Sponges, Fireworks, & Shuffleboard

 

We were tickled pink that we landed at an ideal, protected anchorage location at—that was empty too—right in front of downtown St. Petersberg. At night, the lights of the high-rise condos competed with color. 

OUR ROUTE THROUGH THE UPPER HALF OF WESTERN FLORIDA COAST

Sponges, Fireworks and Shuffle Board are an odd grouping, but sometimes oddities are what we’ve come to expect in the West Coast of Florida. We marched down the coast stopping at the small cities.

TARPON SPRINGS

We went to this outstanding seafood restaurant in Tarpon Springs. It was probably the best seafood meal we had on the whole Loop. A fun-loving waiter helps to ready Mike for a crab dinner. The place was packed and we were lucky to get a table for a large group of us Loopers.

Tarpon Springs was our first stop after the overnight crossing from the Florida Panhandle. We actually preferred to start our Florida trek further South in Tampa Bay, but we could not find any available transient slips in the Tampa Bay area. 

This area was hit hard by Hurricane Helene (September 2024). My impression was that either marinas were closed for rebuilding or were open and eager to have visitors, in spite of missing some conveniences such as a working pump out. By the time we arrived in December, Greek Town, the tourist area in Tarpon Springs, was open. We heard they had five feet of flood waters following the hurricane.There were shuttered store fronts, but that may have been unrelated to the hurricane. 

The history of Tarpon Springs was all about the sponge(1) business. A Greek immigrant recruited Greek sponge divers to Tarpon Springs to more efficiently ply the sponges. This changed Tarpon Springs to a hotbed of Greek culture. A local told us that “the Greeks own everything here.” 

This boat was laden with natural sponges. Our little slip was adjacent to the commercial sponge fleet.

Not far from Greek Town we admired a cluster of turn-of-the-century Queen Anne homes in the small inlet called Tarpon Spring. We spotted a gentle manatee with a local who lived in one of the homes across the street. As he waved to neighbors strolling by, he told us of the strong community in his small town. 

One of the stately turn-of-the-century homes along the inlet called Tarpon Spring.

CLEARWATER

Next, we put the brakes on Sacagawea in Clearwater. We planned to hold Sacagawea at this secure marina near Tampa airport. This enabled us to confidently leave Sacagawea and fly back to Tucson and San Diego to be with family for Christmas. 

After we returned, we stayed through New Year’s Eve to spend relaxed days with our game-playing Looper friends. Yes, we stayed up on New Year’s Eve because the fireworks went off at midnight. It was spectacular. It seemed important, somehow, to ring in the 2025 New Year. There will be a lot of changes for Mike and I (and perhaps the U.S. too?) in the next 12 months. 

We crossed Clearwater Bay to checkout Clearwater Beach. It was a hot day. And, it was December 30, during a tourist-heavy week. I never experienced a beach anywhere with so many people. My experience at California and Pacific Northwest beaches have been much more chill.

Our tourist stop in Clearwater was at the Ringling “Palace.” It was an art museum housed at the unique palatial home of one of the Ringling Circus brothers. We’ve seen a lot of European art, and to be frank, I would characterize the art as the B-side. 

The home’s style was “Venetian Gothic,” something like you’d see in Venice. Being in Florida it also employed a liberal use of pink.

One of the art pieces in the Ringling Museum. Mike and I were wondering why this was important for us to see.  

A part of the museum included refurbished circus wagons. They were colorful and imaginative like you might see on an old merry-go-round.

ST. PETERSBERG

Per usual, I had no idea what to expect from St. Petersberg, Florida, except for a gushing description from resident Looper friends. They couldn’t believe we were thinking of skipping “St. Pete.” So we planned a two-night stay in a protected anchorage and spent our time entirely with the gracious supervision of our friends. 

Our first stop in daylight was The Dali Museum. Our local friends loved it so much that they were museum members. We greatly enjoyed our afternoon there as well. 

Based on what I heard and have read, Dali struck me as a supremely confident man, who enjoyed challenging his viewers, and cultivated unlimited creativity. For example, Dali made a cool picture mosaic(2) of Abraham Lincoln in 1973. Like much of his celebrated art, it incorporated symbolism of life, death and love for his wife, Dala. Our tour group stared at this work for a while as our docent explained what made this large art work extraordinary. 

