10/1 - 10/8/22 Mini-Side Trip to Florence, AL / Rest before Tombigbee

10/1 - 10/3 - Dry Creek to Florence Harbor Marina (mm256), (39.8nm).  We departed Dry Creek around 10:00 a.m. and headed upstream toward Florence, AL.  This is the 3rd time we've been on Pickwick Lake.  On the other 2 trips we discussed a stopover in Florence, Albama, but for various reasons had to forego it.  Well, we finally made it!

As we approached the marina, we noticed boats anchored with a soundstage in the background.  A closer look revealed Jason Isbell's ShoalsFest immediately adjacent to the marina.  Whoo Hoo, free concert!  Well, not really, turns out that despite our close proximity, the acoustics were pointed towards the paying customers in front of the stage, not the freeloaders in the marina behind!

Big shout out to Kyle, the Dockmaster at Florence Harbor Marina, from my first call to inquire about a slip, to his help securing us in said slip, he could not have been any nicer/accommodating.  The marina is showing its age, and Kyle explained that they try to make it up with customer service - he's standing behind his pledge!  The designated transient area is just inside the harbor by the gas dock, but since they were full, Kyle gave us a 60' cover slip inside the marina.

After we were secured at the dock, we used the marina's shower room to take a nice long, hot shower.  There is only 1 shower room, but it is private, and clean (until the persistent plumbing problem).

The courtesy car was already checked out, so we Ubered to downtown Florence for a lovely meal at Ricatoni's.  Our server was a delightful young man that engaged with us several times.  Maybe it's being a Chicago-girl, but I'm always surprised and tickled by how nice everyone is!!

Sun, 10/2 

• I went for a nice run (no hills!) along the river which is also a campground.  I assume many of the campers were attending ShoalsFest.

• Then shower and laundry. The stackable washer/dryer looked relatively new, but it kept getting stuck on whatever cycle it was on.  After 2+ hours I decided to be satisfied with the 1 load I got done.

• We grabbed the courtesy car for a trip to Publix and a John's Pizza (1st & last) LOL

• Called it a night and caught up on City on the Hill

Mon, 10/3

• 

  Entrance to Florence Harbor

  It was 2:00 before I was caught up on my blog!  I hope someone is enjoying it!!!
• Being a Monday, some of the attractions were closed, so no visit to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.
• Our other 2 choices were Helen Keller's Birthplace; and
• Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard - I was actually game for this one, but it was out of range for the courtesy car.  I encourage others to stop by if you're ever in the neighborhood!

• Some of the restaurants were also closed, but fate steered us to Taco Mama, Taco Bar - the watermelon margaritas was delish!
• Since we were given a covered dock, away from other transients, we missed a couple of Loopers that came and went.  Fate intervened, as Jerry and Lorre, crewing Titan (Lord Nelson Victory Tug), were in line ordering tacos!  We enjoyed tacos and margaritas while exchanging stories of our respective adventures.
• We also caught up with another Looper on our Dock, Bruce, captain of the famous GH37, Sadie Belle.

Tues, 10/4 - Florence Harbor to Indian Creek (mm220.2) (32.5nm) After lingering at Florence Harbor until noon, we pointed the bow back downstream to Indian Creek anchorage in JP Coleman State Park. Port-a-Gee led us deep off the channel into a delightful anchorage featuring hourly Bald Eagle Flyovers!  Brian grilled some burgers and we listened to the Cubs season wind down with the Reds handing them a defeat.

I downloaded a new app, Night Sky to view stars, constellations, planets and satellites.  It lets me know each time the International Space Station passes by, so I race to catch it!  What else do you do while sitting in the middle of the water on a clear night??  I'm enjoying the 30-day free trial, TBD on whether I plunk down the $40/year subscription.

Indian Creek

Wed, 10/5 - Indian Creek to Zippy Cove (mm449) (8nm).  We woke to a frigid morning, and the fog was thick coming off the water.  I stayed in bed until Brian fired up the generator to get some heat flowing!  We enjoyed the serenity of Indian Creek until early afternoon when we lifted the anchor for a very short cruise to the Water Fall at mm218.  We had intended on anchoring, but there was already another boat in there and it was pretty tight.  Glad we stopped by though!

Moving on to the Yellow Creek, which is the divide cut between the Tennessee River and the Tombigbee Waterway (TTW); which will be navigating the next 2+ weeks downstream until Port-A-Gee reaches Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

This is key to the origin of our trip.  Back in the 70's Brian's father had the dream of running his 1981 29' Roughwater Trawler from Chicago to the Gulf of Mexico via the new 234-mile cut connecting the Tennessee River the junction of the Black Warrior River-Tombigbee River.  The TTW was completed in 1984.  Unfortunately, his dad passed away while he was still planning the trip.  Brian picked up the torch when we did this trip in 2020, but it is still significant in honoring his dad's legacy.

Zippy Creek (mm449, Yellow Creek TTW) is an anchorage midway between Grand Harbor and Aqua Yacht, so we decided to drop the hook there for the night.  Bald Eagles have been prolific throughout the trip, but they have been camera shy - Until Now! This magnificent creature perched itself next to us and posed for about 30 minutes!

I finally relented and agreed to beans and hotdogs for dinner - glad we got that over with - LOL.  Cubbies finished the season with a 15-2 win over the Reds, too bad they waited so long to come alive - we'll get 'em next year!

Thurs, Oct 6 - Zippy Creek to Aqua Yacht (mm448.7 - TTW).  We spent the day enjoying the solitude of Zippy Creek before the 1-mile trip to Aqua Yacht, Iuka.  Lots of Loopers were there and continued to come in over the weekend. Aqua is a Looper favorite due to its location, amenities and full-service boat yard.  Many Loop boats limp in off of the river system to make repairs.

We availed ourselves of wonderful shower rooms and laundry facilities. There were 2 shower rooms, 1 shares the restaurant bathrooms and the other is by the pool.  The pool is preferable, after the ascent up 3 ramps (that allude to the promise of an amusement ride at the end), followed for a flight of stairs.  Quite the pre-shower workout!  The laundry was great and only $1.00/load!

We dropped the dinghy and cruised around the bay looking at the beautiful homes and again having the conversation of what a nice place this would be to live someday.  I "attempted a run, but dang! that steep landscape - both up and down - still got in a slow 3-mile walk/run.

Temps have plummeted to the low 40's overnight, so we're glad to be plugged in and having heat throughout the night.  This won't be the case for much of the next 2 weeks.

Due to the unavailability/popularity of the courtesy car, the onsite restaurant, Aqua Grill, was able to serve us dinner 2 nights.  Fate struck again, as a couple that we met at the Looper Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler in 2016 arrived at Aqua Grill just ahead of us!  Gary & Karen Cervak are aboard My Brown Eyed Girls (Carver 356) and are starting their Loop this week!  Their float plan takes them up the Tennessee before returning to the TTW - we hope our wakes cross again during our journeys.

Tomorrow, we begin the TTW leg of the trip - Gulf of Mexico, here we come!!

LEG STATS:

Miles: 81.3 Nautical Miles: 39.8, 32.5, 8, 1

Locks: (0) 

Marinas: Florence Harbor (2 nights), Aqua Yacht (2 nights)

Anchorages: Indian Creek, Zippy Cove