GREAT LOOP COMPLETED BY SIMPLICITY

Hi everyone..

We were met at the boat ramp by our sons Adam and Zack with the car and trailer. It is hard to believe that six months has past since we started this adventure and here we are back where we started.

WE HAVE COMPLETED THE GREAT LOOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DESTIN, FL

We left our anchorage at Fort Walton and cruised over to Destin. Found Harbor Docks restaurant(one of our favorites by car) and docked for lunch. After lunch we decided we would stay the night in Destin and anchored by the beach in front of Harbor Walk. We had the best view in the house and the music was great too. 

Mobile to Ft Walton

We left Mobile and cruised the intercostal to Fort Walton. On our way we stopped at LULU'S(famous place because Jimmy Buffet's sister owns it) in Orange Beach. After lunch we cruised and enjoyed the Panhandle view and the white beaches that the Florida panhandle is famous for. The emerald water and the sugar sand beaches.

Pebble Isle Marina-TEnnessee River to Mobile Alabama

Traveling by Pontoon  and boaters at pot luck

We left Prizer Point early in the am and traveled on Kentucky Lake 96 miles to Pebble Isle marina in Tennessee. We stayed two days there and re provisioned for the trip south.  Next we cruised to Aqua Yacht Harbor and stayed for two nights there. We knew that three of the locks on the Tenn-tom would not be opened until the 24th so we were taking our time going down. We cruised 36 miles from Aqua Harbor to Bay Springs to be close to the lock the next morning to leave. While at Bay Springs we joined some other boaters for a pot luck supper and met these four young men who were on an adventure themselves aboard there pontoon boat. THey launched in Minneapolis Minnesota and have been cruising the Mississippi River and headed to Mobile. They were having a good time. We left the next morning around 6am to go through the lock. There were 9 of us pleasure craft boats to lock through. At the end of the day we stopped at Columbus marina for two days to rest up and chill out. We have been putting in long days, but we usually stay for 2 days when we arrive at a marina. Columbus was a real nice stop and we enjoyed it. We left early and traveled to Demopolis Alabama 90 miles and 3 locks. The last lock before Demopolis was the beast. The water hyacinths were so bad that they completely covered the entrance to the lock and we have to stop and clean off the motor at least twice just to make it into the lock. We have never seen anything like it before. We finally made it through and got into the marina. We left this morning around 7:30am and went through 2 locks and 228 miles to Mobile ALabama. We are at the Dog River Marina for the night and will leave in the morning for Destin. Arrival at home will be Wednesday to Lynn Haven for kids to pick us up.

Prizer Point Marina and campground

We locked through Cheatam after the fog lifted this morning. We had 98 miles to cruise today to Prizer Point. It was a nice day to cruise, but there were so many barges on the River with really huge loads. We arrive Prizer Point and topped off fuel and went to our covered slip. After tying up and securing boat I inquired about a courtesy car for grocery shopping. The owner loaned me her car and pointed me in the right direction. I was so thankful because we had not bought any real groceries since Buzzard Rock way over a week ago and I was just about out of everything. 

We are staying 2 nights here so we can get the boat ship shape for the next leg on the Tennessee River to the Tenn-Tom. 

Granville Marina Cumberland River to Defeated Creek

We left Shady Cove and cruised up the Cumberland River to Granville Marina. We arrived before lunch and topped of fuel tanks, grabbed a bite to eat and went for a walk. Cell service was spotty, but they did have internet. We had planned to leave from there early the next morning and cruise to the end of the navigable waters of the Cumberland to Celina and turn around. We did just that and then went to Defeated Creek marina for the night to try a different place. We had made arrangements with the lock-master to lock through at 10am Thursday morning. Alan the owner of Defeated Creek has recently bought this marina and is really trying to turn it around. They were very nice and accommodating to us. It is a beautiful setting with a Army corp campground and hiking trails on the property. We left around 9:45am Thursday morning to make the 10am lock. We were greeted by lock master Lampton with 2 grocery bags of FRESH homegrown tomatoes. WHAT A TREAT! He said he liked to treat his out of state customers and they were GOOD. After locking through we had decided that we would cruise all day to get through 2 more locks to be close to the Barkley Canal. There was a back up on the Cheatam lock when we arrived and so we anchored for the night in a really nice spot on the Harpeth River. This is the same anchorage that Eva and Rob Stowe were at in their side trip book. VERY PEACEFUL NIGHT AND THE SCENERY WAS BEAUTIFUL.

Shady Cove Marina and Resort on Cumberland River

We left Cherokee Marina and Steakhouse after topping off our spare gas cans because of the possible fuel shortage. Chris Cunningham of Cherokee was great with info about Cumberland River and the area. We bought a chart for the river and a guide book for the river . We left and cruised slowly to absorbed our surroundings and conserve the fuel. We arrived at Shady Cove Marina and campground around mm 249 which is about 2 miles of the channel, but well worth the trip. It is absolutely beautiful back on the creek. Gene and Lucy Conyer bought the place about 4 years ago and have really made quite a retreat. They have a restaurant, Tick Bar and all the other necessities like shower and laundry room. The restaurant was closed on Mondays, but Lucy brought Alan and I out a plate of catfish, fries, white beans and cole slaw for us to eat. Man, I thought I had died and gone to heaven eating some good southern food. I was so appreciative that she would do that. Good ole southern hospitality. They winter in Okeechobee, Fl and of course knew where Clewiston was. 

They really have something going in this place and we wish them the best of luck. We have to stop back by here on our way back on a Thursday or Friday and check out the Tiki Bar action.

Everyone along this river have been so gracious and the scenery is spectacular. The leaves are just starting to change here and it is beautiful.