Tenn - Tom Waterway - Aberdeen, MS

We left Midway Marina at Fulton, MS about 8:30 Monday Sept. 26th and headed for Aberdeen, MS.  There was a really nice FREE dock for our use, so we took advantage.  The video, also, shows how big the flies are down here.  I thought I was being brave, but when Bob saw a "huge" fly crawling on my arm, he told me they most likely will bite.  YIKES!!!



Tenn - Tom - Whitten L & D - Locking Thru

PART I

PART II

Video below shows the terrain on the Tenn Tom and the beautiful Midway Marina.

A photo of Midway Marina

A really cute house on the water (below).

The landscape has changed greatly since Pepin, WI.  Sat. evening we arrived at Midway Marina where we planned to stay one night.  We heard that the traffic was backed up at Wilkens and Amory Lock since they just reopened after a three week closure due to inspections & repairs. So we stayed at Midway Sunday night, too.  It had all the necessities of a great marina, clean bathrooms and friendly people.  Monday morning we headed south at 8:00.  Not too much traffic, so we are glad we let the crowd move on ahead of us. There is, also, a 5 bedroom houseboat docked here for sale for anyone interested.  The price is $179,000.  I'm sure they would negotiate that price.

Tenn - Tom - Whitten L & D - Barge out

Finally the tow brings the barges on out of the lock.  The cargo appeared to be wood chips.  We thought maybe the chips were being transported to the Packaging Corporation in Counce, MS which is minutes from Grand Harbor Marina.

Tenn - Tom - Whitten L & D - The wait

Tenn Tom- Divide Cut

The first leg of the Tenn Tom is called the "Divide Cut".  It is 24 miles long, 280' wide and the sides are lined with riprap the entire length. Stopping anywhere along this 24 mile stretch is illegal except for emergency.  At one point the depth in the Divide Cut is 175' deep.
Read more about this man-made colossal undertaking at... http://history.tenntom.org/
Open to commercial vessels in 1985.

Tenn Tom Waterway to Bay Springs

Left Grand Harbor this a.m. at 7:30 with "Doc" Brad on R&B following us.  Said goodbye to "Patch" Jeff & "Kayaker" Josh and headed out.

Left to right: "Doc" Brad, "Patch" Jeff, Bob and "Kayaker" Josh

"Kayaker" Josh who is kayaking his way around the Great American Loop.

For the rest of his story...

http://www.paddleforwells.com/

"Doc" went along with us to Bay Springs.  We started out at 7:30 & arrived at our anchorage about 3:30.

Grand Harbor Marina is at mile marker 449.7 and we anchored about marker #414.5.  No Locks today.

This is Brad's boat. It is an Albin 27.  He cooked pork chops on his grill while Bob & I cooked new potatoes and carrots on our grill. 

We then took our veggies to his boat & we had great conversation and a delicious supper.



  Bob & I said goodbye to Brad at 8:30 Sat. morning & headed for Bay Springs Lock & Dam about 2 miles downstream. We had a 2 1/2 hour wait at that lock. When we got permission to lock thru, we were joined in the lock with a tow boat and 2 yachts.  We dropped 84' to the next pool.

We had been at Grand Harbor about 5 weeks and at least 3 times a day had walked Wicket down the dock, turned the corner and walked down the main dock and up to the Pet Potty area.  I guess she got impatient & decided to go on her own.

Here's what happened... I was catching bluegills off the dock right by our boat.  Bob was watching & enjoying the sunset.  When I catch fish, Wicket goes nuts.  She tries biting the fish and when I'm waiting for one to bite, she jumps up at me & barks impatiently.  So Bob & I kept telling her to "go lie down" because we thought she was being impatient about fishing.  Well, I guess she was trying to tell us that she needed to go potty.  She got tired of waiting for us to figure it out, so she took off for the potty all by herself.

Pickwick Lake - A visit to Corinth, MS

Corinth, MS is only about 22 miles west of Pickwick Lake, so a great place for groceries or other supplies. Corinth was established in 1854.  It was of great strategic importance during the Civil War. There are  39 homes listed in the self guided residential tour of historic homes, but there are so many other homes that are unique & charming in their own right. Just a few homes below on the tour.

