NASHVILLE

September 28 and 29th, 2011  Dateline: Grand Rivers, KY USA

Once again I sat while Carol and Rich went off to enjoy themselves.  Along with the owners of MY WAY, they went off to Nashville, TN for some sightseeing. 

Rich told me that Nashville is a very interesting city compared to most that we have seen.  The city is vibrant and clean.  It is quite apparent that there is a significant amount of money in the city.  Not only has the music industry brought wealth to the community but so have the universities that are there and the extensive medical facilities.

Nashville became known as “the Music City” because of something Queen Victoria said.  Students from Fisk University, the first all Negro university in Nashville, put on a performance for the Queen introducing her to their blues music.  The Queen was so impressed that she said they must have come from a “Music City”. That name has stuck ever since.

In Bicentennial Park which was created for the state’s 200^th anniversary, there is a black granite wall called the “path of history” that records the history of Tennessee from the earliest of time until 1996, the state’s 200^th year as a part of the union.  One interesting fact on the wall was that in 1918-19 the Moon Pie was created in Chattanooga (You sure can tell where Rich’s interests are). For those who don’t know Moon Pies, they are marshmallows sandwiched between two chocolate cakes then the whole thing is dipped in chocolate.  They are so good, but not very healthy

The park also had a set of 50 bell carillons, one for each state. The carillons contain an aggregate of 95 bells representing the 95 counties of Tennessee.  The bells can play different tunes as they can be programmed from an onsite control room. While Carol and Rich were at the bell towers there was also a visiting group of retired sailors.  The bells were set to play the Navy Hymn, “Anchors Away”. Otherwise, every hour on the hour, the bells play a Tennessee themed song such as “The Tennessee Waltz”.

In Centennial Park (1896) the 100^th anniversary of Tennessee statehood there stands a full size replica of the Parthenon in Greece.  The structure is immense and is nearly exact.

Thomas Ryman, a very wealthy riverboat captain, had a major impact on the city.  He built a saloon which still stands today.  He called it the Silver Dollar Saloon and he embedded silver dollars in the floor.  The floor is still visible today as are the silver dollars that he embedded.  The floor does have some indentations in it where it was struck by errant bullets.  Today it is the Hard Rock Café’s souvenir shop.  Ryman also built a church which later became the Ryman Auditorium and later the Grand Ole Opry. The Grand Ole Opry has now moved out of downtown Nashville and is located next to Gaylord Opryland Resort along the Cumberland River. What once was the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville is now back to being Ryman Auditorium. It too has country and western concerts.

The main street in Nashville’s downtown is called Broadway.  It is lined with Honky Tonk bars where the music starts at 2 in the afternoon and goes on for the next 12 hours.  Besides Honky Tonks there are MANY cowboy boots and hat shops.  Rich liked this sign.

The skyscrapers there are very unusual.  The AT & T building was in the Batman movie and so is called the Batman Building.  The US Bank building, as you can see, has numerous projections sticking out the sides

Tomorrow will be a rest day.

NOTHING IN PARTICULAR

September 27, 2011  Dateline: Grand Rivers, KY USA

I have not traveled in a week, so I don’t have anything to report on my travels.  Today, Rich had the oil as well as the oil and fuel filters changed on my engines, transmissions and generator.  In a car that is an easy task but for me it takes 4-5 hours to get the job done.  I take 20 gallons of oil, three oil filters and 8 fuel filters---my diesel must be clean and not have any water in it.

Last night Rich organized a get together for the Loopers who are staying in Green Turtle Bay Marina.  The turnout was really good. There must have been about 26 people there, which considering there were about 17 Looper boats at the marina is pretty good.

Last Sunday, friends of MY WAY took Rich and Carol and Francine and Wayne to Barkley Lake Inn for a buffet lunch.  Barkley Lake Inn is run by the State of Kentucky and is a large resort and conference center. It has houses to rent as well as lodge rooms, a marina and conference rooms.  The buffet was outstanding and the view of the lake from the dining room was beautiful.

 Today, Rich and Carol went with Wayne and Francine to the Homeplace which is an 1850’s living museum in Land Between the Lakes Park.  The museum was interesting but not very exciting.  The buildings were original 19^th Century structures that had been relocated to the site from other areas in Kentucky.  The construction of the buildings is interesting as the corners were dove tailed together.  The beams used to build the structures were very large.  One can only imagine how large the trees were that the beams were cut from.  The virgin forests in the area must have been beautiful to behold.

The road through the center of the Park has a number of signs on it pointing the direction to various family cemeteries.  When the Park was formed the Federal government purchased the land but allowed those people living on the land to remain until they passed away, so family cemeteries remain in the Park.

