We still had some time before November, so decided to take a side-trip before heading to the gulf. We initially planned to hang out in Chattanooga for a while, but decided to only spend a day or two there, and then go to Goose Pond marina for a longer term stay. Anyways, our first goal was Chattanooga.
Getting there involved passing through the Wilson lock. The main chamber in this lock broke several weeks ago, and the repairs will take a long time, so our only option would be to go through their secondary lock. This lock is a flight of two smaller chambers, which has been creating a major bottle-neck in the river system since the main lock broke down. The approach wall to the smaller lock is damaged, which slows down barge traffic. They do not use this lock very much, and so the systems in the lock itself have been breaking down pretty regularly. The lock chambers are smaller than others on the system, which also slows down operations, to the point that there was a serious backlog of barges at this location.
OK, with the set staged, off we went to Florence, Alabama to wait for our turn to pass through the lock. We had a nice journey for most of the trip. At one point a bass boat cut in front of us, which required a bit of navigation to avoid. Then, as we were approaching the marina, we encountered a tow going the same direction that we were. We got on the radio to make arrangements to pass, but then decided to just follow since by the time we would have passed him we would almost be at the marina. We did not want to get into a mess with a barge, so decided to just hang back and go slow.
We followed this tow for about 3 km. When you follow these guys, you try always to stay to the side. They have very powerful propellers which stir up crap from the bottom, and you don't want to hit any of that stuff.
We came into the marina and got set up, then borrowed the curtesy car for a trip to Joe Wheeler state park. When we decided to go to Chattanooga, we arranged to have various packages from Amazon sent to the marina there. The strategy is to have the stuff arrive about a week before we do, so as to allow for delays. They were holding several packages for us there which we were overdue to pick up, so we made a quick trip to get them.
Back at the Florence marina, we visited with other loopers who were here, one of which was the crew for New Bearings. They had been there already a couple of days waiting for the lock, and were the designated contact with the lock. We made arrangements with them to lock through the next day. The lock would only take 5 boats at a time due to turbulence conditions in the lock, and they only communicate with one boat out of the group. Lea Anne from New Bearings gave us instructions to monitor VHF 68 at 6:00 the next morning for instructions. After that we went for dinner at the marina with the crews of Jewel and Hootie Hoo. The restaurant was called the River Bottom Grille. Melanie made a Freudian slip and called it the Bottom Feeder Grille.
The next day was spent waiting for the lock. We were up at 5:30 and turned on our radio at 6:00. We set about getting the boat ready to get underway, and then we waited. At 6:45 we got the update that the lock was being fixed and we had to wait for them to call us. So we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. We could not do anything, since we had to be on standby, so we just waited. During the day we walked around the docks and visited with various other loopers there, always with our portable VHF in tow, waiting for the good word, or any word.
At around 14:00 there was some drama on the radio as we heard the lock talking to a group of recreational boaters, but it turned out they were coming through from the other direction. At about 14:30 we got our orders to stand down, as the lock had more breakdown problems and we would not be locking that day. We now had a small issue, as the marina was full, and 6 more boats were expected later on. However, the owner came by and told us that they would find a way to accommodate everyone. Crisis averted.
We then went over to the marina floating dock patio and visited with a bunch of other loopers for docktails. Over the next few hours, the crews of 10 or 12 boats came and went. Eventually, people got hungry and headed off to get some sustenance. We went over to Jewel for leftover pizza and ham-slider sandwiches. Melanie made a peach cobbler for us as well. Unfortunately, her toaster oven was not up to the job, and it was only partially cooked, but it was still very tasty.
Back on the boat we turned in early, as the next day was on the same schedule as the previous one. We were up early again the next day, and had just finished eating breakfast when we saw Rich walking along the dock. I went out to talk to him, and after discussing for a bit, it turned out that both of us were concerned about going through the Wilson lock, not so much for all the drama to get through, but for the possibility that it might break more on the long term, as they have had lots of mechanical issues with the working lock as is. Both Rich and Melanie then came over to iFloat, and we discussed options, then finally decided not to go through the lock, and to stay on this side and do our side excursion as a road trip.
