Monday, August 6

Flora-Bama - Perdido Key

Taking in the "Red Neck Rivera"

Beach sign outside Flora-Bama

Peridido Key Beach

We have decided that the Sportsman's Marina in Orange Beach, AL. is as safe a place to leave the White Label during hurricane season as any. The marina has a large indoor storage building and is located on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway about a half mile inland from the Gulf Coast. We will put her into storage on Wednesday and continue our tour of the "Red Neck Riviera" by land. Not having a clue about this area, we had the good sense to contact Joan Gasaway, a friend from Iowa, who along with her husband Mike, has a second home here. Even though they are not in residence she did a great job of advising us via e-mail. Today we started exploring some of her suggestions. A very popular -and somewhat touristy- spot is called Flora-Bama. Located on Perdido Key at the Alabama/Florida line, it is known affectionately as the "Ultimate Dive." According to Joan it literally blew over during Ivan and was basically a structure of tin and tarps. It has been rebuilt to be a little more sturdy ........ still it looks like it will go again if the "Big One" comes ashore. Located on the absolutely gorgeous Perdido Key Beach- which runs the entire length of the island - it felt really good to dig our toes into the sugary sand! We have been surprised at the level of activity - this is a prime summer vacation spot, especially with the Southerners. With amazing beaches, an onshore breeze and warm Gulf waters, we can see why this place is so popular.

Sunday, August 5

Gas stop - Bobby's Fish Camp - Tombigbee River

Backwoods Alabama

Mobile Harbor

Mobile, AL.

Black wall of clouds over Mobile Bay

It was clear that tropical storm Eduardo would miss the Gulf Coast and so we set off at 7:00 am to begin our 213-mile trip down the Tombigbee River to Mobile Bay. Wide, deep and meandering, this stretch is a natural river that requires minimal dredging. Even close to Mobile the shoreline is uninhabited. There is only one marina, the rustic Bobby's Fish Camp, where we stopped to fuel. Talk about the middle of nowhere! A couple of good things about the Tombigbee - there is very little boat traffic, few go-slow areas and virtually no debris floating in the river. We made good time. Twenty miles upstream from Mobile Bay, the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers come together to form the Mobile River. It is here that we spotted our first pelican. We have had enough of backwoods Alabama and are ready to move onto the Gulf. Before doing that, we had to transit Mobile Harbor with ocean freighters, barge tows and tour boats clogging the waterway. Beyond the harbor is Mobile Bay, a shallow body of water which we had to cross to reach Orange Beach, AL. As we entered the bay, a massive black wall of clouds headed toward us from the north. We were able to duck into the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway as the heavy rains and gusts hit. Having an enclosed steering station is a lot better than being caught out on a pontoon - something we saw plenty of as we passed down the waterway. They pay no more attention to the weather than some Clear Lake boaters (you know who you are ........) While we did not end our longest day dry, we were very pleased to secure the boat and plug in the AC at 6:50 pm

Saturday, August 4

Tour of the towboat - Bobby Joe James

Statue honoring "Our Confederate Dead"

Bluff Hill - Demopolis, AL.