This was a close up view of Dali’s 8 x 6 feet “Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at Twenty Meters Becomes the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln (Homage to Rothko).”

At a further distance, our docent helped us to see the second way of viewing the art as, in fact, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.

“Morphological Echo” reflected Dali’s common themes of dreams, psychoanalysis, memory, Dali’s estranged relationship with his father and Catholithism. Many of his paintings made commentary on current cultural or art-making norms. This painting was striking in its detail and regularity, which made us stop and look closer. Dali’s intention? Perhaps so!

Here, in their own niches, were a couple of large format paintings that required us to stand back, like these random visitors, and ponder the symbolism and detail. Everyone around us was clearly enjoying the show.

Ready for something completely different? Our friends were members of the local sports club. It was devoted to shuffleboard! 

What was the largest shuffleboard club in the world like?  

Here’s an old timey pic from circa 1930 on the club’s website. I can confirm it looks about the same today. 

Our friends gave us quick pointers and summarized the rules (like: don’t step on the slippery glass-beaded court!). We observed the smooth styles of our friends and the players on nearby courts around us. Mike successfully imitated their easy and balanced technique:

Even though Shuffleboard had a witty reputation associated with retirees, I admired that our friends decided to join. It was a St. Pete institution. And, no one there took it too seriously. It was easy to learn and, frankly, there was no expensive equipment required (looking at you, skiing) or specific dress (ahem, tennis). The casual competition was, dare I say, fun! 

All eyes were focused on my incredible form. Or so I thought. 

Here was the stadium seating for the world championships. We missed it by two weeks. 

We ended a lively day with a sunset drink at the third floor of the Pier, which was perched at the end of (surprise!) a pier. How it will survive hurricanes on its perch in the future, we couldn’t imagine. We enjoyed the colorful sunset with the rest of crowd. 

We didn’t have enough time to enjoy the loads of bars with live music. St. Pete is definitely a town we could imagine living in (like Charleston and Washington D.C.) that we enjoyed on the Loop. At the very least, we would like to visit it again.

SARASOTA, CAPE CORAL & FT. MYERS

We continued to ply our way down the shallow Intracoastal Waterway on the West coast of Florida. 

In Sarasota, I got to meet a second cousin and his wife for the first time. We shared stories at their favorite local seafood restaurant. Again, I loved meeting East Coast family along the Loop.

At Cape Coral, we anchored outside the large Westin hotel at Tarpon Point. We visited here about ten years ago with our son, A.J. It was fun to return in our very own boat and scoot around in our dinghy, admiring the homes along the manmade lagoon “streets.” 

Just spending the pretty afternoon in our dinghy cruising by a waterfront neighborhood in Tarpon Point/Cape Coral. 

Finally, we ended our Northern city hops at Ft. Myers. We had also been here before—about a year ago. Ft. Myers was hit hard by Hurricane Ian (September 2022) and hasn’t recovered. We walked around the town, which gave us creepy Atlantic City vibes. There were a lot of empty building lots (from torn down and removed buildings) and surprisingly expensive, empty parking lots. We had a couple nice drinks and meals, however, at a Margaritaville and a Doc Ford restaurant. I felt sympathy for the locals, but it seemed like there needs to be more in Mt. Myers than a beach to attract crowds of tourists. 

Pretty much everyday we see an old beached boat or two along the entire Loop. It always reminded me of the danger of storing boats in the water during hurricane season. In Ft. Myers we saw this boat near the center of the photo leaning against the roof of a building on a pier. A little unsettling that no one removed it after all this time. 

NEXT STOPS: NAPLES AND THE KEYS

We looked forward to our old college friend and next guest, Kevin Melton, for our trek down to Key West. I had been to the Keys a couple times. But never by boat.

FOOTNOTES FOR FUN FACT FANS

(1) Sponges are actually animals—described as the most base of animals. If you wash with a natural (not manmade) sponge, you are using an antibacterial material. The maze of tubes and holes in sponges allow them to dry completely, making them an unfriendly medium for bacteria. 