The marina could not keep us, they had their own logjam of boats do deal with because of the mess from the nearby lock, and could not give us a dock space for another night. So, off we went back to the other end of the lake. We booked into Safe Harbour marina for a week, so we could get some chores done and possibly do some sight-seeing around the area. We were all pretty disappointed, especially Melanie, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Safe Harbour had a lot of loopers on the docks, and we got to enjoy a big docktails session on their floating patio at the end of the dock.
The next day was spent organizing our road trip. Rich and Melanie rented a car, while Louise booked hotels. Rich and I also did some boat maintenance; changing oil, air filters and fuel filters on the engines and generators. I also replaced the water pump for our air conditioners. The old pump was working, but leaked, so time to replace. The new one was one of the packages we got from Joe Wheeler. Since the old pump still worked, I kept it as a spare. I also installed some hold-downs for various storage bins in bilge locations, so these would not move around when we are underway.
The marina was holding a bbq night for boaters, so we decided to leave the day after that. Rich and Melanie went out with Louise to do laundry and pick up the rental car, while I did more boat chores. The bbq event had a live band and served hot-dogs and nachos. Not gourmet, but filling.
Road Trip!
We were up early the next morning and got on the road to Chattanooga. Along the way, we stopped at Goose Pond marina to pick up some other Amazon stuff we had shipped there. We then spent an hour or two visiting a friend of Rich and Melanie who owned a Kadey Krogen at Goose Pond. The boat was a thing of beauty, nice and big and wide. Rich's cousin lived nearby Goose Pond, we we went to his house for lunch. Their house was in a very rural area, and while we were visiting a family of deer walked through the yard.
On the road again, we set out for Chattanooga, getting to our hotel a little later than planned that afternoon. Rich had made arrangements to meet an old friend of his that he had worked with for dinner, but had forgotten that we would be entering the eastern time zone and so would lose an hour. Turned out our initial plan left us plenty of time to get ready, but with the time change we had little time to spare after we checked in to our hotel. We had dinner with Bonnie and Mark at the Boathouse restaurant in downtown Chattanooga. Back at the hotel, we watched a few innings of the world series before turning in.
The restaurant used oyster shells for landscaping.
The sign next to their take-out counter.
The next morning, we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel then went to the Chattanooga aquarium. The facility was built in two large buildings, one dedicated to the freshwater rivers, while the other was sea water. They had set it up so that you "travelled" from the headwaters of a stream, all the way to the ocean. When you entered each building, an escalator took you to the top floor, and you then wound your way down towards the ground floor.
Louise and Melanie at the Aquarium.
The displays were well thought out, and huge. It was surprising to see how big the freshwater fish grow in this area.
Louise and Melanie got to pet some large sturgeon. They also had a "petting pond" with stingrays.
One of the saltwater exhibits.
After going through the aquarium, the next stop was Ruby falls in the afternoon. The falls is located in an underground cave complex. You go down by elevator, then walk along a cave path for about a mile until you come to the waterfall chamber. This attraction has been around since the 1920's when it was discovered. We had never been in a cave like this before, at its deepest, it is more than 1000 feet underground. There were lots of rock formations to see, although some have not stood up to all the people going through. The tour ended with a 5 minute stay at the waterfall, then we had to walk all the way back. Pretty interesting afternoon overall.
Coming out of the elevator into the cave. In many places you had to stoop down to clear the ceiling, in others the ceiling was very high above us.
They had lit up the various rock formations with LED lights. This one had a reflecting pool in the centre, although it is not easy to see on the photo.
Once we got to the waterfall, they had a light show to spice it up. We got a spooky selfie with the underground waterfall.
The colours kept changing, so we ended up with waterfall photos in technicolor.
This one gives an idea of the scale of the waterfall. Although it was discovered over 100 years ago, the source of the water is still unknown. It is linked with rainfall, but does not come directly from the soil above.
For dinner, we followed some local's advice and had Italian food at Tony’s
After dinner we went for coffee at a small shop beside the restaurant. They had this really cool clock in the entrance way.