The Red Barn

Dinner with Francis & Helene

With a couple of tropical storms possibly headed for the Gulf Coast, we decided to spend another day in Demopolis, AL., until we had a clearer picture of the weather. At the marina's fuel dock we noticed the tow, Bobby Joe James (think it's based in the South?) which was there to fuel and provision before heading upriver to Illinois to pick up a load of coal. We struck up a conversation with Captain Billy and inquired about the possibility of a tour. He agreed and for the next half hour showed us the inner-workings of a river towboat. The tour was quite fascinating, especially after passing so many of them along our cruise. Some interesting facts regarding the Bobby Joe James: She carries a crew of seven - Captain, pilot, relief captain, mechanic and three deckhands. She holds 85,000 gallons of diesel. She burns 3,000 gallons of diesel and 50 quarts of oil a day. The engines have 4200 HP each - turning 96" propellers. A normal tow on the Tenn-Tom is 105 feet wide, the locks are 110 feet wide. Not much room for error! Next we decided a bike tour of Demopolis was in order. Although it appeared that this small town is struggling like so many others, the community has focused on many beautification projects. The parks were well landscaped and the neighborhoods full of nicely maintained older homes. We knew we were in the Deep South when we came across the prominently displayed statue honoring "Our Confederate Dead". The big attraction in town is Bluff Hill, an antebellum house museum. Since it did not look too busy and I felt as if we should show some support to the the town, I bought a ticket. Signing the guest book I couldn't help but notice that I was the first customer in over a week. Located on White Bluff overlooking the Tombigbee River, Bluff Hall was built in 1832 by slaves of Allen Glover for his daughter and her husband. At Green Turtle Bay we were told to look for "Miss Jazz", a trawler owned by a French Canadian couple who were headed for Demopolis. We joined Francis & Helene for 5:30 "docktails" and dinner at The Red Barn, enjoying their company very much. They love boating as much as we do - their last adventure was cruising the canals of France off and on for the past four years in a 25' boat. Francis said he had to earn 3 licenses from the French Government to do so (ugh!). Their home base is Quebec, near Chateau Montebello on the Ottawa River, a place we visited while in Canada.

Friday, August 3

What a difference a day can make ....... we woke up to the hot sun buried behind a densely overcast sky and the temps were actually pleasant. The Columbus Marina kindly called Stennis Lock for us and the gates were opened upon our arrival. The lock through took all of fifteen minutes. We were off to a good start!! The River Section of the Tenn-Tom is 149 miles long and includes four locks. To create this stretch, a channel 9-feet deep and 300 feet wide was dredged in the Tombigbee River. More than 30 rock dams were constructed to eliminate many severe bends. Still, this stretch has more twists and turns, obscuring the view of oncoming traffic. There are scattered areas of housing, a few camp groups, but mostly more of the same - forested shoreline. By 11:30 am, fifty miles into our day's cruise, Charlie turned to me and said ....."I'm bored." (You kind of start wondering if this isn't "Deliverance" territory - that would be too much excitement. Just thoughts of that movie are unnerving.) Sure enough, coming out of a river bend, we spotted the tow "Jody McMinn" - the same one that has bedeviled us throughout the Tenn-Tom. The Heflin Lock (our final one of the day) was still ahead, but we had a chance to outrun her this time. If it is not one thing, it's another - arriving at the lock with time to spare, we were told that maintenance work was being done to a valve. It took just long enough for the Jody McMinn to catch up with us and take her priority status. Worse yet, they were using this lock to provision the boat. A thunderstorm was brewing and we had a REALLY long wait in the rain - this time three hours. Have we mentioned our dislike of tows & locks lately? Finally we arrived at the Demopolis Yacht Basin at 5:30 pm. It's safe to say this is one funky place in the middle of no-where Alabama. At the boater's lounge we were greeted by a "left over hippie" sailor who invited us to join in a toke, we declined and instead headed for the on-site restaurant, the New Orleans House. It was obvious that this is a local hangout and once again we found the people to be very friendly. In particular, Tom, a local business man who we think should be the mayor of Demopolis - a wonderful ambassador for the town. When they starting setting up for Karoke at 10:00 pm, we made a mad dash back to the boater's lounge to catch some coverage of the Olympics - our hippie friend was no where to be found.

