Iuka, Mississippi to Guntersville, Alabama
We were prepared for an early departure from Aqua Yacht and woke to heavy fog. By the time we left the fuel dock after a pump out, the fog had lifted enough to see our way back onto the Tennessee River. Aqua is tucked back in Yellow Creek, and the fog was much denser in the creek. Just as we hit the open river, we entered Alabama. Alabama is our fifth state visited on the loop.
We had a nice 50 mile run to Florence, AL., albeit warm. Weather again, was predicted in the mid to high 90’s, that has become a theme for our whole trip. What happened to the good old 80’s? We arrived at Florence Harbor and were set and plugged in by 1 pm. We are learning for the whole crew to be happy, early departures and arrivals work best. Remy very much approved of this marina and the a/c. She was able to have her paws on grass within 20 yards of the boat. And a whole park of grass to boot! As true to our cruising fortunes, the marina and restaurant were closed for the day. Staffing is still an issue for places and early week, they just aren’t open. That meant no courtesy car or wifi for the first day and after a hot travel day, David would be grilling.
The following morning, we (Tasha) rose early (normal for David) to secure the courtesy car and headed to downtown Florence to Big Bad Breakfast – it did not disappoint!
They had unique wall art, half of an airplane the owners found while out picking. During our breakfast reading, we found that just a few blocks from our dock is the only Frank Lloyd Wright House in Alabama.
We made a detour on the way back to the marina. The house is called the Rosenbaum House, named after the family who had it built in 1939 for $14,000. The home was occupied by the Rosenbaum family until it was sold in 1999 to the City of Florence and restored to its original condition. Original Wright designed furnishings are still in the home and the only Wright home in the southeast open to the public, $5 with the senior discount!
We had driven to Muscle Shoals over the weekend to return our rental car to their airport – and a surprisingly nice airport for a town of 13,000 people. And FREE parking!
You can’t visit Muscle Shoals without singing Sweet Home Alabama, and Now Muscle Shoals has got the swampers, but, what are Swampers? Never thought about it. In the late 50’s early 60’s, Rick Hall, a local musician put together a small studio om the Shoals and rounded up some young kids (16-year-olds) to play as studio musicians. They started to get a name for themselves and became the house band for the studio recording. Others liked their sound and started to come to the area to record to get the “Muscle Shoals sound” in their music. The Swampers were officially known as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. This is how Fame Recording Studio started and made Muscle Shoals known as “The Hit Recording Capital of the World.” They opened their doors to all the music labels, and they came. Famous bands and singers including, Aretha Franklin, the Osmond’s, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Otis Redding, Rod Stewart, Cat Stevens, Paul Simon, Mac Davis, Etta James, and Duane Allman, just to name a few favorites who came to Muscle Shoals to record hit songs.
There was a wonderful park connected to the marina in Florence, one night for dinner we had cocktails and appetizers on a park bench. Remy swam in the river and rolled in the grass! Two days in Florence went fast and we were a bit disappointed we were not able stay longer to continue to investigate this quaint town. We needed to move on to catch up with some friends driving in from our homeport at the end of the week.
Next, we cruised 20 miles to Joe Wheeler State Park Marina, where we will gather in mid-October with the likes of 60+ boats, filling the marina and lodge with a couple hundred loopers for our fall rendezvous. It was another hot, hot day. 95. We had two locks to travel through, Wilson and Wheeler. The boat would be raised 150’ between the two locks The first, Wilson, has a lift of 100’, the highest single lift lock East of the Rockies. Locks are routine and easy, well, until they aren’t. Wilson, being the larger of two went off without a hitch. And Wheeler, well, somehow the front end got away from us. The captain struggled to regain control of the bow the first mate lost. You tie off on your mid cleat and we add a second to the front mid, but with the shape of the bow and the water being rushed into fill the lock, the tie off is a mere pivot point and the bow can swing out pivoting your swim platform and our aft roof toward the concrete lock wall. It wasn’t our best locking day.
It was a short travel day as we had no waiting at the locks, a big change from the day before. We arrived prior to lunch before the big heat set in.
Joe Wheeler has a nice marina, lodge, swimming pool, and trails. And true to our timing of everywhere we go, the restaurant will be open tomorrow! Ugh, having to cook/grill in the high heat again! This is the fifth marina we have been in that has a swimming pool and our first time to take advantage of such, we were just disappointed Remy could not join us. You get spoiled at home when all your friends allow dogs in their pools! We have been to Joe Wheeler several times, but always in the fall and we enjoyed the summer feel of the state park, albeit since schools go back so darn early it was very quiet. This is another Remy approved marina with plenty of grass, walking trails, shade, and easy access from the dock to potty grounds We also met the only other boater at the transient part of the marina, and they are also cruising America’s Great Loop!
We stayed one night and continued upriver to Ditto Landing. We came across something we had never experienced before. A railroad bridge only 10’ above the water. And a train crossing as we approached. The captain called the bridge master and after the train crossed, he raised the center of the track, straight into the air. We passed under and down it came again.
Ditto Landing is a nice, clean marina but had nothing else to offer. There is nothing near, no courtesy car, and no restaurant. And it was another hot day. For the first time on our trip, we got settled in and stayed in the cabin with the a/c the rest of the afternoon and evening. We microwaved a couple of things for dinner, another first and watched a movie. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time or the means to visit the US space and rocket center. We are working on a plan to visit as we have heard the Huntsville Center is a must see. The upside of Ditto Landing is they offer a great deal of a free night dockage with purchase of 100 gallons of fuel. The fuel was a good price, so it worked to our advantage. We took on 170 gallons (our tanks hold 500) of diesel at $3.29 a gallon. We will also ensure we need at least 100 gallons on our return trip!
Our final leg of this run was to Guntersville Marina, where we met up with our friend from home, Ed, who moved his boat to Guntersville a couple of years ago. We have visited once by car briefly, but we plan to spend a few days with Ed and other friends who drove from our home port to visit. As we went through the Guntersville Lock and the door sung open to Guntersville Lake, we were delighted to see a beautiful lake with gorgeous homes and dock houses. Guntersville Lake is nestled in the foothills of Appalachia, and it is hard to describe the beauty that abounds. This is another, we could live here place! We are keeping track and just maybe, someday. This marina does not have a restaurant, nor a courtesy car though we have our friend, Ed for transportation and fellowship. We not only went out to lunch, but were invited to a dock party cook out and met another friendly group of boaters.
As we are settling in at Guntersville, we are also keeping an eye on Hurricane Ida. Seems she is building steam and coming our way once she hits landfall. At this point we do not expect unbearable condition but nonetheless the aftermath of the storm moving inland, and we are in the cone. It appears Aqua is right on the track and thankful we moved east a little more. We lucked into a covered slip and inquired about staying through the storm and possibly the holiday weekend. Our friend Ed is staying for two weeks so we would have transportation and fellowship. Heading out after the storm and into the holiday weekend is not very enticing either. The waters get crazy with boaters who have no experience or common sense. Seems like a win-win to stay put especially under cover.
We will keep you posted via facebook on the day-to-day storm watch and praying for those in Ida’s direct path. Join our facebook page, Mann Aboard
Cheers! D, T & R
Gunterville looks beautiful! Stay safe and dry these next couple of days!
thank you! Guntersville is a great area – looking forward to exploring more once the storm passes.