We arrived at the Spring City Marina about noon on Thursday, September 10th. After a quick lunch, I took off to do laundry and the Captain spent the afternoon taking on 210 gallons of fuel ($2.39 per gallon), washing the sundeck ceiling and giving the outside of the boat a thorough cleaning. Ron & Tina aboard “Driftwood” were kind enough to let us use their car so I was able to go to the laundromat in Spring City and knock out several loads at once.
“Driftwood” was on Bay Springs Lake when we were there a few months ago and Todd has since talked to them on the VHF when we were in Chattanooga and again as we entered Watts Bar. They told us they were going to be wintering up Piney Creek at the Spring City Marina and to stop in on our way downriver after Labor Day. Unfortunately, Ron & Tina had to make a trip out of town the day we arrived so we never did get to meet them. But they told us they would leave their car key with Roy & Elvie (“Roy El”) so we could use it in their absence. Thanks, Ron & Tina, we really appreciate it!
After getting our chores done we walked over to “Roy El” to return Ron & Tina’s car key and spent some time visiting with Roy & Elvie and their friends, Richard & Sybil. While we were there, we sampled Roy’s boiled peanuts, which we don’t generally care for, but Roy did a nice job and they were really good! We then returned to “Life’s2Short” for a quiet evening after a busy and productive day.
We departed the Spring City Marina about 9:00 a.m. Friday and arrived at the Watts Bar lock by 9:45. The lockmaster was in the process of bringing a boat up so we had slowed down considerably, knowing we were going to have a bit of a wait. Feeling industrious, the Captain took advantage of our idle time and cleaned the vinyl windows on both the flybridge and the sundeck.
While we were waiting, we heard “Daphne” call the lockmaster so we waited a few extra minutes for Frank & Joyce so we could lock down together. We haven’t seen “Daphne” since Bay Springs Lake even though we’ve been travelling in basically the same areas over the past month or so. They are headed downriver to meet up with “That’s Me” and “Moonstruck,” two other boats we met as we were coming up the Tenn-Tom in July.
Todd had called the Blue Water Campground & Marina about a week ago to see if they had a place we could tie up while we were visiting Pete & Geneva. The owner, also named Todd, said he really wasn’t geared for transients (no water or power) but he agreed to let us tie up to his dock. Blue Water is less than half a mile up Richland Creek at Mile 504.4 and, as it turns out, is only a few blocks from Pete & Geneva’s house. So they met us at the dock to catch a line when we arrived, about 2:00 p.m.
We then went to Pete & Geneva’s house where we spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing on their deck, enjoying the beautiful setting and the company of good friends. For dinner Pete grilled some tasty brats and fresh corn on the cob, complemented by sauerkraut, baked beans and Geneva’s onion salad. And to top off the evening, we had ice cream with pound cake and Geneva’s homemade blueberry sauce. Yummy!
When we got up Saturday morning, we decided to stay at Blue Water another day to spend more time with Pete & Geneva. We had also been told about a local gathering Saturday evening with live music and a campfire that sounded like fun. So we made plans for Pete & Geneva to pick us up around noon but then Todd got a chance to go fishing (in a real bass boat) for a few hours so we pushed it back to 1:00 p.m.
Pete took us to Jacob’s Deli in downtown Dayton for a light lunch and then we drove to an area just outside of town that is part of the Cumberland Trail. The entire Cumberland Trail consists of 300-plus miles beginning in the Cumberland Gap National Park (KY) and stretching south to Chickamauga Chattanooga National Military Park and Prentice Cooper Wildlife Management Area just outside Chattanooga.
This segment of the trail is nine miles long and is called the Laurel-Snow Segment. Named after two scenic waterfalls, Laurel Falls (80 feet) and Snow Falls (35 feet), the Laurel-Snow Segment travels along the eastern escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau and features scenic creeks, steep gorges and interesting geologic features. We spent the next few hours walking a few miles of the trail and enjoying the beautiful scenery along the way.
Logging and deep mining took place in some portions of the area in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Some remnants of mining activities can still be seen along the trail.
Geneva & Pete, formally of “Woodja.”
Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil!
After leaving the trail, we made a quick stop at Pete & Geneva’s house before going over to a cookout at Bill & Sandy’s, friends and neighbors of Pete & Geneva. There were two other couples there (Scott & Kay and Jim & Andie) and we all had a good time getting to know each other. Bill & Sandy were full-time cruisers for a while so we already had something in common!
