How to Get to Nashville on the Tennessee River

Our white Looper flag. 

Loopers are members of the America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association (AGLCA) and quickly identified by the burgee on their boat bow, white for first timers, gold for 2^nd timers and platinum for 3^rd timers.  We are all sharing the same 6,000+ mile journey even if on different starting points, schedules and side trips.  Some boats we will see only once, if at all, others every now and then and a few for a more extended period of time.

Last picture, for now, with Jay and Barb.

In this environment friendships between boaters start quickly, often end just as abruptly and a few may last a life-time, which is what we expect for Jay and Barb Morrow, who hail from Winnipeg.  We briefly met them and their boat, The Blessing, in the Illinois River.  We then cruised together down the Mississippi, up the Ohio, and then over 200 miles up the Tennessee River where we shared multiple stops, experiences, conversations and meals and we guess, more than a few beers.  Together

Molly's birthday celebration in
Paducah.  Jay took the photo.

we celebrated Molly’s birthday and finally the bittersweet celebration of their   completion of the Loop.  Jay and Barb are now on their way home, their boat for sale at Aqua Marina in Iuka, MS, and they are contemplating the next chapter of their lives. 

Jay and Barb are holding their just
earned Gold Burgee for completing
the Great Loop.

We hope it includes a trip to Maine next summer.

Our boat, Salty Paws, in one of the
Tennessee River locks.

We left Paducah and the Ohio River on 10/3 in a 5-boat group flotilla led by The Blessing to head up the Tennessee River to the Kentucky Lake Lock.  The mid-America confluence of rivers (Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, Illinois and others) is a unique waterway system that has fostered movement of people and goods for centuries.  The water levels have also regularly fluctuated over 40 feet due to spring runoff, storms and drought.  The Great Depression led to efforts to better tame these waters and improve the economy.  One effort was the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1933 to provide electrical power and flood control on the Cumberland and Tennessee watersheds.  The TVA’s first major project was building Kentucky Dam and Lock (completed 1944) at mile 25 of the Tennessee River.  The dam raised water levels 50 feet and flooded over 100 miles, creating Kentucky Lake, the largest manmade lake in the east.  The flooding displaced whole towns and hundreds of rural families and flooded historical sites such as the Civil War’s Fort Henry. 

In this LBL cove we were able to walk
 right off our boat on to the shore.  We
were able to quickly find the nearby trail.

This old sign reads "WBTS Cemetery."

This family plot in the LBL had only
three markers, all with a date of death
in the 1930s.  Did they die, perhaps,
because they were being forced to move?

The land between Kentucky Lake and Barkley Lake, a similar manmade lake on the Cumberland River is called the Land Between the Lakes (LBL).  It was made a national recreational area in the 1960s.  We much enjoyed anchoring in secluded coves of LBL and hiking some of the trail system to find a few old family cemeteries, house foundations and other remnants of a different era.  One of the highlights was finding the Civil War Cemetery of the five confederate Fort Henry soldiers who died when their cannon exploded while being attacked by Union forces.  We also found the old State highway sign that reads “WBTS Cemetery.  WBTS stands for “War Between the States,” and we learned in our 2016-17 boat trip that this was the common name for the war among Southerners as they didn’t want to promote the view that we were one country.

Periodically in towns along the Tennessee River we have seen signs reading the “Trail of Tears,” identifying one of the saddest chapters in American history.  16,000 Cherokees were forced from their homes in the east and marched or boated to Oklahoma.  Roughly 4,000 died on the journey that took up to a year to complete.  We learned more about this event in our visit to the Tennessee River Museum in Savannah, TN.  This town is also home to the Cherry Mansion, which served as Grant’s Civil War headquarters in the nearby bloody battle at Shiloh.  We got to talk with the present occupant of the Mansion, who owns a local gift shop. 

Morning 

From the beginning of our trip we have wanted to go to Nashville, which is on the Cumberland River, not the Tennessee.  We were also interested in going to Chattanooga, but we don’t have enough time to go up both rivers.  Other Loopers suggested that we travel up the Tennessee to Chattanooga and then rent a car to go to Nashville.  That way, we are able to visit both cities and cruise on the much more interesting Tennessee.  This river did not disappoint.  After the LBL, we continued another 300 or so miles through 5 more locks, each one followed by yet another beautiful man-made lake.  We anchored out every night except for one free municipal dock.  We saw few boats and were alone in our travels as most Loopers were attending the Fall Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler Park on the Tennessee.  We attended the opening night docktails, but then continued on our travels as the Rendezvous was fully booked at the time we finalized our Chattanooga plans.

Nickajack Lake.

One of many great views in the Canyon.

We enjoyed our happy hour on the roof of Salty Paws.

Once through the last lock we entered Nickajack Lake, with low mountains on both sides.  Using a trail app we identified a hike on a nearby peak and found a place to anchor to go ashore for a very pleasant 3-mile hike on Little Cedar Mountain.    

After the hike, we motored a few more miles and anchored for the night surrounded by canyon walls.  This was a special spot augmented by the fall colors (although much more muted than in Maine).  The next day we awoke to a beautiful foggy sunrise as the water temperatures are still over 70 but the air temperature was in the 40s.  Chattanooga was just another 20 miles upriver through the spectacular river gorge.  

  

Approaching Little Cedar Mountain for our hike.

Chattanooga is a nice, small city filled with restaurants and artwork, a great aquarium and nearby Ruby Falls and Rock City on famous Lookout Mountain.   We docked right in the heart of the city and enjoyed an afternoon and evening exploring and eating.  The next day (10/19) daughter Liz, her husband Matt and our one precious granddaughter Charlotte picked us up for the 2-hour drive to Nashville where we had been able to book two of the last rooms available in the city.

The line at Martin's BBG Joint.

The Grand Ole Opry was a lot of fun.

The Opryland Hotel has a
river that goes around the
humongous inner courtyard.

Nashville is a fast-growing, dynamic city that is booming with construction, tourists and sports fans.  We walked down Broadway finding great live music in virtually every one of the many restaurants and bars.  And this was at 11:30 am.   We picked one and were not disappointed by the food or the talented singer guitarist playing many of our favorite tunes. 

On Broadway in Nashville.

That night brought us all to the Grand Ole Opry for their classic country show where stars are known to show up unannounced.  The week before Dolly Parton had surprised the crowd.  We were not as fortunate, but the musicians and singers were all very talented and put on a good show.   The next day our weekend was topped off with a visit to the Zoo and Martin’s Rib Joint, a Nashville classic stop, and the lines to get in proved it!

We are now back in Chattanooga and were quickly joined at the dock by 9 Looper boats that just arrived up the Tennessee.  Within minutes of the first boat docking, we were invited to drinks and dinner with out fellow Loopers at a nearby restaurant. . Also, Jerry and Jenny on Sweetgrass, the boat next to us, told us that they had cruised with the original owners of Salty Paws 8 years ago and having first met in Michigan had met again on this same dock in Chattanooga.  Crazy coincidence but highlights the tight community of this journey.  We will certainly reach out to the original owner.

to Mimi.  We will see everyone again next
month as we fly back to Maine from Atlanta
for Thanksgiving and the wedding!

Time for goodbyes to Grandpa and...

Tomorrow begins our trip back down the Tennessee to the Tenn-Tom Waterway at mile 208.  The Tenn-Tom is a system of canals and locks, primarily in Mississippi, that will bring us down to the Gulf at Mobile,