(2) While there have been tile mosaics for thousands of years, Dali used a neural recognition approach in 1973 (riffing on Leon Harmon’s work) using very large mosaic squares which force the viewer to stand dozens of feet back to see the whole picture. His use of mosaics this way was revolutionary. There are automated tools now for you to make a photo mosaic of your own. 

Gulf-ing from Alabama to Florida

Me, on the starboard side, with a familiar view, going down a lock, for the last time. One hundred and ten locks, done and dusted. 

THIS LEG

The bottom of the Tennessee-Tombigbee River was full of twists and turns. Around and around we went from one anchorage to the next. It’s hard to tell from the scale of this map, but we entered the protected salt water of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway just East of Mobile Bay. The last part of this leg was a 170 mile crossing that we accomplished in 17 hours!

BOTTOM OF THE TENN-TOM RIVER

At the bottom of the inland fresh waterways, America’s Great Loop funneled all Loopers down the Tennessee-Tombigbee River (“the Tenn-Tom”). There were no side trips. While we saw many public boat ramps for recreational fishing boats(1), there were few marinas along this rural byway. There were fewer pines and more straight oaks. A bit of Spanish Moss clung to certain trees. 

At this point, we were buddying up with another Looper-friend boat. One of us would drop the anchor in a known good anchorage spot, and the other boat would raft to the anchored boat. In the evenings we played games, taking turns at hosting. We were pleasantly surprised at the beauty of our little anchorages. Based on the dictionary definition, I would describe them as bayous: creeks off The Tenn-Tom. 

On the Tennessee-Tombigbee River between Demopolis and Mobile, Alabama. Mike’s drone took this while we were moving.  

Not all the bayous were slow-moving. While anchored at one creek, we experienced a crazy two MPH current. Out the window we saw mats of floating water hyacinth (my guess) moving past us, giving us the illusion that we were moving.(2) 

Those days moved by in a flash because they became routine. Awake and pulled anchor. Cruised by rural country for four or five hours, anchored. Dinner. Games. Bed. 

TRANSITION TO SALTY OCEAN WATER

Huge milestone: We went through our very last lock on this leg! Mike counted 110 locks on our entire Loop.(3) Locks were amazing feats of engineering. As we entered each and every one we were awed by the manpower that went into the planning, design, and maintenance of these extra large bathtubs. The patience that the professionals who operated the locks lended us—as well as the tug boat captains—made for a positive experience. 

It was clear that these locks made massive changes to the environment that needed to be mitigated. I think the next generation will figure out solutions to restore health to these waterways. 

As we passed out of the last lock we immediately experienced changes in the environment. We saw sandy banks. And palmettos. As we inched closer to Mobile Bay, Alabama, the air became more briny. We spotted an alligator and noticed more pelicans.

Hey, Mr. Alligator! It was easy to spot this one sunning in the lower Tenn-Tom near our anchorage one day. It’s the white/black cylinder on the bank in the middle of the photo.

We had this bayou all to ourselves in mid-November. Okatuppa Creek, off the Tenn-Tom.

The Tenn-Tom dumps out into Mobile Bay. Mobile Bay was much bigger than I had imagined at about ten miles across and thirty miles long. 

As we drew closer to the Northern tip via a deep-enough, man-made channel, we saw evidence of the importance of this port. Lots of huge cargo ships were being loaded, unloaded and sped off via our channel to parts unknown. Since this was a large bay we experienced the first bumpy water since Lake Michigan. When we stopped at a rough and tumble marina that night we saw salt crystals formed from the day’s sea spray on Sacagawea’s deck once again.

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA

At the bottom of Mobile Bay we turned East, into the Gulf ICW (Intracoastal Waterway). I think no one gets tired of seeing dolphins. These bow riders escorted us into the Gulf ICW:

Our first stop was at a super-new and pleasant marina. It had been a while since we felt pampered at a marina! It was at The Wharf, in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Pleasant = new, wide docks, modern, clean shower rooms and a shopping center with multiple upscale restaurants. I even got my teeth conveniently cleaned at a dentist office while there. Amazing. 

