Finding Johnny Cash, Cherokees, Rosboroughs and a Navy on the Beautiful Upper Tennessee

This was our 2nd time cruising on the Tennessee, the first being in 2019 when we did the Great Loop and took a side trip up to Chattanooga.  We returned this fall to attend a Rosborough Boat Rendezvous and cruise further up river from the city.

The Bluegrass Festival was mobbed.

 The Rendezvous attracted 15 boats from all over the east, and we docked adjacent to the Aquarium, which dominates the riverbank.  The event was a wonderful mix of socializing, cruising and exploring Chattanooga.  We found our go-to local ice cream parlor, listened to some great music at the Bluegrass Festival and walked to Southside and the historic train station made famous by Glenn Miller singing Chattanooga Choo Choo. 

Our Rosborough group - 1 of 2.

Our Rosborough group - 2 of 2.

                                                      

One of the Rendezvous cruises went 38 miles south to Nickajack Lake.  Most of the boats chose to dock at the park while Salty Paws and our good friends Otto and Anna on Vega choose the opposite side of the Lake to give us easier access via dinghy to Nickajack Cave, a place where nature and legend meet in a most unusual way.  

At dusk, the air comes alive as thousands of bats spiral from the cave mouth daily from April to early October as they sweep out across the river and landscape to feed.   Now, did we see thousands?  No, but we did see 100’s, and our view was limited in the darkening landscape.  We should have followed the local kayak guide and gone out to more open water with a larger view of the sky.

Even Tory kept a lookout for the bats, but we were still at least 30 minutes away from dusk.

Otto, Anna, Molly and I challenged the
 capacity of out little dinghy but we all did
 wear a life jacket and enjoyed an Old
Fashioned while waiting for the bats.

The cave is also famous for its part in reinvigorating the life and career of Johnny Cash. As Cash himself told the story, he drove to the Nickajack Cave in 1967 with the intent of ending his own life.  Cash was in despair and broken by addiction.  He crawled deep into the cave, and then his flashlight gave out, leaving him in total darkness.  After much contemplation, he felt the presence of God, telling him that it wasn’t his time.

Following a faint breeze, he was able to crawl back to the light and began  a new commitment to sobriety and faith.  He still had his relapses, but his redemption had started.  In 1968 he married June Carter, and the following year he began hosting his own show on ABC.

Anchored off ft. Loudoun with the mountains not that far away.

After the Rendezvous, Salty Paws and Sabbatical (Dan, Jeremy and their great dog Rufus) were the only boats that continued upstream.  Two days and three locks brought us to the Little Tennessee River that cuts southeast into the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.  What a beautiful cruising ground!  We anchored off Fort Loudon Historical Park.

Fort Loudon.

The Park includes many walking trails and a replica of the 1757 British outpost.  At that time Britain and France were in a battle for dominance in North America.  Britain controlled the lands east of the Great Smoky Mountains, and France claimed lands west of the mountains.  The area between was Cherokee country. 

 The Cherokees were initially aligned with the British and fought bravely on their behalf.  Unfortunately, as always seems the case with Native Americans, misunderstanding and broken treaties led to the slow conquering of their lands and in less than 70 years the forced departure of most of the Cherokees on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma.

Sequoyah in
the U.S. Capital.

Sharing the island with the Park is the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum.  Sequoyah was born in c. 1775, the son of Virginia fur trader and his Cherokee mother, who raised him in Tennessee country.   He grew to be an accomplished silversmith and painter and even served in the U.S. Army.  He became convinced that the key to the white man’s success was having a written language as it allowed for the retention and transmission of more knowledge than just relying on word of mouth.                                                                                                                                                                    Sequoyah spent 12 years experimenting by first developing pictographs for each word.  This proved too cumbersome.  Later in 1821, with the help of his 6-year old daughter, he identified 86 unique syllables in the Cherokee language and created a symbol for each.  His fellow Cherokees were initially skeptical of his efforts, but soon saw the benefits.  In fact, in less than a decade 90% of Cherokees were literate.  And, to think that the language was developed by someone who was not literate in any other language!

The Sequoia tree was named after a Sequoyah, and he was further honored by his statue being one of only 100 (2 from each state) that rest in the U,S, Capital Rotunda.  Oklahoma gave him that honor in 1917.

Sabbatical on the Little Tennessee. 

