Fall Looper Rendezvous, Joe Wheeler State Park, Rogersville, Alabama

October 17-24, 2012

 

We arrived at Joe Wheeler on Wednesday, and the Rendezvous didn’t officially start until Sunday evening.  This gave us a few days to relax, get some boat projects done and enjoy the beautiful park. It was very peaceful the first few days, until the masses of Looper boats began to arrive.

The State Park and nearby dam. lock, lake and wildlife refuge are named for a guy with an interesting history.  Joe Wheeler was a graduate of West Point, but when the Civil War began, he joined the Confederate army, where he rose to the rank of Lt. General.  After the war, he became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama, and later rejoined the U.S. Army, where he reached the rank of Brigadier General during the Spanish-American War.  He is one of only a few former confederate Generals to be buried in Arlington Cemetery.

The park has several hiking trails, which the dogs loved and so did we.

Our boat was in the number one slip, so all the Loopers on our dock passed by us several times a day.  Joey and Bailey got lots of attention, and one afternoon Cathryn and three other Looper ladies asked if they could take them for a walk.

One day Betsy Conrad, Lisa Favors and I drove in Lisa’s car to Athens, Alabama and beyond to have a day of shopping in regular stores – not Walmart! – and a girls’ lunch. We had a wonderful time, and I found a lamp for the boat salon and a few other things.  We considered it a very successful day, and a welcome change of pace.

Another afternoon, we watched a wedding taking place right next to the docks. The bride and groom were both from Louisiana and the bridesmaids wore Mardi Gras masks. The bride also wore a single elbow length, royal blue glove on one hand.  I couldn’t help but wonder if she was covering a sleeve tattoo.  The whole ceremony was a little unusual, but everybody loves a wedding, and all the boat horns saluted the newlyweds when the groom kissed his bride.

 

On Friday and Saturday the Looper boats began to arrive en masse.  Each time the downstream Wheeler Lock opened, several more boats emerged from around the bend to pull into the marina. A Gold Looper couple jointly called SeaSea (after their former boat), covered the VHF radio and guided everyone into their assigned slips with minimal chaos. Eventually, every slip was full and there were still boats on the waiting list. And then the party started!

It was wonderful to meet new friends and reconnect with friends we hadn’t seen for months, since Canada or before, like Stephen and Charlotte on Jackets II and Joe and Edie on Seaquel.

Stephen and Craig:                                       Charlotte, Bob and Joy

Edie and Joe:                                    Docktails on the 600 dock:

           

Jim and Lisa Favors:

The next several days were busy morning til night with informative seminars covering navigational and recreational tips for every upcoming leg of the Loop from Joe Wheeler to Norfolk, where the Spring Rendezvous will be held. There were also seminars covering practical aspects like boat electrical systems, safety preparedness, buying and selling your boat, and on and on.  It all made for long but very worthwhile and enjoyable days.

After the first night’s dinner, where the only beverages offered were water and ice tea (it was Sunday in a dry county), Tom and Patsy Conrad, Jim and Lisa Favors and Rick and Betsy Johnson gathered on Blue Heron for a glass of wine or beer or whatever.  Wolf’s Wine and Cheese is always open to friends!

Another night Jack and Jane Conway from Guntersville joined us before dinner, and this time we remembered to take a picture!

On Tuesday night, Audrey Stehle organized the annual musical night out on the lawn of a bed and breakfast in Rogersville, where a really talented local band, KGB (Kerry Gilbert Band), played, sang and entertained the Loopers under the stars. It was a fantastic evening and a great time was had by all! 

On the last afternoon, while many of the boats were open for visiting, we had a pre-Halloween trick-or-treat fest for the sole child in this year’s group, four-year-old Beatrice, from the Brazilian boat Jade. I believe Beatrice speaks three languages – Portuguese, Spanish and English.  Here she is the day before, in her Snow White outfit, which she told us was NOT her Halloween costume.

Here’s the real deal – little witch Beatrice followed by her mom and dad.  Dad Jack says he needs to find a bigger boat to house Beatrice’s many outfits.  She’s a real cutie.

All through the week we watched the fall colors becoming more and more vivid.  Against the blue water, it was a beautiful sight.

 

On the last night of the Rendezvous, after the awards dinner (where Loopy the Weather-Parrot made his debut appearance), we joined the traditional post-Rendezvous sing-along in the Fireplace Room.  Ron and Eva Stob, founders of the AGLCA, always bring their assortment of interesting instruments, including an autoharp and dulcimers, and anyone else with a musical instrument is invited to join in.  The rest of us sing, clap or just enjoy the talents in the room.  It was a magical way to end a terrific Rendezvous.