These days, I sure appreciate these small conveniences and niceties. We stayed about two weeks here because we left Sacagawea for a week over Thanksgiving.

One especially memorable day at Gulf Shores, Alabama, we got out on our folding bikes and spent a long day in Gulf State Park. We stopped to capture this lovely short stretch of an elevated boardwalk across a lagoon. It was a perfect day with the sun, pleasant temps and easy-on-the eyes nature. I asked my sisters over Thanksgiving if they would be willing to return here someday for some shell collecting and a hotel stay with me. “Yes,” they said. Happy dance.

For Thanksgiving we visited Beaverton, Oregon for a five-day visit with resident and out-of-town family. So many of us converged in one place this year. (Miss you, those who couldn’t join us. XO!) 

As we continued East we stayed in downtown Pensacola, Florida. Pensacola was better known for the being the home of the Blue Angels. There were many other active bases in the area and they seemed to sustain the local economy. The Blue Angels whizzed around while we were cruising and visiting the vibrant National Naval Aviation Museum. 

At the entrance of the museum was this A-1 Triad 1911 replica (see video below). Our engaging, retired test pilot/tour guide pointed out that the A-1 Triad was a test plane—and a seaplane. As it spins in the video below, note the retractable landing gear. Surprising for one of the earliest planes, I thought.

Our tour guide was pointing to the NC-4 biplane over his shoulder from 1919. I hope you can see the enormous scale of this early seaplane. It was 68 feet long with a 126 foot wing span! It was first plane to fly across the Atlantic (with stops). I can’t imagine taking that dangerous ride—but what an inspiring milestone in the history of aviation.

Fast forwarding to the 1970s, this helicopter was used by Presidents Nixon and Ford. I weakly imitated Nixon’s famous two-handed victory sign before boarding. 

There were so many planes, helicopters and jets at the museum, it was a little dizzying (and repetitive). What I found striking was the speed of technology change on display. What people have accomplished in 100 years made me wonder what will be accomplished still in my lifetime. Flying taxis, practical hydrofoil jet skis, and environmentally gentle electric airplanes?

Here was a typical downtown building in Pensacola. Do you see in it a little bit of New Orleans and Charleston, like I did? We found Pensacola charming. Its history as one of the first conquistador towns was interesting as well.

STAGING FOR OUR LONGEST OPEN WATER CROSSING

Here was the interesting view—flora unlike any we had seen—along the Gulf ICW between Pensacola and Apalachicola: 

When we returned from Thanksgiving, we continued our trip East, and began to stage our crossing of the Gulf of Mexico. While it didn’t look like much on a map, it was going to be our longest nonstop crossing to complete on The Loop.(4) 

We resumed our trek with our card-playing Looper friends, picking a few anchorages and visiting the old Florida towns(5) of Port St. John, Appalachicola and Carribelle.

Here was a typical looking building in downtown Apalachicola. We stopped for a few hours and took a walk to…

…the local Piggly Wiggly! It was fun to say and interesting to shop at for groceries. Also notice the price for gas: $2.78 a gallon! It was like being in a country with a different currency. 

A sure “sign” that you’re in a Gulf Piggly Wiggly—the FISH FRY isle. 

You can find industrial-sized “Liquid Boil” seasoning and countless brands of cornmeal/flour dredging mixes.  

Maybe, or not, surprising was the tea aisle. It was full of iced tea bags. I did not know that some teas were marketed just for iced tea. Incidentally, we could find neither decaffeinated coffee nor tea at the Piggly Wiggly. 

By this day, the waves were still too big in the Gulf of Mexico for our crossing to West coast of Florida. But we had a good idea of a day coming up when the waves would be minimal. So, we continued to a multi-day stay in Carrabelle. Here was what it was like to arrive in Carrabelle (five minutes fast forwarded to a few seconds):

We had the good luck to arrive on the day of their annual Christmas boat parade. It was followed by a spectacular (Christmas?!) fireworks show. I found Carrabelle a little rough around the edges. Admittedly, I only saw the waterfront village. I was eager to leave and start the next leg. Let’s get into it!

