to Kentucky Lake

Here we are entering the Cumberland River. Although it's about 20 miles longer than going straight down the Tennessee River to Kentucky Lake, it's recommended because there are fewer tows on it--mainly because it's so curvy.



This is the historic town of Smithville and this gazebo was built on the site of a huge old tree that was lost in a storm or something. Next to it was an old house dating from the 1800's which I admired but forgot to get a picture of until we were past. Supposedly, many famous people in our history stayed there.



This limestone plant was really the only big industrial complex on this river and it was soon after the start of the river.























All in all, the trip down the Cumberland was the most relaxing by far and the prettiest overall. We only met 2 small tows on it and there was not the debris or the strong current to deal with like on the Mississippi or Illinois. We enjoyed the scenery and saw many blue herons. I finally got the picture I wanted of one....












Here We're approaching the Barkley Lock which was the highest one till now. There was one other boat in with us, so you can see the size of the doors as they were closing. It raised us 53 ft to Barkley Lake.,


After emptying us into Barkley Lake, we took a 1/1/2 mile canal over to the Kentucky Lake part of the Tennessee River. This was REALLY pretty with woods, hills, etc. We found this little cove to anchor in. When we got all settled at anchor, the man from this houseboat came over in his fishing boat. Bill Jorgenson, and he brought us crappie fillets he had caught and cleaned !! So, October 12, we ended here at anchor---a nice finish to a nice day.

Here are some scenes along the Mississippi...many sand bars, many many big limestone quarries. AND there is Roberto de Kirchmi on the bow of the boat ! You probably guessed that there a loooong periods of nothing except watch for dead heads and steer. The river has a pretty good current so we averaged 13mph on the Mississippi---sometimes hitting 15 and 16mph ! But there can be lots of debris, and of course there's many tows (BIG, long ones) and then the current to deal with.

This is an anchorage we stayed at one night and that night there were only 2 of us (out of the six) who had been at Hoppie's together. Of course, Fern told us and everyone else about this place.

Here is the bridge at Cairo, IL where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers meet.
We made a left turn here up the Ohio, so now we're going against the current....same rpm only 9-10 mph. We were on this river only about 40 miles, past Paducah, KY until the Cumberland. Not much different about it except that it seemed to be staging area for tows going down the Mississippi.

St. Louis to Hoppie's on the Mississippi

We discovered this hitchhiker as we were going down the river. I think this is one of those jumping carp we've heard about. In some places, especially where there were pontoons, there were a lot jumping in the wakes. Apparantly some are really big, and people have gotten hurt from them.
Everyone says you must stop at Hoppie's Marina-Barge. There Fern gives a seminar on the things of importance down the river-like anchorages, where not to stop, etc. She and here husband have been here fo 30+ years, and her husband's father started it in the 1930's. Shown are Fern (sitting down), the office and the view of the marina/barge as we were leaving on October 10. That day, there were about 8 boats there which were going south.

We also walked into Kimmswick which is the second oldest town in Missourri for lunch at the bakery. We expected to buy some bread and rolls but it wasn't that kind of a bakery....just pies, cakes, cookies and meals alot like the Chickadee Cottage in Lake City. The town has a population of less than 100 but I think there were 400 cars in town, eating at the restaurant and going into all the gift shops--there must've been about 20 of those !!!

Mississippi River to St. Louis

As we left Alton Marina, this was the first lock we went through in the morning....

Then we entered the Chain of Rocks Canal which diverts traffic along side the dam


Here we are entering St. Louis.







The Arch and parks along this part of the waterfront are pretty,

but the rest of the river is lined with barges and tows for miles so you really get the feel of this being a working port.

Beardstown to the Mississippi

This lighthouse marks the entrance to the Grafton marina which is new-only a year old. Beautiful docks and restroom/showers. Stayed here one night. It's located at the end of the Illinois River.
Here is the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. We're finally on the Mississippi ! Now we only have about 200 miles of this before the Ohio.
The change in scenery is wonderful....beautiful bluffs on the Illinois side.
And many beautiful homes on the bluffs....
This is Our Lady of the River Shrine.
We only traveled 15 miles today but we need a short day following 2-10hours days. We'll stay in Alton and go to Fast Eddies for shrimp. It is known for it's fresh shrimp and limited menu but all good food. Supposedly sells more drinks than anywhere in the country !

Starved Rock to Beardstown...

Having spent so much time in this marina, we thought we should put a picture of where we were. There was no where to walk here except to the restaurant, gift shop or the showers--so we walked this dock alot! Nearest town was about 6 miles and the road to it was narrow with a lot of fast traffic so that no one recommended we take our bikes on it. Consequently, we walked up and dow the driveway several times a day....fun huh? The restaurant did have good food and believe it or not-a great grouper sandwich.The mechanic Shane finally got the last part in on Friday. He installed it, took the sea trial with us and checked everything again and gave us the okay to go. Here is the Starved Rock and the dam on the right. This place is where some Native Americans took a stand, but their food supply was cut off at the bottom of the bluff and they eventually starved....thus, the name. It is now a part of park which stretches along the river. We were able to get right in to the lock and go through quickly---we were the only boat--we must be bringing up the rear.
We tried to anchor a couple places that loopers ahead of us had recommended but we found that the water was too shallow...they were a couple weeks ahead of us and no doubt had been traveling when the water was higher. Anyway, we stopped at this interesting marina...where we found 3 other loopers ! These barges line the entrance to the harbor which is deep and large enough for maneuvering. But there was quite a collection of an old riveboat restaurant which the owner thought he would fix up at one time (but that has since gone by the wayside) and other old stuff and barges. Owner was an interesting person and all were very friendly.The old riverboat....This shows the boat "Joyful Spirit" from Naples in the entrance of the harbor after us... what a collection of "stuff" !!!
On the Illinois River, we saw many of the jumping carp which have gotten into the river system...these gulls would follow our boat hoping to get something to eat..
Approaching Peoria, IL...The replica of the Nina was docked here and is making its way from port to port.
And of course, here's the Spirit of Peoria riverboat. Much of the southern part of the Illinois was pretty but also pretty boring. There were woods...

and places were barges were loading and a few parks, boat launches. Again, not being able to get into areas where we could anchor, we ended up tying up the the wall in Beardstown. While we were practically sitting on the bottom, it was free.