 

The next morning, we were part of a group of ten boats who pulled out at first light for the first lock opening. There would be an armada of boats leaving Joe Wheeler and we wanted to get a head start.  Tom, Patsy, Stephen and other friends came to cast off our lines and share one more hug.  I hated to leave, but the Tenn-Tom beckons, and we must go!

Next; Experiencing the fabled Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.

(Real-time update: On November 4 we are in beautiful Fairhope, AL, on Mobile Bay, where we should all retire!)

Backtracking on the Tennessee River

October 10-17, 2012

When we left Chattanooga, we turned around and retraced the route we had taken the week before. There aren’t many alternatives on a river, after all. With few exceptions, it’s pretty much up or down.

We were lucky to have a sunnier day traveling through the Grand Canyon of the Tennessee than we’d had coming up.  The leaf colors were further along, too, but it looked like we were still a week or so too early for peak colors.

We passed very little river traffic along the way.  This was one of the few boats we saw.  It was an excursion boat that we saw in Chattanooga the day we arrived there.

We had already decided that on our return trip we would skip the unlovely Hales Bar Marina and go all the way to Goose Pond in Scottsboro. We waved to the remains of the old Hales Bar dam and passed on by.

We arrived at Goose Pond to find Next To Me waiting to catch our lines. Sadly, they had incurred a prop boo-boo earlier in the day and needed to have the boat hauled at Goose Pond for repairs.  But it gave us a chance to have another nice docktail time with Cathryn and Bob and his sister and brother-in-law, Lynn and David, who were still traveling with them.

We also returned to the Docks restaurant on site, and enjoyed another good meal and beautiful sunset.

The next day we said good-bye to Next To Me and returned to the Lake Guntersville Yacht Club, where we would stay for five nights, filling some time before heading to Joe Wheeler for the Looper Rendezvous the next week.  LGYC is such a pretty and convenient spot, and the members and staff were so friendly and helpful.  They even invited us Big Ten folks to an SEC football and chili party.

 

Staying in Guntersville a second time also gave us a chance to visit again with Craig’s Hyco colleagues (Robin and Marlena Helms, Al Bennett, and Nick and Leslie Bonds).  We also had dinner again with AGLCA friends Jack and Jane Conway.

On Saturday we took the courtesy car into downtown Guntersville and explored the local sights, like Fants Department Store – a real, old-style independent department store – and Mike’s Warehouse, which offers a mind-boggling and randomly organized assortment of just about anything you might need or didn’t even know you needed.  Craig did find the stiff-bristled, long-handled brush for deck scrubbing that he had been searching for unsuccessfully for weeks.  I found absolutely nothing, but I have to admit I didn’t look too hard.

On Sunday we went to church at the Guntersville Presbyterian Church, c. 1890.  Small but very welcoming congregation.  And on Monday we had the boat washed and waxed.  It was fun to watch while others worked on the boat for a change!

Our last morning in Guntersville, we did a final load of laundry, filled up with diesel and pumped out the holding tanks.  To quote friend Marc from Marc’s Ark, “a Looper’s happiest days are when you’re fueled up, pumped out and all your laundry is clean!”  How true!

Jane Conway joined us on board for our trip from Guntersville to Ditto Landing near Huntsville. We were so happy to have her join us.  Unfortunately, Jack had a meeting in Huntsville that day and couldn’t join the cruise, but he did meet us at Ditto Landing and we had dinner together that night.

One of the best things that happened on our trip back downriver was meeting Gold Loopers Tom and Patsy Conrad on their boat True North as we all floated around waiting for the Guntersville Lock to open. Tom is known in Looper circles as the Gulf crossing guru – he posts weather and Gulf water observations/recommendations from their home in Pensacola during the typical Looper crossing season starting in November. More than that, they are both wonderful people whom we spent a lot of time with for the next several days and throughout the Rendezvous and whom we are now grateful to call our friends. Not the first example and certainly won’t be the last of how the Loop brings new friends and old friends together.

On Wednesday morning, Blue Heron and True North left Ditto Landing and headed for Joe Wheeler State Park, where we would spend the next week at the Fall Looper Rendezvous. In the week since we left Chattanooga, the fall colors had become more and more brilliant.  The pretty bay at Joe Wheeler would be a perfect spot to watch the colors reach their peak over the coming week.

      

We pulled into Joe Wheeler as the 5th and 6th boats of the 50 or so that would begin arriving over the next few days. We were looking forward to the camaraderie of the Rendezvous, but it was nice to enjoy a day or two having this peaceful spot almost to ourselves.