When we left Bill & Sandy’s, we made a brief stop at “Life’s2Short” before going to the campground gathering we had been told about. There were a couple of guitarists there and several people sitting around the campfire. A short time after we arrived, someone pulled a quart Mason jar of apple pie moonshine out of a cooler and started passing it around. As you might imagine, it was an interesting evening with some unique individuals, but we all had a good time and finally turned in around 11:00 p.m.
The Captain said his good-byes to Todd at Blue Water Sunday morning as he was having a cup of coffee on the store porch and we left for Chattanooga. Thanks for allowing us to stay at your dock, Todd; and thanks for keeping us entertained, Pete & Geneva! What a fun and eventful couple of days!!!
Todd on the left and Brad with his son on the right. Brad was the young man who took Todd fishing in a “real” bass boat!
Our plan was to anchor somewhere in the downtown Chattanooga area, but after a number of unsuccessful attempts we gave up and went to the Marine Max floating dock. While we were trying to anchor, we heard from John aboard “That’s Me.” He was coming upriver and hadn’t had any luck anchoring below Chattanooga either, so he ended up tying to the floating dock also.
We hadn’t seen John since we left Bay Springs Lake and he insisted on taking us out on the town. We toured the area for a little while and then went to the Big River Grill & Brewery for a few drinks and a bite to eat. After that we stumbled upon Taco Mac and proceeded to spend the next several hours sampling designer beer. They have a huge selection and John was determined to taste as many as possible. It was a very fun evening and, as always, we enjoyed John’s company tremendously!
Our collection for the evening, and to think we were going to take it easy this night because of the moonshine the night before!
It was quite the trip back to the boats trying to negotiate all the stairs.
John came over for a late breakfast Monday morning and then we took off for Little Cedar Mountain, our anchorage for the evening. Frank & Joyce on “Daphne” arrived just as we were leaving and John was going to spend at least one more day in Chattanooga with them. Hopefully we’ll run across him again somewhere along the waterway.
We had an uneventful trip downriver but really enjoyed going with the current rather than against it! Along the way we re-entered the Central Time Zone and gained an hour, so we were anchored in a very pretty setting by 3:30 p.m. The bass were hitting all around us and the Captain was compelled to fish for a while. He managed to catch a few but decided the fish were too smart. In reality, the bass had so many shad to feed on, they just weren’t all that interested in what Todd had to offer!
We were underway by 9:30 Tuesday morning and the Nickajack lockmaster actually had the gates open and waiting for us when we arrived – a first for this trip! We had great current the entire 48 miles and were anchored just above Goose Pond shortly after 3:00 p.m. Once again the bass were busting the surface all around the cove and the Captain spent several hours trying his best to capture their attention with his lures - with some success, I might add!
As with most recent days, Wednesday dawned cloudy and gray. The Captain did some more fishing that morning and then made a quick run to Goose Pond Colony Marina to buy some ice. “That’s Me” and “Daphne” pulled in to the anchorage about 2:30 p.m. and by 3:00 a storm was moving through. It had more wind than rain in it, but it was blowing right into the cove from the main lake and all three boats were swinging first one direction, then another.
After the wind finally calmed down, both John and Todd went fishing. We were supposed to have dinner on “Daphne” at 6:00 but it was closer to 7:00 by the time we got there. Joyce had prepared a very nice meal of pasta with shrimp (courtesy of John who also gave us a box – thanks, John!), zucchini and corn casserole and garlic bread. Thanks for having us over, Joyce & Frank, it was great!
Our destination Thursday was Ditto Landing Marina, 46 miles and one lock downstream. “That’s Me” and “Daphne” were planning to go in to the marina at Goose Pond for a few days and possibly reconnect with David on “Moonstruck” who had left his boat at Goose Pond to make a trip back to the Gulf coast. It was another gloomy, gray, windy day but we were lucky enough to miss most of the storms that were hammering the area, although we caught the edge of a nasty one just before we reached Ditto Landing.
We arrived at the fuel dock at 3:00 p.m., pumped out the holding tanks and were tied up to our assigned dock a short time later. Pete & Geneva, who we visited this past weekend, had dropped off a car for us on Tuesday on their way to Kansas for Pete’s mother’s 90th birthday. Not only are they letting us use their extra car to drive back to Missouri, but Ditto Landing took them about 115 miles out of their way and they already had a very long trip ahead of them. We are incredibly fortunate to have such wonderful, generous friends. Thank you SO much, Pete & Geneva!
Today is Friday, September 18th, and we are getting things together for our trip to Missouri to visit family and friends. Todd will fly to Colorado on Tuesday for his annual fly fishing adventure with his father and will also spend time with family and friends while he is in Colorado. We plan to return to “Life’s2Short” in early October and will post our next blog update at that time.
1 comment:
Yay, Brenda - hiking!!!!!!
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