CROSSING THE GULF OF MEXICO

With just one extra day in Carrabelle we had a good crossing day in sight. It seemed that crossing plans and strategies was all the Loopers could talk about in Carrabelle.(6) Since crossing days happened about once every one to two weeks, there were usually a flotilla of Looper boats that crossed together. 

The crossing would take about seventeen hours. Boats target to arrive after 10:00 a.m. in order to avoid a strong East-facing sun glare on the water. So it’s a mostly nighttime crossing.(7)  

I found solace in Mike’s thoughtful but also cool-as-a-cucumber approach to the crossing. He told me he was just eager to complete it. I, on the other hand, had been dreading it since I learned about it five years ago. I get sea sick. We wouldn’t be able to see anything because most of the trip is at night. I have trouble staying awake all night under normal circumstances. We wouldn’t have Starlink or cell coverage, for Christ’s sake. 

But also, I had always wanted to see all the stars from the open ocean. It’s a manageable, good challenge for me. I wasn’t alone. We had our buddy boat. I had Mike. 

Here was the view from our staging anchorage, close to Carrabelle, inside of a barrier island called Dog Island. 

We thought we’d stop here and take a nap before heading into the great unknown. However, the beach looked like sugar and was so inviting that we took a dinghy ride in and walked around.

Footsteps, not our own, on Dog Island. Last walk on land for a while!

We departed our Dog Island anchorage at 4:00 p.m. We decided that starting at 10:00 p.m. we would switch off ant the helm every two hours. I took the first shift. 

As they say, spirits were high. Click here—> This is how it felt.

Excited to make it happen! Underway, happy and wide awake at sunset, behind us. Mike put up some modest Christmas lights. That’s what’s hanging from the ceiling. At this point we could not see land.

The sun. Going, going, gone. Waves were from the Northeast, as expected. One to two foot chop. As expected.

Darkness fell slowly and steadily. Mike adjusted the instruments to be readable in the dark. The cloud cover increased. We realized we would not see a meaningful amount of stars.

I was feeling completely fine—no sea sickness while using my Relief Band and Dramamine. I was not drowsy.

Mike, in the glow of our instruments. Probably looking forward to his first nap!

About an hour after moonrise I saw the glow that moonshine made on the water. It was just like sunshine streaming through a hole in the clouds. All color was gone from our surroundings. Outside it was cool, but we were comfortable in the wrap-around of our flybridge.

When we started our shifts I was fine just listening to podcasts. On my second shift I alternated between standing and sitting for ten minutes each. In the wee hours, Sacagawea and our buddy boat became enveloped in fog. Technically, it was no different than being in the dark. But I no longer saw the comforting running lights of our buddy boat behind us in the fog. 

The fog persisted even as the day began to glow and the blue ocean color returned. It was important to have good visibility in order to see commercial crab pot buoys. Some crab pots were miles from shore.  

We reached the dredged canal entrance to the Clearwater, Florida area in one piece. Yes, we were tired but needed to stay sharp in the morning fog, avoiding crab pots. We ended up in a small marina in Tarpon Springs. 

Like the locks, this challenging aspect of The Great Loop was done and dusted. I think I got the best sleep of my life in that marina.

FOOTNOTES FOR FUN FACT FANS

(1) So many of the most basic types of boat ramps! The boats we saw were almost entirely bass boats.

(2) Current reinforces the need for a solid hold. Our anchorage in one bayou turned out to be soft mud, so it took three tries, increasing the scope each time, to get our anchor to stick. On the third try, we dragged anchor when we used two engines in reverse, even though we used a hefty seven to one scope. But we didn’t drag with one engine in gear. We decided this set would be good enough and we would keep an eye on it while it was still light out. 

By morning, we seemed to have stay put. A hyacinth mat about six feet wide wrapped around our anchor line. It came off as we winched the anchor up.

(3) We plan to run down the West Coast of Florida, around the Keys. If we have a poor weather window for this we’ll duck into the Okeechobee Canal. It has five locks. Imagine this: five locks hold back the great Gulf of Mexico and the mighty Atlantic Ocean. This is unlikely because there was a recent issue in the Okeechobee Canal, blocking recreational traffic.

