Elaine & Mike’s Adventures : 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: