Taurus Great Loop

 

Our primary reason for stopping in Nashville was to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame. And it did not disappoint. They had the entire history of country music, starting with a combination of the African American folk music with the banjo, and the British Isles fiddle music. They found out that the banjo and fiddle made good music together. This progressed along to jazz and on in the history of time.  People such as Elvis Presley were at both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame.   They also had some movies that used Country Music. My favorite was the car from Smokey and the Bandit.  The last interesting thing we noticed was that the stairs in the Museum  simulate what a lock does for boats. You walk along a flat area and then  down a few stairs - the lock.  After our trip to the museum, it was time for lunch. I told Fred I’d like to go to a nice restaurant.  He found one called Etch. It had nice tablecloths and fab...

The driver who took us to Nashville suggested that we check out the new National Museum of African American Music. This place is very up-to-date with technology. Suffice it to say that we each left with a playlist of the songs we liked. 😎  They started with the tribal music of Africa, as that is what people brought with them. (They pointed out that you carry music with you no matter what else is going on). It moved through gospel, rag time, blues, etc. ending with hip-hop. It really was amazing.   

Those of you following our journey know that we have been staying at small towns and rural places since we left Waukegan, IL on August 28 th . Once we left Alton, IL on September 11 (Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers) it became very isolated.  Our most recent, long-term stop is in New Johnsonville, TN. We are making a trip to Nashville to visit and then we will fly to Connecticut for a few  weeks to wait out hurricane season.  Even though our marina is in New Johnsonville, TN, we have to start this  blog with (Old) Johnsonville. Johnsonville  (Named after Andrew Johnson who commissioned the  city and  was a future President)  was built on the Tennessee River specifically as a Union Army depot to supply General William Tacumseh Sherman with supplies on his march through Georgia.   An existing rail line in Nashville was extended 66 miles west to the depot.  All manner of goods would arrive in Johnsonville from the Mississi...

We left Grand Rivers marina early. We were at the end of a very long dock in need of multiple repairs, by ourselves with no other boats, next to their pontoon rentals.  I felt like Typhoid Mary. We had reserved three nights, but left after one.   Taurus tied up by empty slips We tried to go to a marina two hours away, but almost ran aground twice trying to go through their “channel”, so we aborted that attempt. That left us with a long day cruising to our six-week marina rental.     In this area, the depth of the water depends on the locks and dams. Then there is a “summer pool” and a “winter pool”.  The summer pool is deeper than the winter pool. On top of that, one of the locals at our final marina today told us to subtract eight feet from what the charts say. 😬. No wonder we almost ran aground!  They don’t tell you that anywhere.  I don’t have any pictures today because the ones I took were on my iPad.  The marina restaurant is the only place ...

The first thing we saw as we left the dock this morning was a paddle-wheel river cruise ship.   We started in the Ohio River which took us to the Cumberland River.  The Ohio was quite wide: However, the Cumberland was much more narrow: We saw a wrecked barge We also saw a large facility where they were loading what looked like gravel onto a barge.  Watch the yellow haul truck tip it’s bed to pour gravel into the barge below.  Loading a barge We had floating bollards in the lock again today. These have become my favorite way for locks. The bollard moves with the boat. All I have to do is hold one line on the mid-cleat and keep the boat with its fenders next to the lock wall.  It was a 57 ft. rise up to go from the Cumberland River to Lake Barclay. This is the external view of the lock

We arrived at the Paducah municipal dock yesterday after two long days of cruising in the heat and humidity. We stayed through today to get a day off. One of the attractions here is the National Quilt Museum. We had heard from other Loopers that it’s a must-see.  I know, I know, I said the same thing. Who wants to see quilts?  Well, let me assure you, these weren’t regular quilts like great-grandma made. These were works of art.  They had a special section for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. This quilt was my favorite from that section (Reflections) And this quilt was my favorite overall. It really looks 3D.  Like I said, not your regular quilts. We stopped for lunch at a Kentucky Bar-B-Que place. Here’s the menu.  This is the first time we’ve seen pork rinds on the menu. We are below the Ohio River, so we are officially in the South! Paducah has some wonderful older buildings.  A Blow Dry Bar?!  Sign me up! Here’s the three year old marina the City buil...