(4) Loopers watched the weather predictions closely and compared strategies about when they leave the Carribelle, Florida area and their target on the West coast of Florida. They can go the long way, making many, multi-day hops around the “big bend” area. Or, go mostly straight across to a town near Tampa Bay. 

(5) “Old Florida” is term we saw to describe the Florida towns that were established before 1825. They have nothing to do the touristy lure of the fun and games of Orlando or Miami. 

(6) Strategies we discussed where: When to leave—and what time do we want to arrive? How fast should we go? Should we go in a straight line or do we travel on a curved path? Etcetera and ad nauseam. All these factors varied by boat. And, it varied depending on the predicted direction of the waves (avoiding taking them straight on or abeam). Also, Looper boats have varied comfortable cruising speeds. Many Loop boats traveled at 7-8 MPH. Sacagawea liked 9.5 MPH.

(7) I wore my Relief Band, which I wrote about before, for the entire crossing. I also took a non-drowsy Dramamine an hour before we left. These worked perfectly for me. 

Autumn Days in the Tennessee River

Mike captured Sacagawea, here in The Gorge, on the Tennessee River via a drone. The Gorge was West of Chattanooga by 5 to 10 miles. This gorgeous view was the peak of fall colors on October 25.

PLANNED SIDE TRIP TO CHATTANOOGA 

We waved “bye-bye” to the Land Between the Lakes, continuing down the Tennessee River. Originally, we planned another side trip after Nashville that would take even longer— six weeks. This required a divergence East, still on the Tennessee River, at the confluence of Tennessee-Tombigbee River (“The Ten-Tom”). Our turnaround point: Knoxville, Tennessee. This side trip distance was about 430 river miles (860 total, to and from). We had plenty of time so it was doable. It’s safest to wait to the official end of hurricane season on December 1 before entering the Gulf of Mexico.

I had especially been looking forward to this leg because it was the height of fall colors in this part of the country. I have little experience with fall colors, spending most of my life in California.

Unanticipated events altered our plans. When we reached Chattanooga, Tennessee, we learned that their big, annual rowing regatta was planned for the time we were to return from Knoxville seven days later. This closed the river to recreational traffic for three days. And, we learned we could not visit the Great Smokey Mountains from Knoxville because of lingering damage from Hurricane Helene. So, we stayed a day longer in Chattanooga, and that was our turnaround point, traveling about 500 miles, total, to and from the main North-South route.

. 

MUSCLE SHOALS: TOURISM CENTRAL FOR THE TENNESSEE RIVER VALLEY 

Before we hit the height of Autumn, we found ourselves near the beginning of our side trip in the small town of Florence, Alabama. Across the river was Muscle Shoals, also a small town that famously produced award-winning country, soul, blues and rock music. 

We did our homework before reaching Muscle Shoals and watched a documentary (called: Muscle Shoals). We also watched a documentary series about Country Music.(1)  My favorite moments from our tours gave me a new perspective about the local people. At the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio tour we were told that in this small town, the locals were not wowed by celebrities like Mick Jagger. The musicians landed at the small airport, stayed at a Holiday Inn and were not accosted by fans. Imagine how humbling and relaxed their experience was here was versus in cities. 

Interior of the Muscle Shoals Recording Studio. I downloaded this pic from their website. It was restored to its 1970s look for us visitors. The studio moved from this location in 1985 and then the building cycled through other businesses. In 2015 it was acquired and turned into a museum, of sorts. Notice the burlap covered ceiling and walls to reduce echos. Also, the shapes on the wall on the left also trap sound. The piano was the actual instrument used for many award winning songs like Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll.”

In addition to the recording studios, this area boasted many tourist attractions. Since we stopped here twice (to and from Chattanooga) we hit almost all the hot tourist spots. 

One local attraction was Helen Keller’s childhood home from 1880-1888. She inspired so many people with her abilities and sincere humanity. I enjoyed these old timey photos in the on-site museum. Most of these photos featured Miss Keller and her dogs. We heard she had dogs her entire life. Always different breeds.  

