Town Creek-Lake Guntersville State Park to Ditto Landind 4 nights on anchor:)

Found a wonderful anchorage in Town Creek within the state park. Alan did a 10 mile kayak trip himself up the creek and back. After lunch we both went in our kayaks for a short paddle to the park store. Really beautiful spot and enjoyed the paddle. The next morning (Friday) we headed out to Short creek to find an anchorage. Sunday morning we cruised towards Ditto Landing and locked through Guntersville  Dam. We stopped for the night at Painted Rock river and anchored for the night. After a peaceful night there we cruised MOnday to the linch River and went way up the river and anchored. Alan did some kayaking in both rivers and we saw plenty of bass boats. We notice the next mornings on both rivers that the water level on the banks had dropped at least two feet over night. Glad we didn't go further upriver to anchor. Tuesday morning, we pulled anchor and headed to Ditto Landing which would be our final destination with the boat. All in all it has been a great month and we took our time. We hope to continue on the river at a later time and cruise from Ditto to the end of the river. :)

Goose Pond Colony Marina

Left Chattanooga early in the morning and cruised to Lake Guntersville. Decided on marina for the night to catch up on laundry and use the courtesy car for groceries. Nice place and everyone was very nice there. Heading out in the morning for some gunk-holing the next few days.

Arrived Chattanooga for some shore leave

We arrived Chattanooga  on the 20th and tied up to the Bluff View docks for the next three days. After walking ten blocks uptown we ate at the Tupelo Honey cafe our first night then took the electric shuttle back down to the waterfront.  We rented bikes the next day and biked across the Walnut bridge, Bluff art district and to the boathouse restaurant for lunch. We then went to the Hunters museum of art and stopped by the local downtown grocery store which has been there since 1921. Great nostalgia in there and brings back memories to me how it was to shop in a small grocery store when I was younger. Chattanooga is a wonderful city to visit and has alot of things going on. We visited the market on Wednesday by the free electric shuttles the city offers and explored some more of the market area. All in all this is a great stop for boaters and highly recommended .

Shady Grove Harbor Marina

Pulled into Shady Grove on Sunday night the 19th after exploring Possum creek that day. Stayed the night and met a few of the boaters there who live on houseboats. Nice people and one of them winters in Pahokee . lol
I was born in Pahokee, but that was in the fifties and only hospital around. We had a quiet night and had to wait for the fog to lift before moving on to Chattanoooga. It was around 10:30 before we could shove off. We locked through Chickamanga dam with no delays and headed towards our destination.

Solar Alan RIgged up

Alan rigged up this solar system to help keep he batteries charged and refrigerator running when we are anchored out. Works out pretty good:)

Anchorage in the Hiwassee Wildlife area.

We left Blue water marina after the fog started to clear up and headed for Hiwassee Island and Hiwassee River. It was really nice and the birds around on the islands. The wind was a bit strong so we headed on around the island and started up river on the Hiwassee. We found a really nice secluded anchorage about 2.5 miles upriver in Roberts Hollow. Very secluded and scenery spetacular. Lots of kayaking territory.

Blue Water Rv resort and Maria Dayton, Tenn

We finally had a day we could travel and left Blue Springs marina in Watts Lake Bar and headed towards the lock. We had a two hour wait at the lock because they were locking through a barge. We tied up to the boat ramp dock(beautiful park and swimming beach) and waited till they called us. After locking through we just took our time cruising and was trying to find an anchorage that we liked and no weeds. Needless to say we didn't and decided to pull into Blue Water marina and glad we did. What a beautiful marina and everything fairly new. Todd the owner wasn't in, but left his phone number on door. I called him on phone told him we would like a slip and he said come on in and make yourself at home. We did and liked it so much we stayed two nights. I did laundry which was a bargain and brand new machines. Alan kayaked around the creek there and we enjoyed being just about the only people around:)

Waiting out an ugly storm

We are still at Blue Springs marina waiting out the ugly storm that reaches from Chicago to Florida. yesterday we left the marina by car and drove to the Smokey mountains via the parkway to Walland,Tenn. Beautiful drive and very little traffic until we proceeded to Little River road . Traffic became crazy and cars bumper to bumper. We were glad to get off and to our hotel I had booked for the night in Kodak, Tenn. We will wait for the storm to pass over us here and head back to the boat. Hopefully we will be back on the River tomorrow headed to Hiwassee island at the fork of the Tennessee River and the Hiwassee river.