Salty Paws and Sabbatical then continued up the Little Tennessee into the foothills of the Smokies for as far as the river was passable.  In Addison to the beautiful scenery, we were also focused on the depth gauge as the last few miles were not covered by navigational aids or our chartplotters.  We also enjoyed watching the water temperature fall from 70 degrees to 62 degrees.

The end of navigable waters.

Unfortunately, due to a marina mix-up, Sabbatical was unable to get a slip at the Fort Loudon Marina that evening.  They decided to proceed back downriver while we stayed for our trip the next day upriver to Knoxville and the beginning of the Tennessee River.  

The next morning we covered the 45 miles to Knoxville in a couple of hours and were soon surrounded by Navy boats.

A typical Volunteer Navy boat.

Rather than guns and cannons, their only armaments were flagpoles all adorned with large orange flags.  You see, this was the Volunteer Navy in support of University of Tennessee football.  The stadium is close to the River, and the Vol Navy tailgates on boats  before the game begins.  The tradition began in 1962 when the UT broadcaster started traveling to games by boat to avoid traffic.  Now before each home game, hundreds of boats raft in groups of 8 to 12 boats off every dock on the waterfront.

Molly, Tory and I had to cruise by this gauntlet of boats to reach the headwaters of the Tennessee River, 5 miles away.  The only orange on board was one of my shirts and a glass.  I donned them both and was quickly self-enrolled in the Navy so we could safely pass.

The beginning of the Tennessee River is where the French Broad River and the Holston River meet.  The intersection wasn’t overly dramatic, but now we can say that we have been on every mile of the Tennessee River!

Molly and Tory in the Park.

Jeremy and Dan with our two boats
ready to go.

Two nights, three locks and almost 200 miles later we were back at the boat ramp in Chattanooga.  Dan helped us pullout, and we said our final goodbyes to Sabbatical.  After a nice walk through River Park, we trailered 150 miles to visit our daughter Elizabeth and family outside of Atlanta before returning to Maine.  

 Below are additional pictures from our cruise.

This is a typical Tennessee River lock, and it is filled with Rosboroughs.

Each lock seems to have either an adjacent nuclear or hydro-electric power plant run by the atennessee Valley Authority (TVA). 

Our trip down took us through New York and Pennsylvania, and seemingly thousands of trucks
destined for Canada were idled at truck stops as the shutdown closed the border crossings,

Salty Paws headed up the Little Tennessee River.

Molly is great at taking the wheel, and often affords me great napping opportunities while underway.

The moon and the anchor light on Sabbatical stand out as observed from Salty Paws.

Salty Paws and Vega trailered down to Chattanooga together from Otto and Anna’s home
in Webster, NY.  We used our boats as an RV outside of Columbus, OH.

On the way home, we used Salty Paws as an RV.  Here we stayed at an equestrian center in Natural Bridge, VA.  Just beautiful.

Natural Bridge is named for its spectacular natural bridge.  It is now a state park but was once owned by Thomas Jefferson.  He bought the land because of this spectacular feature.

I didn't mention earlier that there are no small houses on the banks of the Tennessee River!

 

Cruising the Beautiful St. Johns River

Waking up on the St. Johns River

The restaurant dock at the Outback Crab Shack is 1,200 feet long,

The St. Johns River is one of Florida's cruising gems.  It is a largely protected waterway and navigable by boats with up to 5-foot drafts all the way from Jacksonville to Sanford, roughly 170 miles.   There are several free city or restaurant docks along its banks, and much of the river remains undeveloped, giving it a feel of a bygone era.  It is one of the few North American rivers that flows north, and over it's full 310-mile length the river drops less than 30 feet, making it one of the laziest rivers in the world.

Manatees staying warm at Silver Glen Springs

The St. Johns is the watershed for a large chunk of Florida, and numerous creeks feed its waters.   In addition, as much as 50% of its flow comes from over 100 natural fresh water springs along its shores.  Three of these springs each have an output of over 50 million gallons per day, all at a constant temperature of 72 degrees.  A number of the springs are reachable by boat or dinghy and are great for swimming and observing the manatees that swim to the springs for warmth in the winter even though the springs do not offer any nourishment.

A manatee swimming at Silver Glen..

Swimming in Mud Spring accessible by
dinghy or a nice hike from Welaka.

While swimming in the springs is very common, swimming in

This winter we only observed one small
alligator.  This one was taken on an earlier trip.

the river itself is definitely not advisable because of the numerous alligators.  They don't seem to be interested in the springs, but stay in the creeks and river.  The alligators may not even be observable during colder temperatures when they stay buried in the  muddy banks.