We visited this Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Florence, Alabama—our first time visiting a Wright building. These pics were from the Rosenbaum House website. I would argue the curb-side view looked a little cold and industrial. We learned from the museum docent that the original goal was to make an affordable home. That was the reason for the concrete blocks.

Here’s the family room. Notice the brick red tile floor and wood-wrapped interior. The whole house was designed according to the grids on the floor.(2) This room reminded us of our mid-century modern home in many ways...floor-to-ceiling windows, wood paneling and open spaces.

RURAL ALABAMA: SALOONS AND COON DOGS

An amazing place to visit via an 30 minute drive outside of Muscle Shoals was the Rattlesnake Saloon. I downloaded this pic from a website because we arrived at night so it was too dark for photos. It’s sort of a grotto. You sit under an enormous rock slab. It’s a strange feeling. The food? So-so. The live country singer was pretty good. I wonder if there’s any setting like this for a restaurant anywhere in the world.

My favorite stop in the area was the Coon Dog Cemetery. Like the Rattlesnake Saloon, it was in the rolling, pine-covered hills out of town. We got to know a local couple in process.

At an earlier marina stop, Mike met a local gentleman walking the docks, as we have found that some men do. After some conversation he kindly offered to help us during our journey as we approached his home town, Florence. When we found ourselves in Florence with limited choices for transportation, we called him to see if he’d take us to the Coon Dog Cemetery. We were surprised to hear that he had lived in the area almost his whole life but had never been there. 

Not long after, he showed up with his wife in a pickup truck. We all realized that it would be a 45-minute drive out of town into the woods. I texted some Looper friends to tell them of our plan…just in case. We four shared a laugh because his wife admitted she also told a friend about our journey together…just in case. 

Our local hosts and us in front of a locally famous statue at the Coon Dog Cemetery. See the coon dogs treeing? The raccoon at the top of the tree is out of the picture.

We arrived at the wooded area on a coolish evening just before sunset, so the mood was set. Actually, we found the cemetery charming with a variety of homemade tombstones and epitaphs. We learned that coon dogs are an AKC breed. Many award winning dogs were buried here. 

Here was one of my favorites: “Black Ranger…He was good as the best and better than the rest…”. Look at the bottom of this post to see more of these heartwarming epitaphs. It seems that Coon Dog Competitions are big thing around Alabama—for kids too. 

THE GORGE

The trip to and from Chatanooga was among the nicest along the entire Loop. We were thrilled to move through deep, clean-smelling water. And the banks were lined with pine and deciduous trees and often rolling hills. Here, for you, was the color change and Tennessee River bank a week before the peak on October 20:

Here was a nowhere kind of bay along the Tennessee River, tucked behind Goat Island, where we had an outstanding anchorage view on October 22, about 5 days before the peak. Leaves turning orange and yellow.

  

Mike carefully captured this shot of Sacagawea as we made our way through the winding, beautiful Gorge. This breathtaking leg of our inland waterway made our trip through the commercial, polluted Northern section totally worthwhile.  

We were told by locals that this year’s colors were mildly red compared to previous years because it had been a drought year. And, the colors lasted a shorter time than usual. 

I realize we don’t have many pics of me at the helm. At one point when I was at the helm, I jotted down all the colors I could see at the peak: “burgundy, purple, rust, orange, salmon, yellow, chartreuse, leaf green (of course), and white trunks. White and peachy tan cliffs.” All the hues changed depending on how the sunlight lit the trees. I just wanted to capture the profusion of color!

CHATTANOOGA CHOO CHOO(3)

Here was my view as we approached Chattanooga, Tennessee on the Tennessee River. Exciting, as always, to pull into a small city. We looked forward to nice restaurants and seeing what Chattanooga was all about.

We had pretty mellow days in Chattanooga. Mike found a nice distillery. I did a little shopping (Happy Birthday, Jeanne!). We had some BBQ meals out. And we had just one touristy afternoon.

Our touristy moment in the hills South of Chattanooga: Ruby Falls. It was an underground cave. The pinnacle of the tour was an immense waterfall which coincided with a light show. 

