After spending a delightfully quiet night at anchor off the Mississippi river in a side canal, the crews of Slo Pace and Betty Gail awoke to a foggy morning. Although departure was planned at 7 a.m., Captain Dave wisely delayed our departure as we waited for the sun to peek through, dissipating the steam fog. Included is a picture of the barges we often pass. We try to communicate with the barges prior to passing to determine if we are passing on their port (left side) or “on the one” or their starboard (right side) “on your two”.
Once underway, a few miles downriver, we turned off the Upper Mississippi River onto the Ohio River at Cairo, IL. Our speed through the water dropped almost in half; we no longer had the benefit going downstream in the Mississippi River, but upstream, against the current, on the Ohio River. After a bit of a rocky night at anchor near the bank of the Ohio River (the rocking was from the wakes as barges passed by), we arrived in Paducah, KY at the transient docks run by the city. Paducah is home to the National Quilt Museum that even guys enjoy. Paducah and many of the other cities along the rivers have huge flood walls installed. Paducah’s had gorgeous painted murals for a large stretch of their wall, depicting the history of the area. I’ve included one of the murals below, which depicts telephone operators, which was my mom’s career. Also in Paducah, we awoke each morning to Slo Pace covered with Mayflies. Luckily they don’t bite or leave a yucky residue. Slo Pace received a well deserved bath at our next stop.
After Paducah, we stopped at Green Turtle Bay Resort & Marina (GTB), a stop where many loopers take a break for several days – some up to a month! As you can see by the pictures below, there are lots of loopers currently docked there. Besides 3 restaurants, 3 swimming pools, GTB has a beach and a spa. I don’t know why, but I didn’t get a massage. Maybe I’m just too relaxed now in retirement. The area is also home to a well-known restaurant – Patti’s 1800 Settlement, famous for their 2” pork chop and desserts. Yes, we indulged and yes, it was delicious.
We then started a side trip on the Cumberland River to Nashville, TN. Cruising along the Cumberland River was peaceful, except when we had to dodge floating logs, etc. We have exposed props under our boat; hitting a log could be disastrous resulting in bent props. We passed the Kentucky State Penitentiary, called the “Castle on the Cumberland”, completed in 1886. It was an amazing structure.
Fun Facts: Distanced traveled so far: 4,243 miles in 194 days, stopping at 121 unique locations, 56 locks completed.
Thanks for following along on our adventure,
Brenda with Captain Dave, and Marvelous Murphy