The chart to the left shows all the docks and anchorages that we have visited on Salty Paws during our 2023 and 2025 cruises on the St. Johns.  Each stop will be summarized later in the blog.

This year's trip including a wonderful Rosborough rendezvous with boats from all over the eastern United States.  Most of us launched in Astor while a few boats came up the river.  Festivities included comradery and great food by host Dennis.  All 20+ boats traveled together through narrow Blue Creek to Lake George, the second largest lake in Florida.  We then cruised to Silver Glen, one of the most beautiful high volume springs in Florida.  Deeper draft boats can anchor outside the Glen and dinghy in.

Salty Paws left the group in Silver Glen to complete the parts of the river we did not reach in 2023.  We had a most relaxing and fun 10-days.  One can easily spend three weeks on the River, and while a couple of spots are best visited by anchoring, a free dock is available in almost every town.  I hope that this blog will encourage other boaters to take this side trip or even make it your Florida cruise for a winter. 

Rosboroughs beached and anchored in Silver Glen.

The bass boats were getting ready beginning at 5:00 am.

One should be know that the river can be largely empty of other boats on a weekday, but the weekends can be busy.  We planned accordingly and spent our weekend at a marina in Palatka.  Still, we did awake early on a Sunday morning to the blare of a loudspeaker announcing each of the 186 bass boats participating in a fishing tournament.

Many of the creeks that flow into the St. Johns are navigable although the entrances will usually be shallower.  One other potential impediment is water hyacinth.

Water hyacinth has almost cut off access to this creek that flows into the St. Johns River.

The water hyacinth was unknown in the United States until the 1884 World's Industrial and Centennial Exposition in New Orleans.  The plant quickly became popular given its name and orchid-like flowers.  

Purchasers included cattlemen and wealthy individuals such as Mrs. W.W. Fuller, who had a winter home on the St. Johns River south of Palatka.  She planted small offshoots in the river and soon loved the annual explosion of purple flowers that adorned the river's edge near her home.

Free image from istockphoto.com of water hyacinth in bloom

What she didn't count on was that within 10 years the fast-growing plant, really a weed, covered fifty million acres and was beginning to impede boat traffic on parts of the river and to impact fish populations.  Unlike in its native South America, the water hyacinth in the United States has no natural predators.  Furthermore, it has low nutritional value for livestock as American cattle ranchers found out nor is it significantly consumed by Florida manatees.  The weed is now established in 25 states, particularly in the southeast, and expensive eradication efforts that include herbicides and extraction machines have been only marginally successful.

Below is a summary of our stops on the St. Johns River from north to south, Jacksonville to Sanford.  

Downtown Jacksonville from the water.

Jacksonville - We docked at the free Metropolitan Park Marina in the shadow of the football stadium and walked downtown to the Landing, which is not being redeveloped as Riverfront Plaza.  The marina, however, is being renovated, and I am not sure of its present status.  I have heard very good first-hand reports of Sadler Point Marina in the Ortega River, but we have not been there.

Jullington Creek - We cruised there for a nice lunch and the best fuel price on the lower river.

Green Cove Springs feeds the municipal swimming pool, but it is not open during the winter.

Green Cove Springs dock.

Green Cove Springs - Free municipal floating dock although the water and power are not presently working.  Adjacent to the pier is a very nice municipal park.= to the left and a wonderful walking neighborhood to the right.

At the 1200' dock, 6-Mile Creek.

Outback Crab Shack on 6-Mile Creek -  Active Captain calls it 6-Mile Creek Marina.  It is not a marina but there is a wonderful 1200 foot floating dock.  We spent the night at the dock after a great meal.

Palatka - The municipal docks are under repairs and we stayed at the rustic, but very adequate Boathouse Marina.  This city is a great stop with some restaurants and a doable walk to Ravine Garden State Park. We ended up staying for three nights. 

Dan's dog Rufus and our Tory were joined by
Mary and Dave on Ponce Sunset
at Ravine Garden Park in Palatka.

 

Dan and Jeremy on Sabbatical joined us
at Angel's, Florida's oldest diner in Palatka.

Molly's meal at Corky Bell's.

Corky Bell's Seafood and Steak, East Paltaka -  Another free dock at a nice restaurant.  Molly particularly enjoyed getting reacquainted with those staples of Southern cuisine - collard greens, hush puppies and cheese grits.