We could have hit more tourist spots but we basically ran out of time during our two night stay.

A LOCKING CHALLENGE

On our way back to the main waterway we had a double lock to pass through. The locks in this area were bottlenecked because one lock was only operating its smaller auxiliary chamber due to equipment malfunction. The Army Core of Engineers (ACE) were doing the best they could to efficiently direct commercial and recreational traffic.

At a double lock the first lock empties, then the gates open and we pass immediately into a second lock. The gates close and then it empties as well; a two-stage lock. The ACE asked Loopers to organize ourselves into groups so they could pack us together. Mike actually led our group—communicating with the lock master about how we would configure ourselves in the first lock and then how it would change in the second lock.

All went as planned. Everyone took their places in the first lock. We were led by a commercial tug.

As the lock emptied, the lock master told us that he wanted the recreational boats to depart before the commercial tug. This entailed threading the needle between the tug and the lock wall. Easier said than done because the tug was pushing a lot of water, using its engines to stay against the lock wall.

The gates opened and there was another surprise: in the second lock there was a boat needing to switch places with us.

Now, I was concerned because a) we had maybe three to four feet on each side as we passed by the tug and b) the tug wash was going to push us onto the wall and we could get stuck sideways. A little dangerous. Sacagawea could get scratched. 

The recreational boat that appeared in the second chamber took pics of us passing by the tug and by them: 

That was Sacagawea on the right, threading the needle. I was fretting, powerless on the right side (port side). Behind us was the next boat. There was no humming or hawing. Each boat stepped up to the plate. Mike did a fantastic job of using the right amount of speed and positioning. 

…we passed by the tug and immediately turned right to pass by the boat facing us…

The view as the tug followed us recreational boats in. You can see us rafted along the left side. This ballet was needed to get all the recreational boats around the tug. 

We all voiced an “oh no!” when the smallest boat got very squirrely as it passed through. But they made it as well. Mike later told me that he was not concerned at all. He was confident in handling Sacagawea and thought our power could handle the tug’s wash. 

I prefer my Loop drama filled with changing leaves and soaring pelicans! 

IT’S ALL DOWN HILL FROM HERE

As we proceeded back to the main route, we experienced beautiful weather and anchorages. We looked forward to the cruise South, down the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. 

Here was the view on November 3 off the back as we stayed at a one-boat cove called, unsurprisingly, Waterfall Cove:

Our view on November 6 in another beautiful, Tennessee River inlet where we anchored for a night. We were leaving the land of hollows (pronounced “hollars”)(4) for the land of bayous.  

FOOTNOTES FOR FUN FACT FANS

(1) We recommend these documentaries. 

(2) While the home was lauded as a landmark design, Mr. Wright deemed this design as “Usonian,” but the build price went double over budget. The tour guide told us that Wright designed all the furniture we saw and his furniture was notoriously uncomfortable. Wright would also pop in to this and his other designs on occasion and change back any furniture that was rearranged. 

By the time the original owner donated the home to the City of Florence, it was in dire need of roof and termite-related repairs. The city paid for the repairs to the tune of $600,000. We were told that this was controversial in this small town. However, it has paid off over the years, bringing in tourist revenue many more times over. 

(3) Chattanooga Choo Choo is a renovated district of Chattanooga around its old, colorful train station. It has restaurants, breweries, bars, etc. We found it to be a good spot to eat and drink. It was named after the famous Glenn Miller song.

(4) A hollow is something like a saddle or a canyon. 

COON DOG CEMETERY EXTRA

I challenge you not to smile while you read these bittersweet Coon Dog epitaphs:

“Bobo”

“Felix…a coon’s worst enemy”

“Strait Talk’n Tex…ability and class all in one”

“Raleigh was his name. Treeing coons was his game.” 

“Bear”

“George”

“Squeak”

“Hammer Tyme Red. If he treed in a mail box you’d better open it and look because he’s got ‘em.”

After the list of championships it says, “Sal…Long Bottoms Miss Juicy Fruit”

No name on this one. Just the dog’s collar. 

“Penny…Left us doing what she loved.”

“Queen”

“Daisy…my best friend.”

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