Tennessee River - Part II

 

TRAVEL DAY 136 - Iuka to Florence, AL

November 4, 2023

5.47 Hours/ 43.3 Miles


    And now the River Rats are 2. Pau Hana and Runaway, started engines at 8 am and pulled away from the dock at Aqua Yacht Marina. An hour earlier, a number of bass boats were floating in the lake mist waiting for a "shotgun start" of some fishing tournament. 
 
Tri State Water Border
 
    Out of Pickwick Lake and onto the river, we motored to the Tri-State River Border. Here we floated at the intersecting boarders of Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama! A few quick pictures and we throttled up. This side of the lock was broader and virtually no current so 2000 rpm got me to 8 mph and some fuel savings.
 
3 States at Once!

    Our flotilla of 2 moved down the Tennessee River for a side trip to Florence Alabama. Alabama, our 18th state! "Roll Tide, Roll!" The temperature warmed to the upper 70's. Being a Saturday there were bass boats everywhere, buzzing up & down the river. At one point one came straight at us and passed between our two vessels within feet. Knucklehead!
  
Bass Boats on the Tennessee River

    At about 15 minutes before 2 pm we turned into Florence Harbor Marina, to the dock for a pumpout (this 14.5 gallon holding tank is a shortcoming of the Camano). We proceeded to our slip, spun around and backed into the slot.
 
Florence Harbor

    An hour or so later, Shorebilly Too came cruising in on their way back from their side trip to Chattanooga. The crew said it was a great trip but the locks made it not worth it, waiting 4 hours for one of them.  
 
That "Muscle Shoals" Sound

    Our plan was to spend a few days here and decompress, reprovision and explore Florence and nearby Muscle Shoals. We are still in the Central Time Zone and Sunday brought us Daylight Savings and another hour backward. 
 
Docktales with Runaway, Shorebilly Too & the Dockmaster

    "Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers" sang Lynyrd Skynyrd. I never knew what that meant until we landed in Muscle Shoals. The Swampers were a group of session musicians based in Muscle Shoals and were one of the most prominent American studio bands from the 1960's to the 1980's. This group of musicians was known as the "Muscle Shoals Sound" and musicians were in disbelief to learn that these soulful artists were white! They played in more than 500 recordings and 75 gold & platinum hits.
  
Sound Booth at FAME

    Our group traveled to FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) for a tour of one of the legendary recording studios of Muscle Shoals. I was fortunate enough to chat with the receptionist, also the wife of the owner Rick Hall (died in 2018). After watching the documentary Muscle Shoals I had a good sense of what the place was all about & I highly recommend watching it. The studio still records music today. 
  
Iuka to Florence, AL

TRAVEL DAY 137 - Florence back to Iuka

November 7, 2023

5.08 Hours/ 41.1 Miles


    A pretty easy day following our track back to Iuka. This time however, we stopped at Grand Harbor Marina rather than go to the back of the lake to Aqua Yacht. The temperatures are in the 80's for the next couple of days. Back at Iuka we were able to greet the other loopers as they came in. Riva, Beach House and Sea No Evil were folks we hadn't seen since Chicago. We all had a great time on the dock that evening.
  
Iuka Docktales

    We scheduled an extra day here to visit the Shiloh Battlefield. We scheduled a private tour with a gentleman that not only grew up here, his family had lived in the area since the early 1800's and had relatives that fought here. 
  
Runaway & Pau Hana at Shiloh
     
Shiloh Battlefield

    The Battle of Shiloh was a pivotal battle of the Civil War and often known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, a crucial crossing location of the Tennessee River. The 2 day battle was the costliest battle of the Civil War and although the Union won, they suffered more casualties than the Confederates. Our tour guide was a very interesting guy with tons of memorabilia in his "Museum".   
  
Shiloh Battlefield Museum

Florence to Iuka

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