Shake down cruise and beyond

View of Kentucky Lake from The Lodge at Paris Landing. 

Traxx is adjusting quite well. 

Boomerang at Green Turtle Bay.

It’s hard to see but that is where they have the mussel farm at Birdsong Marina.

                   Beautiful colors on the Tennessee River!

                       Captain Jeff checking out the river.

            A hawk in the aviary at Paris Landing State Park.

This was a paddle wheel passenger boat. 

            An owl in the aviary at Paris Landing State Park.

                                  The Great Loop Map!

                         An old grain elevator in the river.

                     The Lodge at Paris Landing State Park. 

                      A rusty old ship at Birdsong Marina. 

                     Dave Smith and I.  He came to see us!

       An old, partial, railroad bridge in the Tennessee River.     

                    Wouldn’t that be a cool place to live??!!                       

                        Brenda Carter came to see me off!  

                         We had fun at the Thirsty Turtle!             

A view of The Lodge at Paris Landing from Kentucky Lake.

          These looked like tombstones replicas?  We’re at 

                     Clifton Marina in Clifton, Tennessee.

              Someone took a picture of our boat on the river 

                                      and sent it to us!

                            Tennessee River - nice homes.

                 Jeff and Steve Kelley loading up the dinghy.

                                         A lighthouse.

                                    Beautiful bluffs!

                                   Beauty everywhere!

                             Look at those fall colors!
We finally started our journey!  Jeff and his buddy, Steve Kelley, took the boat to Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, Kentucky on October 27, 2022.  Jeff and Steve left Kinkaid Marina early on that day, with plans to launch the boat and take it for a shake down cruise around Barkley Lake.  They were both pretty excited to finally get the boat on the water.  They got her launched and turned the key to fire up the motor - but guess what?  Yep, the motor wouldn't start.  Instead of a pleasant cruise around the lake, they worked all afternoon to figure out what was wrong. How could something go wrong?  Jeff had just completed a tune up on the motor; changing the oil, replacing the water filter and whatever else you do for a tune up.  Well, it turned out to be an O ring, but it took all day to figure it out!  Finally though, they got it figured it out and the motor has been starting and running smoothly ever since. But we owe Steve a huge thank you for helping Jeff figure out the problem.

We started our journey at Green Turtle Bay (GTB).  We were there for about 5 nights.  It's a nice marina, with clean showers, laundry, gas, water, pump-out, wifi and restaurants.  There was also an area that we could walk our dog, Traxx. We had our truck there too, so we could were able to figure out what we needed and didn't need.  Before leaving, we took the truck (and items we didn't need) to Jonesboro, IL, and Steve Kelley drove us back to GTB. Thanks again to Steve! We enjoyed the Thirsty Turtle, a small restaurant/bar twice for dinner and some cocktails.  My friend, Brenda Carter, came to join us one evening. It was nice visiting with her and we had a fun time at the Thirsty Turtle.  While at GTB, we met a few other loopers.  Green Ranger - a sailboat that was just down the dock from us.  Her name was Letisha.  They were very friendly.  We're hoping to see them elsewhere.  We also met a guy doing the Loop in a center console boat.  He was nice and loved our boat!  We also sat at the end of the dock, one evening, talking with some other loopers (although I don't think they've left GTB in quite a while - like 20 years.) 

Our next stop was at Paris Landing Marina on Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tennessee - another very nice marina.  We were there 3 nights.  The workers were very nice and accommodating. During a rainy day, an employee let us take his truck to go get a few items.  They had a shower, laundry, gas, wifi, water, pump-out and a brand new beautiful lodge about a mile way - within walking distance.  It reminded me of Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton Park. It had huge windows overlooking the lake and although we didn't eat there, their prices were reasonable.  In the park, they had an aviary with owls and a hawk.  That was pretty cool.  Paris, Tennessee was a neat little place; I would like to go back.  Our friends, Larry and Brenda Keller came and saw us.  We had a good time sitting on the dock and visiting with them.  The next morning, we went to breakfast at Esha's Restaurant.  My brother-in-law, Dave Smith came that day and had breakfast with us.  He also ran us around for things we needed; plus I had to get another cell phone - not an expense I had anticipated!  It's been nice seeing family and friends; it may be a while!

On November 6, we left Paris Landing and headed to Birdsong Creek Marina in New Johnsonville, TN.  It was about the same distance as the other marinas have been - approximately 35 nautical miles.  It had all of the amenities - maybe not as nice as some of the other marinas.  I would call it quaint, but what it has that the other marina's don't have, is the nation's only fresh water pearl museum.  We went to the quaint museum, watched a film of how pearls are made and looked at all of the pearl jewelry for sale. It was actually pretty interesting.  And if you think a pearl is made from a tiny bit of sand, you're wrong.  It comes from something organic - a small bug, piece of shell, etc.  Then the oyster or mussel, in this case, recognizes the foreign object and encapsulates it, forming a pearl.  At Birdsong Marina, they have natural pearls, where something foreign invades the mussel and cultured pearls, where they actually insert a piece of shell (mother of pearl shell) into the mussel.  They also import shell pieces (rounded pieces of mother of pearl) from here to other countries for them to use in cultivating pearls.  Of course, the pearl is the official state gem of Tennessee.  And to tell if a pearl is real, it should feel gritty when you rub it on your teeth.  So, that's weird - when purchasing pearls, you need to rub them on your teeth. I wonder if people actually do that in jewelry stores?  Anyway, it was interesting. We didn't purchase any jewelry - I thought about getting our daughter, Sydney, some jewelry. She loves pearls, but we had to buy gas!

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we're headed to Clifton Marina in Clifton, TN.  Gotta wake up earlier - the time changed today.