Crescent City - We took Dunn's Creek and Murphy Creek to/from Crescent City.  The creeks were nice, but be careful of the depths in Dunn's Creek and take the outside of each channel curve or one will run aground.  We then motored the 7 miles down Crescent Lake, the 8th largest lake in Florida, to Crescent City The pier is now in a state of disrepair, but the dock just below the boat launch near the school is in good shape.  The Three Bananas restaurant was our least favorite on the river.

Live Oaks are common in all the towns along the St. Johns.  This s in Crescent City.

The Welaka dock

    

Welaka - The town has a free public dock with two places for larger vessels.  While we were there, 20 or so boats from an antique boat club arrived for lunch at the one restaurant in town.  We ate on our boat before hiking 4 miles roundtrip through the Welaka State Forest (see map) to visit Mud Spring (see video below), accessible by either shallow vessel and land. 

Fishermen on the Welaka dock mentioned that they are able to catch both fresh water and salt water fish in the river there including catfish and striped bass.

Leaving Welaka to cross Lake
George, Florida's 2nd largest. 
This is one place on the river that
 can get rough, but not this day.

Video of Mud Spring:

Anchored in Salty Springs

Salt Springs - The creek entrance from Lake George is very shallow and typically can only accommodate boats that draw less than 3 feet. The water level can be even lower, however, so boaters should check.  Once over the entrance bar, the 3-mile creek to the spring is plenty deep.  We anchored just off the southern end of the spring.  It is salty as the spring water passes through an ancient seashore.

Fish swimming in Salt Springs

Molly & I took turns rowing to see
and take pictures of the manatees.

Silver Glen Springs - This spring is the most beautiful on the river and is mentioned earlier in the blog.  Here are a couple more pictures.

Blue Creek - For boats drafting less than 3 feet.  Passage will almost always feature wonderful scenes of wildlife from alligators to white egrets.

Small gator on a log in Blue Creek.

Rosborough passing through Blue Creek.

Astor - The town was the gathering point for our Rosborough rendezvous, but it was also recently used for a C-Dory rendezvous and a Chris Craft antique boat cruise.  The town has a small marina, Drifters Restaurant with docks, and an excellent boat launch with ample parking.  

Up river from Astor - Below is a brief summary of these great stops from our 2023 cruise.  More information including history of the region is included my April 2, 2023 blog at https://cruisingonsaltypaws.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-st-johns-river-gators-springs-and.html

The docks at the St. Johns River Grille.

 

St. Johns River Grille - This is a great stop for lunch as they have docks.

We passed this river boat on the St. Johns.

Hontoon State Park - The park has great docks and trails and is presently only open for day use.  

Hiking on Hontoon Island

Alligator on a log in the Dead River

Dead River - The mouth of the river is a convenient anchorage close to the Hontoon State Park docks.  This creek is also navigable for roughly two miles and feels like going through the Amazon.

Hontoon Island Oxbow - Deeper draft vessels should only use the northern entrance.  Great anchorage to listen to the gators mating croak at night (we thought they were frogs!).  There is also easy dinghy access to a landing right across the river (convenient for our dog, Tory) and also to Blue Springs State Park, just a 1/4 mile further up the river. 

Blue Springs State Park - This is a wonderful park, but presently closed for construction.  The highlight here, once it is reopened, is to float down the creek from the spring to the beach at the river.

Boats can easily anchor off the seawall
at Sanford and dinghy to the city dock.

Sanford - The city has a nice day dock, which we used while anchoring just off the seawall.  There is also a nearby marina.  Sanford is a delightful place, perfectly laid out with colored brick sidewalks, parks and a number of nice restaurants.  The city also has an interesting history covered in my earlier blog..

Molly and I agree that the St. Johns River is one of the top cruising destinations in Florida.  Our future cruising plans include a fall trip from Chattanooga to Knoxville on the Tennessee River.

We are now on our way home to Maine after a week's visit to daughter Liz, son-in-law Matt and granddaughter Charlotte outside of Atlanta.  Charlotte and I had a great time goofing around on the park playground near their home, and we all were thrilled to see Charlotte go 3 for 3 in her softball game and knock in 4 runs.

Matt is the head coach of Charlotte's team, and the cheering section included Laurie, Matt's mom, and her dog Tucker along with Biscuit and Tory.  Charlotte was awarded the game ball for her performance.