Slept a bit later this morning, so we missed the sunrise. Weighing anchor, we left the Rock Pile anchorage to travel the rest of the Pickwick Lake section of the Tennessee River.
As we rounded our first bend, the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge came into view. This bridge and its 450 mile parkway follows the old Indian and early settlers trade routes first discovered in 1733 by the French. The Natchez Trace connects Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN. In the 1880’s an Indian who owned property near the current bridge operated a ferry across the Tennessee River. Here goods were down loaded onto rafts and floated down the river. Once arriving at their destination the traders would dismantle the rafts and sell them for lumber, then walk the old Natchez Trail back home.
Here are shots of Pickwick Lake. This lake has many bays and the same limestone cliffs as Kentucky Lake.
There are many more island in this lake than in the previous and our route meandered around these islands so we had to watch our course line.
Several more miles upriver, we passed Seven Mile Island and it Wildlife Preserve. The island is smack dab in the middle of the river!
As we cruised further along, there were homes on the ridges, many well hidden by the trees.
Once past the island, we could see our destination for the evening- Florence and Muscle Shoals, AL. There are actually four cities along the river here, which makes this the third largest city on the Tennessee River behind Chattanooga and Knoxville.
1. Florence, the oldest of the cities, settled in 1818 and famous for being the home of WC Handy, “The Father of the Blues”.
2. Muscle Shoals named for the powerful rapids in this part of the river. Today a canal directs boat traffic around the shoals. The town was first started in 1923 and is famous for its two recording studios, operating since the 1960's and still recording today. Such elite musicians as BB King, Rolling Stones, Lyrnd Skynrd, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Duane Allman and Willie Nelson, plus many others recorded their hits in these studios.
3. Tuscumbia, home to Helen Keller was established in 1820.
4. Sheffield, founded in 1880, was a major steel and iron center.
As we approached the bridge we turned into the Florence Harbor Marina and tied up.
Once settled, I checked us in and Bill took off the offending inverter cable to take it to the marine shop down the road. As I checked in I found out that the marina managers here were people (SV Selah Way) we met last year on Florida East Coast around Satellite Beach and again in South Carolina on the first year of our Great Loop journey. Such a small world!
Bill returned with a cable replacement and we seem to have fixed our bad connection that is impacting the inverter.
Grabbed a bite to eat and borrowed the loaner car to visit the Muscle Shoals Recording Studio and drive through town. The tour of the recording studio was fun. Lots of pictures of the artists that recorded at Muscle Shoals, clips of the music recorded, and a walk through the studio as it looked in 1969-1978. The basis of the studio were four musicians called The Swampers that provided back up- Barry Beckett on keyboards, David Hood on bass guitar, Jimmy Johnson on rhythm guitar and Roger Hawkins on drums. These four were part of 500 recordings and 75 gold or platinum hits. Here are some examples- Rolling Stones’ Wild Horses and Brown Sugar, Bob Seeger’s Old Time Rock and Roll, Percy Sledge’s When a Man Loves a Woman, Wilson Pickett’s Mustang Sally and Paul Simon’s Love Me Like a Rock and Kodachrome.
Since we had never been in a sound studio, it was a lot to take in and our guide was very patient with our questions. Never knew they had sound boards that handled 16 tracks for 16 different microphones. Bill had to try to work the system.
On our way home we stopped to pick up some groceries and drove by the Rosenbaum House which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Day 157 October 27. On to Wilson and Wheeler Locks and Decatur AL Miles 39 Total Miles 4799
Woke real early to untie from the dock and head three miles up the narrow boat channel that bypasses the shoals to Wilson Lock. In fact it was so early we had to use the searchlight a few times to safely navigate. Here is what the lock looked like at 6:30 in the morning.
Wilson Lock, named for Woodrow Wilson, is the largest and oldest of the locks on the Tennessee River. The dam was originally built in 1918 and is 137 feet tall and 4541 feet long. The lock was rebuilt in the 1950’s and is the sixth tallest US lock lifting us 93-100 feet, only surpassed by ones on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in the Pacific Northwest. Was quite impressive as we drove into the chamber and looked up to take in how high we would be lifted.
Leaving the lock the sun had risen and we entered Wilson Lake. We traveled its 15 mile length and took in the many homes all along the lakes cliffs and waterline.
As Wilson Lake ends, we come to Joe Wheeler Lock and Dam which was named after Joe Wheeler, the Spanish American hero and Confederate General and Congressman. Wheeler Dam is 72 feet tall, but very long at 6342 feet and was constructed between 1932-1936. We had to wait 30 minutes for another cruiser boat to come down in the lock, before it was our turn to lock up 28 feet and enter the Wheeler Lake section of the Tennessee River.
In Wheeler Lake, we passed Joe Wheeler State Park and continued past the northern shore filled with homes and the southern shore undeveloped and forested.
Today our travel is mostly east and southeast as the River meanders through northern Alabama. We next passed the outskirts of Athens, AL with its riverfront filled with homes and apartments/condominiums.
A bit further upriver we passed the Brown’s Ferry Power Plant, built is 1971 and at that time was the largest nuclear power plant in the United States.
A few miles later and around two river bends the river becomes industrial with a steel mill, 3M plant, a grain and cotton processing plant, a cement manufacturer, and a scrap metal recycler. All this industry requires lots of tugs and tows to move material in and out of the plants.
This tug was built to move very tall cargo/barges. We had never seen one built to so tall before.
All this industry is just outside of Decatur AL, a town of 53,000., our destination for the night. We pulled up to a free dock just outside of town and tied up for the night.
After lunch and a short nap, we headed out to walk the town of Decatur. Decatur was an important shipping town with its access to the railroad and the Tennessee River. The town was nearly destroyed in the Civil War by Union troops with only four of its original buildings remaining. One of the original buildings is the Old State Bank which is now a museum.
The historic district has many old brick churches and cottages and Victorian homes from the late 1880s- 1910. We enjoyed our walk around the small well kept downtown neighborhood.
We could not resist taking a picture of this license plate
Also Bill decided to show you how he keeps track of red and green navigational marks
He uses Gumby and Pokey to represent the green and red marks and he positions them to his left and right so he can track the marks.
Thus ends another day for us as we travel the Tennessee River.