Back to Blue Springs marina

Headed into Blue Springs marina to duck storms during weekend and put some stuf in the car we don't need or want to get rid of. Drove to Kingston and stocked up with what we needed and tomorrow I believe we will kill some time driving to the outskirts of Knoxville. COSTCO!! It's only about a forty five minute drive from here and we have the time to kill. Going to watch the weather and see if we can leave Sunday or Monday headed to Watts Bar Dam on down the river. Stay tuned for more of "Simplicity's" adventures.  :D

Locking thru headed down river on the Tennessee River

We left the marina and locked right through that morning heading down river. This time we cruised fast thru what we had already seen and slowed down around the islands and scenic area. We decided on a nice cove area between two islands on Watts Bar Lake. We stayed anchored for two nights and Alan fished.We both took to the kayaks on the second day. It was truly a beautiful and scenic cove between thief neck island and a smaller island.

Fort Loudon marina before Lock and dam down river

On our way back through the Tellico River to to Tennessee we saw the Master craft factory and some wake boarders.
Pulled into Fort Loudon marina to refuel and stay for one night to catch the locks early in AM. They have a courtesy van that we used to go to store and I did laundry again:/

Tellico marina and outrunning storm

We had looked at the radar and watching storms that were moving in and decided to go into a marina for the night. We pulled anchor and started heading to Tellico marina and just as we were entering their channel all hell broke loose. A nice guy on houseboat directed us into the covered slip right next to him that was vacant and we tied up. Tom told us no one at marina on Monday's and Tuesdays, but he was a help with what we needed...Thank Goodness!! Tuesday morning we left, but I did leave the marina a note with my address to bill me for slip:)

Lake Tellico River

When we left the Fort's dock that morning it was patchy fog, but not to bad. We headed into the Tellico River and just a ways down the fog was rolling in and Alan ducked into Notch creek and waited out the fog. After the fog lifted it was a beautiful cruising day and we anchored in a cove off Ball Play creek. We were going to stay two nights, but storms were coming so we left on Monday.

Fort Loudon

We made a stop by the Fort and they were having a reenactment that weekend. It was very interesting and they provided really nice boat docks for the boating traffic to visit the fort. After the fort visit we cruised on down to Hamilton island very near the famous 129 Harley Davidson dealership. We set anchor for the night, but as the evening came on the winds were getting stronger and our anchor didn't seem to be holding. It was a rock bottom and we knew it was really suppose to blow that night. We made a decision to pull anchor and head back to the Fort's boat docks for the night. We made it in just about dark and tied up. :)

Fort Loudon Dock

Fort Loudon

Alan at Fort Loudon

Simplicity at Fort Loudon

Standing guard at gate

Raiding the cookie jar:)

What was that?

First night anchorage on Little Tennessee River on Baker Creek.

We left Fort Loudon marina and started our way up river on the Little Tennessee river. Decided to anchor for the night on Baker Creek which was a nice cove and away from all the football boat traffic on Saturday.

Layover at Fort Loudon Marina two days and Laundry day!

We arrived at Fort Loudon marina Wednesday afternoon, fueled up and decided to stay two nights and catchup on laundry, get provisions and GOOD showers. We rented a car for Thursday and drove up to Knoxville to visit one of our favorite places, COSTCO!! Can't beat the hotdog combo deal:)
The showers at this marina are top notch and good water pressure as is the laundry facilities. We left on Friday morning headed to the Little Tennessee River and Lake Tellico.

Knoxville...Pre Vol vs gator game:)

We made it to Knoxville and tied up to City dock to check out downtown and ate at Calhoun's in Knoxville. We found out that the weekend coming up was the Tenn/Fla game and you could see by the houseboats already tying up to dock and rafting it was a BIG game. We decided to go ahead and start heading back downriver towards Fort Loudon to avoid all the BOAT traffic that would be on the river the upcoming weekend.