HE IS A YEAR OLDER

September 23, 2011  Dateline: Grand Rivers, KY USA

Today Rich continued to clean me, kind of boring, huh?  This is proving to be a big job. I would bet that as soon as he gets finished,  it will begin to rain.  MY WAY was also getting cleaned.

Today is Rich’s birthday, he is getting older by the day.  In the evening, the owners of MY WAY, Wayne and Francine along with friends of his named Sam and Lee as well as Carol and Rich went to the Marina’s restaurant to celebrate.  Wayne and Francine brought a cake with them and everyone got to have a piece.  It was an enjoyable evening.

Wayne & Francine

Francine took this picture as our anchors were being pulled up in Little Diversion Canal, what do you think was going on Carol’s mind?  Looking at the fog in front of the boats she must have been asking if Rich and Wayne were crazy.

BBQ BY THE RIVER

September 22, 2011  Dateline: Grand Rivers, KY USA

In the morning Rich began my cleaning process.  After 3 months on the water and having traversed more than 80 locks without a good cleaning, I had gotten pretty dirty.  Carol had been complaining that she had never seen me so dirty. 

Midway through the day everyone left me and went to Paducah. This was not a good day for pigs and hogs. Paducah, KY has an annual event which involves the full commitment of pigs and hogs.  The event is a barbeque cook-off that lasts for three days.  There must be more than 50 vendors selling smoked  barbeque pork ribs, chicken, turkey legs and other great food.  They sell about 60 tons of barbeque at the event each year. Some of the stands are simple, with nothing more than a table whiles others are full dining rooms.  The entire event is for charity.  People attending get to vote for the best barbeque then large trophies are awarded.  The vendors display their trophies and awards with great pride.  Of course those places with the largest number of awards and banners get the most business with the longest lines.  There are all kinds of fried foods there as well.  There is fried ice cream, fried oreos, fried bananas, and fried pies. 

Paducah was founded around 1815 at the point where the Tennessee, Cumberland and Ohio Rivers merge together.  It was named after an Indian Chief Paduca who had lived in the area.  The town’s grid was laid out by William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition.  When Clark officially opened the city he invited the Chief to the ribbon cutting, but the Chief died on the way of a European disease.   The city remains a key to river travel today.  It is not only the headquarters to one of the large tow companies but also has the training school where tow captains learn how to drive tows in a simulator.  Rich and Carol had dinner at the Paducah fest with a gentleman and his wife who relocated to Paducah from New Jersey. He said he had operated the simulator once and said it was very easy to get in trouble in St. Louis because of all the river traffic and congestion there.

Paducah has a flood wall to protect the city when the Ohio River rises above its banks.  The town has painted murals on the wall to make it look attractive. There are huge gates that, while allowing the public access to the river side of the wall, can be closed to keep the water out of the city.

The old buildings downtown show what and who was once there.  There is a building inscribed with “ American German National Bank”, the bank has long ago closed but the structure still stands.

 Paducah is also home to the National Quilt Museum. Paducah is known as “Quilt City, USA”. The museum hosts many events including changing exhibits, workshops, appraisals, traveling exhibits. It also accepts donations of old quilts.

NORTH SOUTH EAST AND WEST

September 21, 2011 Grand Rivers, KY USA

I got up early today because I had 138 miles to travel from Little Diversion Canal to Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand Rivers, KY.  I would travel on the Mississippi, Ohio and Cumberland Rivers and travel through 3 locks.

During the night while Rich and Carol slept I could feel the dew forming on me.  When they finally got up to get me ready for the 7 AM departure time they found I was sitting in a fog bank.  So, I sat for the next hour and a half waiting got the fog to lift. We finally left at 8:30.

The trip down the river was fun, I could really fly with the current pushing me forward.  I was doing well over 22 miles per hour.  There were not many tows so I didn’t have to slow down at all.  Going around a corner a call came over my radio.  A small tow had gone aground and he asked me to put out a big wake in hopes it would lift him high enough to get going again.  I tried my best, I know I can put out one heck of a wake.  I don’t know if it worked, but the tow thanked me.

I saw much bigger tows than I had seen before, One I saw had 31 barges that he was pushing up stream.  Given the standard size of a barge, that tow was 175 feet wide and 1200 feet long.  Pushing against the current that tow was sure churning up the river and he was only moving at 4 knots.

Most people think that the Mississippi River flows from north to south, it does, generally.  In some places it flows east, it other places west, and others north, then south again.  In some places the river meanders forming horseshoe bends and creating places of multi directional flows.

Next came the Ohio River and I had to turn up steam, what an awaking.  I went from 22 miles per hour to 16 as I now was traveling against the current.  The Ohio River at Cairo, IL, where the Ohio and the Mississippi come together, is a major staging area for barges and I had to travel very slow as there were barges and Tows on both sides of the river and in the middle.