The old train station has been turned into a museum/restaurant area. You can check out the old running stock, or sample various types of food in the restaurants that ring the old station.
After a nice breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we got on the road to Nashville. Our first stop was the Grand Ole Opry, which was located quite a distance from downtown. On the way up the interstate, we passed a big motorcade going the other way, lots of police and limos. We initially thought it had something to do with the Presidential election, but a quick google search showed that it was a funeral for some local politician.
Melanie took us to Opryland, which is a huge hotel complex beside the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry itself was nothing special, just a small, old brick building, but Opryland was something else. It is a huge hotel complex built inside a dome, kind of like Disneyland for country music fans. We walked through the complex, and visited all of the areas.
One of the central areas of Opryland. Coming into this place felt like entering a resort in Mexico. It was huge, and they had a sub-tropical climate set up in the dome. Each area had plants, streams, fountains and decorations.
One of the central areas. Each had at least one large restaurant, some shops, and a few coffee or ice cream places. All the hotel rooms faced the inner courtyards, and each room had a balcony.
Rich and Melanie at Opryland.
Louise and Bill and Opryland.
This area was partly closed, as they were putting up Christmas decorations and changing out some of the plants.
One of the side-halls near the convention centre.
Shades of West Edmonton mall, they had a boat ride going around the perimeter of the inside spaces. A little pricey at $20 per person though.
On our way out of Opryland we stopped at Bass Pro for some boating items.
Rich found a parking spot downtown near Broadway, and we spent the rest of the day visiting the area.
The Ryman theatre in Nashville. (The original Grand Ole Opry)
Broadway is a street with wall-to-wall bars, each one with live music. The music is really loud and really good, and you could hear various bands playing throughout the whole area. As you got closer to one bar, the music from there got louder, and the music from the last bar got softer, but the music never went away.
Broadway was wall-to-wall bars, each with live music.
Made Louise think of Mary Jane.
Louise and Melanie spent time in each bar, checking out the music. Rich and I stayed outside. I had a headache and was not wanting to get my head pounded any worse than it was, while Rich was not into the bar scene. Louise and Melanie had a blast enjoying the music. After a few hours, we went for dinner at a local barbeque spot that had been suggested by a local barista.
Got some nap-time in when we got back to the hotel.
The next morning we set off for Huntsville, home of the space camp and museum. Rich and I nerded-out in the exhibits, while Melanie and Louise followed along and chatted. The museum had some of the Apollo, Gemini and Mercury engineers on hand to answer questions, so we spent some time listening to their stories. Very interesting to hear about some of their experiences, and how much duct tape and zip ties went into the program.
Space capsule. Each section is machined from a solid billet of aluminum, then the pieces are connected by spin-welding to make a single piece.
The Mars restaurant at the spaceport.
Could not resist trying out the Mercury capsule. Bit of a struggle for an old-fart to get in and out of.
Heat shield from the Apollo 16 capsule. It is constructed like a kind of honeycomb using a ceramic "filler". Spooky to see how entire sections have ablated off.
Moon rock on display, about the size of a softball.
One of the moon landers they used for on-earth troubleshooting, with a lunar rover. The lander is covered with mylar, which I am sure was really expensive to make and install, but looks super-cheap close-up.
Saturn 5 rocket. They also had a Redstone rocket used for project Mercury. The Redstone was about 6 feet in diameter, looked absolutely tiny near the gynormous Saturn 5 rocket.
Lots of rockets at the rocket display.
Space shuttle mock-up. Apparently this one was slated to go into space, but ended up here after the Columbia broke up.
I think this display was in the progress of being set-up. SR-71 from the cold war, still the fastest plane around.
After touring the space centre we then met one of Rich's old colleagues for lunch. We visited with him and his family at a fried chicken place, then it was time to head back to the boat. We had a 4 o'clock cutoff to return the rental car so had little time to spare.
While we were away, Louise arranged for Linda of Shala Mar to look in on Eevee. Each day she sent us "proof of life" photos and stories of hanging out with the cat.
Childishly-fun name of the day:
