Kelli Visits "Life's2Short"

Saturday, September 5th, Todd finally returned to “Life’s2Short” with Kelli about 4:30 p.m. They had quite a time trying to find a place to park Jerry & Lynn’s vehicle in downtown Knoxville. All the streets in the vicinity of Neyland Stadium (and the river) were blocked off because the game was almost over and all available lanes were being used for outbound traffic. But they eventually made it back to the riverfront, thanks to a Holiday Inn shuttle driver named Charles who befriended Kelli and offered to take them to Calhoun’s as soon as traffic died down a little. Unfortunately, Jerry & Lynn, along with his daughter and her two children, had to hike from the river up to the Holiday Inn to get to their vehicle. Sorry about that, guys!

Kelli waits for a ride to “Life’s2Short” and the start of her river trip.

George & Laura did a wonderful job decorating their sailboat, “Pyewacket,” for the Labor Day weekend festivities. We originally met George & Laura on Pickwick Lake in the fall of 2006 and ran across them again this past spring in the Exumas. They are a very nice couple and were kind enough to share with us some of the homegrown produce Laura’s parents had brought from Missouri. Thanks, guys! It was great seeing you again!!!

“Pyewacket” at anchor getting ready for “Boomsday.” She was the most decorated boat on the river!

Kelli was understandably tired after her long two-day journey, coupled with a sleepless night at the Super 8 in Sikeston, MO, so we chilled on the boat for a while and then dinghied over to Calhoun’s for a few drinks and appetizers. By the time we left Calhoun’s, she was getting her second wind so we decided to take a little river tour and dinghy down to where “Just Rosie” was anchored to introduce Kelli. After that it was back to “Life’s2Short” to get some rest.

Fun times at Calhoun’s!

Evening shot of Neyland Stadium.

We woke up Sunday to a gloomy sky full of rain. We had planned to walk up the hill to explore downtown Knoxville around 10:00 a.m. but weren’t terribly excited about walking around in the rain. So we decided to give it some time and while we were waiting, several boats from the free city dock a short distance downstream started moving up our way to find a spot to anchor for the fireworks show (called “Boomsday”) Sunday evening. The city dock is in the fireworks drop zone, so they were required to vacate by 10:00 a.m. Sunday.

We weren’t keen on having anyone raft to us since we knew our anchor hadn’t set well in the rocky bottom, but then Todd saw a 45-foot Wellcraft with a big plow anchor on the front looking for a place to drop the hook and invited them to raft to us. As it turned out, there were several other boats in the same group. We started with six, but before the day was over we had a string of ten boats rafted together.

By early afternoon, the rain had tapered off so we left to go walking around. We toured Market Square, browsed in some of the little shops, bought a few things at the Mast General Store (a very cool place with something for everyone!) and eventually stopped in at the Downtown Grill & Brewery to rest our feet and have a drink.

Girlfriends!

Rafted boats at the Calhoun’s dock, part of the Vol Navy.

Shots of downtown Knoxville.

David & Goliath?

Downtown Grill & Brewery.

We strolled back toward the river and walked out on the Gay Street bridge to take an aerial photo of “Life’s2Short” with its entourage of six rafted boats, soon to be ten.

More shots of the rafting party at Calhoun’s.

The barge that was set up for the VIP’s to view the fireworks show.

We then walked through the masses of vendors that had set up tents between Calhoun’s and Neyland Stadium for “Boomsday.” It was very much a carnival atmosphere, complete with fresh squeezed lemonade, corn dogs, cotton candy, inflatable rides for the kids, a petting zoo, and even a few carnival games where you could win stuffed animals.

Only in Tennessee would you find this, and no we didn’t try one!

Coast Guard Cutter Ouachita is in attendance for “Boomsday.”

By 5:30 our feet were tired so we returned to the boat to relax and kick back. As the evening wore on we got to know our neighbors better and ended up having a great time with them. Darren even fed us burgers for dinner and Veronica insisted we try some of her homemade white chicken chili, which was wonderful!

Before the big event started, the Captain was out in the dinghy taking pictures and shuttling people to and from shore. While he was motoring around, a young man actually jumped off the center span of the Gay Street bridge, which we figure is at least 80 feet high! Todd quickly picked him up since he landed in the boat traffic lane, but the Coast Guard was there within seconds and motioned for the young man to come over to their boat. So he jumped out of the dinghy and swam over to the Coast Guard boat and we never heard what happened to him after that. In any event, he’s lucky to have survived!

“Life’s2Short” now has 10 boats rafted together!

Joe uses black electrical tape for the dinghy registration to keep from getting a ticket.

Everyone getting ready for the BIG show.

“Pyewacket” is finally joined by another sailboat.

Jenny & Veronica show their support for the Vol’s.

Just another goofy hat for the Captain.

Over the course of several months, we have heard from scores of people how wonderful the Knoxville Labor Day fireworks show is. In fact, we first heard about it while we were in the Exumas this past spring, and our only real travel goal this summer was to be in Knoxville Labor Day weekend. Apparently, there is a big fireworks manufacturer about 40 miles from Knoxville and they use “Boomsday” as a testing ground for many of their new inventions. It is quite an event for the Knoxville area, attracting several hundred boats and hundreds of thousands of people.

The fireworks were scheduled to begin at 9:30 so we put our beach chairs up on top of the sundeck roof and settled in. The show began on time and the entire event was like a finale with nonstop action. Multiple streams of fireworks were being shot off simultaneously all the way across the Henley Street bridge and sometimes even from the buildings on either side of the bridge. There were so many different things going on at the same time, all the time, that you didn’t know where to look and you certainly didn’t want to miss anything!

Some of the displays were in the shapes of smiley faces and hearts when they exploded. At one point, the entire span of the Henley Street bridge, on both sides, became a waterfall of fireworks that was breathtaking! They also shot fireworks out of the water on both sides of the bridge. Our boat was literally vibrating from the force of the sound waves. It truly was the most spectacular show we are ever likely to witness. You had to be there to get the full effect, but the photos should give you some idea of how amazing it was. We borrowed a few of these from the Internet but most were taken by the Captain.

Let the show begin, and what a show it was!!!

What Tennessee fireworks show would be complete without orange & white fireworks!

We ended up having a very late night with our boat neighbors so Monday didn’t begin until about 10:00 a.m. for most of us. Just as we were getting ready to leave Knoxville, Pat & Bill came by in their 34-foot Sea Ray to say good-bye and give us a Tennessee flag to fly on our boat (we didn’t have anything orange and felt out of place among all the diehard Tennessee fans!). Pat & Bill are part of the Coast Guard Auxiliary who were helping keep order on the water. We anchored next to them Friday afternoon and saw them off and on over the course of the weekend as they were patrolling among the boaters. Thanks for the souvenir, guys!

We finally untied from the rest of the group around noon and started downriver, arriving at our anchorage near Jerry & Lynn’s house between 5:00 and 5:30.

It’s time for the rafters to break up and start heading downriver. Thanks for the great time all, when can we do it again?

A very cute cabin built between the cliffs a few miles below Knoxville.

After waiting out a brief rain shower, we dinghied over to Calhoun’s for one more round of their mouthwatering ribs. “Just Rosie” was also anchored in the cove with us and joined us for dinner. As we were leaving Calhoun’s, we spotted George & Laura (“Pyewacket”) with their group. They had also eaten at Calhoun’s and were heading down to Blue Springs Marina, their home dock, the following day.

The crew from “Just Rosie” dinghy over to Calhoun’s.

We were underway by 10:00 a.m. Tuesday when the Fort Loudoun Lock opened for business. Most locks on the river system are open 24/7, but Fort Loudoun is only open from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. “Pyewacket” locked down with us but we gradually pulled ahead and lost sight of them.

What a lucky guy the Captain is having two hot blondes helping him with lock duties…. Life is good on “Life’s2Short!”

Unlike the trip downriver from Knoxville the previous day, boat traffic was minimal and Kelli was finally able to lay on the bow and soak up some rays.

You think maybe this person is a Tennessee Vol’s fan?

Are we having fun yet?

We were planning to anchor somewhere on Thief Neck Island but ended up anchoring in a cove on the opposite side of the lake from Blue Springs Marina. The cove branches in three directions and we tried anchoring in all three without much success. The bottom is undoubtedly the hardest clay we’ve ever seen. The anchor tried to dig in but it just wasn’t able to penetrate far enough for a good hold. When we brought the anchor back in on our second attempt, the clay that had stuck to the anchor was so hard we couldn’t even hose it off! We were finally able to scrape enough of it off to finish the job with the hose. The third branch was well protected so we just dropped some extra chain and called it good.

Our beautiful anchorage on Watts Bar.

Kelli feeding the turtles.

Wednesday was a beautiful, cool morning. The Captain took off to go fishing mid-morning and didn’t return until almost noon. After lunch we all hung out, read and relaxed and Kelli fed the turtles every chance she got, dubbing our anchorage “Turtle Bay.” About mid-afternoon we took a dinghy ride across the lake where we explored a few new coves before going in to Blue Springs Marina so Kelli could get a couple of souvenirs to take home.

The weather was starting to look a bit iffy with lightning and thunder in the distance, so we decided to return to “Life’s2Short.” Once again the bulk of the storms bypassed us and we only saw a small amount of light rain. Todd went fishing again early evening but returned in time to cook Bay Springs Lake catfish for Kelli for dinner.

Kelli checks out the Captain’s “holy place.”

Todd shuttled Kelli to Blue Springs Marina (where they had left her car on Saturday) shortly after 8:00 a.m. Thursday morning, September 10th, to begin the long journey home to Springfield, MO. We really enjoyed having her aboard “Life’s2Short” and hope she will be able to stay longer next time she visits.

The Captain shuttles Kelli back to her car at the marina. Bye, Kelli!

We are going to end this post with Kelli’s visit and update the blog as soon as we have Internet again, hopefully within the next few days. In the meantime, we are working our way downriver to see our good friends Pete & Geneva on Chickamauga Lake, after an overnight stop at the Spring City Marina to take on some fuel, pump out, give the boat a bath and catch up on several weeks of laundry. Thanks for coming to see us, Kelli!