"Deliverance Territory" - River Section Tenn-Tom

Heflin Lock - 3 hr. wait in the rain

Dodging the river debris

Thursday, August 2

Friendship Cemetery - Beginning of Memorial Day

Mississippi University for Women

Sunset - Columbus Marina - Columbus, Mississippi

Have we mentioned how much we dislike the Tenn-Tom Waterway? First of all it is not very scenic. (But then, we have been spoiled up to now.) The cruise through these waters is hot, boring and slow - due to the strict enforcement of no-waking. To top it all off, we have had horrible timing at several locks, with waits up to two hours. It appears to us that some of the lock tenders intentionally hold off for the commercial tows, when in fact they have plenty of time to lock us through .......VERY ANNOYING! (Is it obvious that the blogress is overheated and overwrought? She was informed that while there were likely very few gators in this part of the world, there might be snakes hiding in the murky waters. No swimming for her!) Our afternoon went better ........ at the Aberdeen Lock, our 4th and final lock of the day, the gates were opened and we were able to pull right in, now that's more like it! We have now entered the River Section of the Tenn-Tom Waterway.  Our stopover was at the Columbus Marina in Columbus, Miss. Incorporated in 1821, the town of 30,000 people is filled with many lovely historic homes and buildings. It was not a military target during the Civil War, but served as a major hospital because of its location on the railroad line. Shortly after the war ended, a group of Columbus women placed bouquets of fresh flowers on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers buried in Friendship Cemetery. This event, called Decoration Day, was the original Memorial Day. Other attractions included - The Tennessee Williams Welcome Center, the first home of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. Mississippi University for Women, the first public college for women in America, established in 1884. The campus has 24 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places and today is a coed university. "Catfish Alley" - It gets a Blues Trail marker for its reputation as the epicenter of blues, jazz and soul music in North Mississippi.  Unlike Delta Blues, music from this area is known as Hill Country Blues. We had a great evening at Huck's - their specialty, catfish with crawfish sauce was delicious & the bar featured an acoustic guitarist. With a cocktail in hand, our attitude about the day improved immensely.

Huck's - Columbus, Mississippi

Wednesday, August 1

Feels like the middle of nowhere - Midway - Tenn-Tom Waterway

Midway Marina - Tenn- Tom Waterway

Too many locks - too many delays

Running full throttle - Tenn-Tom Waterway

The 234-mile Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (Tenn-Tom), which links the Tennessee River eventually to Mobile Bay, is a popular route for commercial and recreational vessels because it shortens the distance traveled on inland rivers and lacks the fierce current of the Mississippi and other rivers.
After 12 years of construction, at a total cost of nearly $2 billion, this man-made canal officially opened in January, 1985.  It is the largest civil works project ever undertaken by the Corps of Engineers.  The system is five times longer and has a total lift 3.5 times greater than the Panama Canal.
The first section is the 27-mile Divide Cut that connects the Tennessee and Tombigbee river basins.  This canal is 280 ft. wide and only 12 ft. deep.  Using modern day equipment it took seven private contractors almost eight years to complete.
Next is the 56-mile Canal Section, also known as the Chain of Lakes segment.  Here the Corps chose to bypass the Tombigbee River altogether with a series of five locks forming small lakes.  We had really lousy timing here and found ourselves caught in the middle of heavy commercial traffic, stuck at one lock for over two hours.  With no wind & high temps, it was especially annoying.
When it became apparent that we would be waiting that long again at Fulton Lock (our 4th of the day), in the middle of a thunderstorm, we turned back to spend the night at Midway Marina.  The dock master, Pat, was a great guy from Grinnell, Iowa, who during his youth had spend many summers in Clear Lake.  A few years back, he and his wife left Rock Island, IL. on a 40 ft. river boat bound for New Orleans -  stopped here, liked it and now he runs the marina. 
We hope to have better luck on the Tenn-Tom tomorrow .............

Tuesday, July 31

Music memorabilia - FAME Recording Studios

FAME Recording Studios

Wilson Pucket's "Mustang Sally"

FAME Recording Studios - Muscle Shoals, AL.

Rosenbaum House - Florence, AL - Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian

Before leaving Muscle Shoals we had two more places to visit.
1.   The Rosenbaum House in Florence.  Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1939, it is the only Wright designed structure in the state of Alabama and is considered one of the purest examples of Wright's Usonian design - his version of the ideal house for average American families.
The original home was only 1500 sq. ft., with 1080 sq. ft. added when the family expanded to four boys.  Built of cypress, red brick and glass, it was interesting to see Wright's genius play out on a simpler, more modest scale.
2.   The FAME Recording Studios.  Because they were in the midst of a recording session, we were only able to see the memorabilia in the lobby area, which included the gold record plaque for Wilson
Pickett's "Mustang Sally" - my favorite dance song.
By afternoon we were back on the water.  The cool breezes on Pickwick Lake provided welcome relief from the heat.  Waterfall Cove was calling us and we joined a group of locals for a refreshing dip in the lake - swimming under the waterfall was especially fun.
Our day ended back at the Grand Harbor Marina where we strategized about the next leg of our journey, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.