Tennessee River

We flew back to Nashville on Nov 13, stayed overnite near airport and drove to Green Turtle Lake the next morning.  Happy Daze looked good after her month long rest under cover.

We spent the afternoon, tidying up and shopping for provisions.  We then went to the nearby village of Grand Rivers and had dinner at Patti's old tyme restaurant.  Food and service were good, but the walk though their Christmas light display was fantastic.  Even better than the display in Panama City where we spent last Christmas.

We took the rental car back early next morning and with rain in the forecast we left about 10:30 am.  It would have been real easy to stay another day, all safe and snug in the marina under cover, but that would not get us any closer to the Gulf and winter is coming.

The weather did turn ugly for awhile, with wind and rain.  But we slogged along at 9 mph and made about 40 miles before pulling into a protected bay off of Kentucky Lake.  The whole time, we only saw one sail boat and one commercial tow with 15 barges.  The lake is large and gorgeous, with plenty of public shoreline and many coves for anchoring.

After about 150 miles the lake narrows and we found ourselves going up the wide Tennessee River.

The days were mostly sunny, with highs in 60's and down to low 40's at night. There were many vacation homes on both banks, but we saw hardly any people.  It was like a ghost town.  We really were traveling during the off season.

The next night we anchored in an oxbow just off the river, with a nice slow current keeping us aligned and wild goats wandering around on the nearby island.  Another very peaceful evening.

The next day we reached the Pickwick Lock and dam.  It raised us 55 ft to beautiful Pickwick Lake.  There were several very nice homes scattered around the edge.

Then it was another 15 miles to Grand Harbor Marina for us.  The forecast called for high wind and rain the next day so we decided to take safe harbor when available.  We've learned that the weather is the single most critical factor to having a safe, enjoyable and successful voyage.  We spent our lay day catching up on housekeeping, emails, and small maintenance items. 

Unfortunately, shortly after a nice evening meal, Angie started having strong abdominal pains and began vomiting.  At first we thought it might be my bad cooking, but by midnight she self-diagnosed it as an acute gallstone attack.  We wasted a lot of time trying to get access to the marina loaner car, find a taxi, or uber; all to no avail.  Finally, we called 911 and took an ambulance to the nearest hospital.  After plenty of drugs, the pain subsided.  An ultrasound, blood work, and ER doc confirmed her diagnosis.  Surgery will wait until we get back home.  We returned from the hospital around 8 am and since the forecast was good, decided to head out on the Ten-Tom waterway.  But that will be another post.