The two locks on the Ohio that I would have to go through are controlled by wicket dams.  Depending on the level of water in the river the wickets can be raised or lowered.  When lowered, boats and tows can travel right over them. When raised, they must travel through the associated lock.  The first wicket dam was down so we were able to go right over it.  I was not so lucky with the second lock.  I had to wait for about 45 minutes as a tow cleared the lock.

Finally, I got to the Cumberland River.  The Cumberland River is narrow and the banks are steep.  I passed several quarries along the way with tows tied up along them.  I didn’t’ see very much boat traffic, except for one bass boat that came charging at me putting out a large rooster tail. I slowed down but he did not.  He hit my wake and the boat was launched into the air.  I thought he was going to flip over backwards, he did not.

I got to the last lock, the Barkley Lock and Dam.  I had to wait an hour for a tow to clear.  As I waited I watched the sun go down.  The lock is a “new one” and is a 57foot lift.  The chamber is huge.  When I emerged from the lock it was dark. Luckily I had only half a mile to travel.  That was the good news.  The bad news was that I had a winding channel to travel in the dark with no moonlight or shore lights.  Fortunately, MY WAY knew where we were going and could lead the way to Green Turtle Bay Marina.

I will be in Green Turtle Bay for the next two or three weeks

I ANCHOR OUT

September 20, 2011  Dateline: Little Diversion Canal, IL USA

I left Hoppies marina in the morning for the 110 mile run to Little Diversion Canal.  The Canal is a small cut at mile 48 on the Upper Mississippi River’s right descending bank.  The trip down the river was very uneventful and the 3-4 knot current made the trip even faster. 

The Mississippi River looked somewhat like the Hudson River with high vertical cliffs coming straight to the river’s edge, just like the New Jersey Palisades.  The leaves of the trees on the side of the cliffs, the west side of the river, are beginning to change color.

I got to the Canal before MY WAY and Rich steered me in.  It was a challenge to get into the canal as the same strong current that pushed me down the river now fought me as I turned and went back up stream.  I got into the Canal and Carol went to put my anchor down.  Ooops, the circuit breaker tripped and my anchor would not go down.  MY WAY came into the Canal, then Rich and Wayne tied me and MY WAY together. MY WAY ‘s anchor held strong enough to hold both of us in place.  Carol searched my manuals and found where the breaker was located.  Rich reset it and down the anchor went. I held well in the mud but Rich and Wayne decided to stay tied together for the night. That made it very easy for all to get together for cocktails at 5.  We were all tired and at the end of the day it was good to call it a night.  

The Canal is just south of Cape Girardeau.  Like many towns along the rivers, levees or walls were constructed to keep back the flood waters.  The wall in Cape Girardeau has a mural painted on it. These walls may also have doors in them to allow access to the river.  In this picture you can see the mural as well as one of the doors being open.

Tomorrow I am off to Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand Rivers, KY

ST. LOUIS FROM THE WATER

September 19, 2011  Dateline: Kimmswick, MO USA

Rich bought me some fuel this morning and then we headed off to the Melvin Price lock about a mile down river from Alton, IL.  MY WAY  left the marina first  and entered the lock ahead of me. There was one other pleasure craft in the lock already and then another two boats followed me in.  This was my first lock on the Mississippi River and it was huge.  Tows on the Mississippi are larger than those on the Illinois so the locks need to be much larger.  After leaving this lock I then went slow so that all five of us would get to the second lock at about the same time and I would not have to wait for the slower boats to arrive.  Before arriving at the second rock I had to proceed through a narrow canal that goes around an area called The Chain of Rocks, just the name scares me. The canal was built to bypass a portion of the Mississippi that has rapids.

I sailed past St. Louis and Carol got this picture of the Arch and the court house where the Dred Scott case was tried.

She was also able to get a picture of the Lewis and Clark statute that is located by the river.  Because it is located so close to the river it gets covered with water periodically.

I ended my day at Hoppies Marine Services located in Kimmswick, MO.  Hoppies is the last place to get fuel for the next 270 miles.  Hoppies is located along the side of the river and consists of several barges tied together.  Every day at 4:30 Fern Hoppy holds court in a covered area of the fuel barge and tells those heading down stream where the hazards are in the river and where the safe anchorages are located.  In attendance this afternoon was a man who was heading down the river in a 20 foot center console with an outboard engine.  He was very concerned about his ability to have sufficient fuel onboard to make the next 270 miles.  After talking with Fern, who is about 75, he felt more comfortable but was still concerned about the best route to take.

Tomorrow I am off to Little Diversion Canal, 110 miles down the Mississippi. MY WAY and I will anchor out, so there will be no posting to the blog as there will be no internet access.