Gish-Hill House

The former home of Dr. & Mrs. Stanley Hill occupies the site of the pre-war home named "Rose Cottage". It had been the Civil War headquarters of Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston prior to the Battle of Shiloh. The name Rose Cottage is derived from the rose color the residence was painted by the original owners, Confederate Col. William M. Inge and his noteworthy wife, Augusta Inge.  This house burned on Dec. 25, 1920. In 1925, Mr. James F. Gish built this adaption of a home he had admired in Memphis. The structure is typical of a fine home in the 1920's.

Oak Home

This antebellum one-story home was built in 1856 for Judge William Kilpatrick, an attorney and Confederate Colonel. Tom Chesney, a builder living in Corinth, constructed the house. During the Civil War, Confederate General Leonidas Polk used the home as his headquarters.  Following the Siege of Corinth, Union General Alfred Pleasanton occupied the home.  Mrs. Thomas Quincy Martin purchased the dwelling in 1866.  The residence has since been occupied by her descendants.  The home features simple, proportionate columns supporting a full entablature.  The nice three-part transom is interrupted by well-designed pilasters. The additional wings of the home and garden house were constructed in the 1930's and the rear addition was added in 2000.

Rubel House

This home was designed by a Memphis architect and built for Mr. & Mrs. Abe Rubel in 1904.  Mr. Rubel established Abe Rubel & Company, well known as one of the finest department stores in North Mississippi.  The structure, one of the finest examples of Colonial Revival architecture in Mississippi, is composed of sixteen rooms in addition to the attic, cellar, and halls.  The red brick accents the house's imposing beauty and stone trim.  The dormers on the third floor each have triple-arched windows.  The center dormer with its Palladian window, emphasizes the details of the other two.  There are three arched stone trimmed windows above the portico.  Beautiful prominent leaded glass door to create a magnificent entryway.  Descendants of Mr. Abe Rubel lived here for many years until the First Baptist Church bought the property on July 10, 1970.

Verandah-Curlee House

Originally known as the Verandah House, the home was built in 1857 by Martin Siegrest for surveyor Hamilton Mask.  Mr. Mask, along with his brother-in-law, Houston Mitchell, established the town of Corinth in 1854.  The home was headquarters for a number of generals during the Civil War.

I don't think this one is included on the tour, but it is an example of all the other houses in the same neighborhood as those on the tour.

http://corinthcivilwar.com/placestovisit.htm

http://www.corinth.net/

Unlike Iowa, Pickwick Lake rarely has a breeze or wind.  It was 10mph with gust to 17 for a short time on Sunday afternoon, so we went for it.  Main sail & head sail up.  We got about 1 1/2 hour of sailing in, reaching a high speed of 5.3 for a second and then the wind died.  Our average speed was about 3.2 when there was a wind.

Pickwick Lake - Bass Boat Dash

The contestants have 10 minutes to get back to the weigh station which is 3 miles west of our marina. The main fishing lake is about a mile to the east of our marina. So at 6:17a.m.  "Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! they all went screaming past here.  The video shows some of them heading back to weigh their catch at 2:00p.m. You'd never believe it looking at the video, but there are "No Wake" bouys all up & down the channel.

The entry fee was $250.00/two man team and the 1st place prize was $10,000. 

Now that is some serious fishing. 

Pickwick Lake - Sailing with Capt. Jeff

After walking on the treadmill for an hour & driving to Corinth, MS for groceries, we were invited to go sailing with Jeff on his sailboat.  Fellow transient, Brad went along, also. We had a great breeze & an exciting ride on Capt. Jeff's 35' Hunter.

Capt. Jeff at the helm.

Capt. Jeff trimming the sails.  Brad is, also, in the photo above.

Here's Brad enjoying the ride.  What a great way to end the day.

