Published by admin on 31 Oct 2008
Just because we are living on the water right does not mean that we can’t enjoy the holidays. Most Loopers take the occasional holiday very seriously. That’s what happened Friday night on the dock in Chattanooga. The only thing missing were costumes. We even had a pumpkin decorating contest (last one, bottom right was Jim’s creation). Amazing what you can create while on a boat when you put your mind to it.
Published by admin on 30 Oct 2008
Once settled on the dock in Chattanooga we caught up with some old friends on Foreign Exchange, Golden Lily and Shore Thing for drinks and dinner at Sticky Fingers.
We enjoyed walking around this town.
We found an art district which overlooked the river. It had a well done sculpture garden right on the edge of a cliff.
We spent most of Thursday at the Tennessee Aquarium. They have both a salt and fresh water display housed in two beautiful facilities that sit right on the banks of the river within walking distance from our marina. We loved the Whale and Dolphin movie we saw at the IMAX theatre and the penguins, seahorses, turtles, sharks, stingrays, the delicate butterflies and basically everything we saw at the aquarium exhibits.
Published by admin on 29 Oct 2008
The Tennessee River Gorge is twenty-six miles of unspoiled, mostly undeveloped hills, cliffs and mountains that reach as high as 2,300 feet from the winding river. As we meander towards Chattanooga we are in awe of how the magnificent views put us in a frame of mind to just sit back, relax and enjoy the beauty. Each turn in the river seemed to provide a view that was even more spectacular than the last.
Published by admin on 28 Oct 2008
We left Goose Pond Marina in a seven boat caravan heading to and through the Nick-A-Jack Lock to a secluded cove where most of us rafted together for the night.
This cove, Little Cedar Mountain, provided a rock cliff on the side of the mountain and served as a backdrop for a relaxing evening. We quietly watched the sun set on the bow of Bella Luna’s boat as well as being their guest for a North Carolina Crab Cake dinner.
The morning brought us flying turkeys and a heavy bank of fog to enjoy as the early sun burned it off early so that we could enjoy a clean blue skied journey through the Tennessee Gorge.
Published by admin on 27 Oct 2008
We arrived early at Goose Pond Marina. Everyone was excited to use the loaner car to go to the famous Unclaimed Baggage Center. Actually there were so many of us we had to borrow two cars to visit this store plus make a stop at Wal-Mart (of course).
We left Goose Pond Marina early after a scrumptious breakfast aboard C-Life.
Published by admin on 26 Oct 2008
Not more than ten minutes after helping each other tie up chairs, tables, food and drinks appeared on the dock. Everyone was eager for Happy Hour and with this group it truly is “Happy.”
We were really excited when Louis and Diane on Bella Luna invited us to travel up the Tennessee River to Chattanooga with their caravan. Most of them have been traveling together on and off (mostly on) since they left North Carolina where three of the boats are from. I (Lisa, Jim was away at a boat show) had met four of these boats, (Bella Luna, C-Life, Sunshine and Wanderin’ L&M) in Charlevoix when they stopped for an extended stay last August. I knew immediately that we would like to catch up to them at some point so that we would have a chance to get to know them better and share a little bit of this adventure together. In the meantime we have also gotten to know Freedom’s Turn, and just recently met Going There.
Starting from the left (above) is Lois and Bob on Going There, Shelly, Bud and Muriel on Sunshine, Kay and Robert on C-Life, Margie (husband Larry missing in photo) on Wanderin L&M, Louis and Diane on Bella Luna, and Charlie and Linda on Freedom’s Turn and of course Jim in the middle.
We had a brisk walk this morning as the weather has cooled off quite a bit but still very pleasant.
Published by admin on 26 Oct 2008
Our destination today was the Free Dock in Guntersville. It was more than big enough for all seven of our boats and plenty more. We helped each other get tied up.
Published by admin on 26 Oct 2008
A beautiful fifty-four mile cruise to Guntersville today. It is starting to get very hilly with cliffs and valleys.
We saw the famous Bat Cave today at the bottom of a huge cliff.
This photo of Bella Luna (below, left) shows how big these locks are when lowered.