Next: Loopermania at Joe Wheeler!

(Real-time update: On November 2, we are in Dog River Marina on Mobile Bay. We finished our trip down the Tenn-Tom Waterway late yesterday afternoon.  It feels like summer again!)

Chattanooga, Tennessee

October 7-10, 2012

Chattanooga was the terminus of our side trip up the Tennessee River, and what a delightful destination it turned out to be. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and left Wednesday mid-morning, and managed to cram a lot of activity into that short period of time.

We stayed at Marine Max on the downtown waterfront, where they were offering a great special for Loopers – 75 cents a foot, hard to beat. The best thing is that it’s within walking distance of just about everything you want to see and do in Chattanooga. And if you haven’t been to Chattanooga for a number of years, you’d be surprised by how much there is to do. The city made a concerted effort to spruce up the waterfront and downtown, and they did a great job.

We were greeted by AGLCA Harbor Hosts Hal and Cheryl Baker who went out of their way to make us feel welcome.  One evening Hal and Cheryl joined us for a glass of wine on Blue Heron.  Bob and Cathryn from Next to Me, along with Bob’s sister and brother-in-law also came over.  Cathryn and Bailey are pals!

Hal gave us a welcome pack from the visitors’ bureau that contained maps and coupons and a sample of the local specialty – a Moon Pie! We had never tried a Moon Pie before, but decided that as local delicacies go, it’s a far cry from those butter tarts in Canada!

The first thing we did was visit the Tennessee Aquarium, just a short walk from our dock, on the riverfront.  It’s actually two aquariums, one focused on the rivers and one focused on the oceans. Both are really well done – very informative and enjoyable.  We actually preferred the river one, maybe because it was more unusual.

 

One of the aquariums contained a butterfly room, always a fun thing to see.

Running alongside the aquarium and down to the river is “The Passage,” commemorating the area’s Cherokee roots and the city’s history as one of the starting points for the Trail of Tears, when 17,000 Cherokees were removed from their traditional homelands in the southeast to reservations in Oklahoma. It includes Cherokee symbols, a tumbling “weeping wall,” and culminates in a shooting fountain at the bottom.  They say it is the country’s largest public art project.

    

One day we visited the Hunter Museum of American Art, perched on a high bluff overlooking the river. Afterwards, we enjoyed treats at an incredible pastry shop in the Bluffs section of the city near the museum. The pastries were a cut above Moon Pies, for sure!

Another day we drove to Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga’s famous landmark.  It is home to the very well advertised Ruby Falls and Rock City.  Anyone who has ever driven south cannot have missed the hundreds of painted barns and billboards hawking these sights. For years we’ve avoided both of them, but we’re Looping, and committed to seeing the local sights, so we decided to check out Rock City, since several people had told us they enjoyed it.  We drew the line at Ruby Falls, though.  The Wolfs don’t pay to see waterfalls!

But Rock City was kind of interesting. It was developed in the 1920s by Garnet and Frieda Carter, who lived on the top of the mountain. It consists of several hundred acres of walkways through giant rock formations, as well as landscaped gardens and lots of gnomes and a fairy tale land for the kids.

This is Craig going through Fat Man Squeeze. We are proud (I guess) that we both made it through without getting stuck.

Halfway through the trails, we came to a place where they claim you can see seven states on a clear day. It was a nice afternoon and we enjoyed sitting on the terrace and taking in the view.

Our last afternoon we took the dogs for a long walk along the riverfront. We walked up the pedestrian mini-Lombard Street, up from the river to the base of the art museum.  From there we walked across the pedestrian bridge to the other side, where there are more shops and restaurants, as well as an old carousel (closed for the season) and a carousel-themed fountain.

We also saw the Delta Queen, which now resides on the Chattanooga waterfront as a bed and breakfast.  She no longer cruises, sadly.  She still shows “Port of Cincinnati” on her stern.

We got back to the boat in time to have a glass of wine and watch the sun set.

We also watched the marina’s resident blue heron, who was surprisingly unconcerned about how close we were to him. It’s pretty neat how we’ve been accompanied by blue herons nearly everywhere we’ve gone on our trip. I think we’ve counted fewer than 5 cruising days when we didn’t see at least one blue heron, and usually many more. We think we picked a very appropriate name for our boat.  We almost always have a mascot with us!

On our last morning, before we left, we took a short cruise through the city to enjoy the views and the photogenic bridges one more time.

Next, back down the Tennessee River to Joe Wheeler State Park and the Looper Rendezvous.

(Real-time update: On October 29, we are in Demopolis, Alabama, on the Tenn-Tom Waterway.)