Pickwick Lake - Wicket fell in

Three times since venturing off in the boat in May, Wicket has accidentally fallen off a dock. This evening, I was catching fish left & right off the dock.  Wicket jumps up to try biting into the fish, but when she came down, her front paws were over the edge of the dock & she falls in, head first.  Bob pulled her out.

Pickwick Lake

Beautiful fog lifting from the lake early Monday morning.

Bob & I plan on living in an RV when spring comes round.  We will keep the boat so that when we need a sailing fix, we'll be able to sail over to the Bahamas or up the east coast, too.  So Friday we headed to Little Rock, AR (5 1/2 hours away) in a rental car to look at a nice used RV for sale by a private owner.  Made for a nice vacation, too.  We arrived back at Grand Harbor Marina Sunday evening about 8:00.

More Fog on Monday.

It had been awhile since I'd been fishing, so I was having withdrawal symptoms.  2 big catfish, now cleaned and in the fridge for tomorrow nights supper.  Tried catching large mouth bass, but I just don't have that down, yet.  There's a big bass tournament here Sept. 24th & 25th.  1st place wins $10,000.  We'll be heading on south that weekend.  Shucks.

Pickwick Lake - Torrential rains from Tropical Storm "Lee"

We headed to Corinth in the courtesy car on Friday afternoon.  Look what we came home with.  A microwave.  Of course, we can only use it when hooked up to shore power, but even that will be a joy. It was the smallest one on the shelf and it still takes up a lot of room on the boat.  We placed it on the table, but there is still room for both of us to sit at the table & have a plate in front of us or play cards, etc.

I love it!

Saving the dinghy

It has been raining heavily since about 2:00 Sunday afternoon.  Bob woke up Monday a.m. and took Wicket out for her morning walk.  He got back & just happened to look over at the dinghy.  Good thing he did.  It was completely full of water.  The flotation design works.  It didn't sink but all the life jackets, oars, and everything else in the dinghy were floating around.  It's amazing that nothing had floated out & away, yet. 

Bob gets some really bad jobs on this trip.  But, yet, his blood pressure is way lower than when he was working. BTW... it is 1:32 Monday afternoon as I type this and it is still raining heavily.

Sinking dinghy video below



Pickwick Lake - Afternoon Swimmers Club @ Grand Harbor

Here from left to right in the pool are the regulars in the pool every afternoon.

"Doc" Brad, Jeff, Micki, Terry.  Not present today are Jim, Roland and Christy.

There may be more swimmers but we just haven't met them, yet.

Pickwick Lake - Buford Pusser - "Walking Tall"

We are in Buford Pusser territory.  Just about 20 mile north of our marina is the town where Buford Pusser was sheriff.  He was elected Sheriff of McNairy County in 1964. The movie "Walking Tall" depicted his career as a law enforcement officer.

http://www.bufordpussermuseum.com/history.html

He once kept his boat at this marina.  It wasn't called "Grand Harbor Marina" then, but it was a smaller marina where many in the area kept their boats.

Good News - Gale has recuperated fully from his fight with this round of skin cancer and the more debilitating effects of the treatment.  He's looking is "cute" self again.

Pickwick Lake - Grand Harbor Marina

Well, it's really rough living here.  Our choices are swimming in the beautiful swimming pool with the "Afternoon Swimmers Club" or sit in the air conditioned Captains room on the comfy leather sofa and read or nap.  We, also, work out on the eliptical machine & treadmill in the air conditioning, while watching TV. (TV - something we have not seen for months).  Fishing is a highlight for me.  I caught a channel catfish and a pretty big bluegill tonight off the dock by or boat. 

Wicket's favorite pastime.

Bob's favorite pastime.  Hmmmm... don't they look the same?

And when there is wind... there is sailing.

Looking up at the tanbark headsail.

Sailing with the headsail.  Slow but a good learning experience for Susie.

Pre - Afternoon Swimmers Club - every weekday afternoon several of us meet at the pool to visit & most of all cool off.  I'll get pics of the group tomorrow or next week.  We have been told to "hold on", this weekend will be a trip.  We'll let you know how it goes.