Nothing to see here....

Surprisingly interesting and fun times in unusual places!

During the past 10 months (yes, it has been THAT long) there have been more than a few days, often in remote locations or towns long past their heydays, where we expected to be boat-bound, bored, and just waiting to move on. But somehow usually… we were wrong.

The Tennessee River and Tenn Tom Waterway were a lot like this. We learned to enjoy a slower pace of life and gained a deeper appreciation of the hidden treasures and sometimes quirky pleasures of these off-the-beaten-path places. The meandering water led us to small towns we had never heard of, scenic and historic parks, and a few fantastically unusual restaurants!

One of our first stops on this section of the loop was Birdsong Marina in Camden Tennessee. It sounded like an exciting location, with a pearl farm on site! But not so much…. It turned out that the pearl farm was only a small shop with a museum-y feel to it. And there was nothing for miles around the marina.

Thankfully, a group of Loopers were there, and we had met all of them at one point or another on the loop. Two by Two invited the bunch of us for “dock tales” on their boat. It was fun to see everyone again and catch up.

Looking for something more to do, we borrowed one of the marina’s courtesy cars and drove through the backwoods to a local legendary restaurant, The Log Cabin, where Gary had shrimp and grits and Patty had a heaping helping of fried chicken livers! Not quite the way Mom made it as I was growing up, but very yummy and a unique local experience! Oh, and we were advised to took a slice of buttermilk pie home with us. Wow, it was good!

Along the way, these rivers offered so many dazzling anchorages. We were almost always the only boat in sight. So peaceful, and really special to sit on our boat in the middle of so much scenic beauty. Nature can always keep us entertained.

Sometimes it is the glassy water that makes us smile.

Other times the skies are a delight.

Weather can also bring some beautiful surprises, like this fog. Lovely.

And in rare instances, we get to interact with actual living creatures! This one particularly liked Gary.

In between anchorages, we visited some small towns. One of the most memorable stops was at Florence and Muscle Shoals Alabama. We stayed for 3 nights at a marina and visited two of the most famous recording studios in the US, a Frank Lloyd Wright house, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, and a Coon Dog Cemetery! Who knew there would be so much to do?

We do enjoy music. But we are not REALLY into it like some people. Even so, the studio tours at Fame and Muscle Shoals were super interesting, mostly for the stories about the musicians/songs we all love to sing along with. Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Linda Ronstadt, and even the Osmonds recorded there! So cool. If you want to know more, check this out: Muscle Shoals Documentary

And the coon dog cemetery was very eccentric and very sweet and very much in the middle of nowhere! Again, we borrowed the marina courtesy car and drove 30 minutes (one way) to see it. People really love their dogs.

Another stop along the way was Iuka Mississippi. Home of ??? Nothing? Here’s what Wikipedia says:

Well, we didn’t make it to the apron museum, but apparently Iuka is right next door to the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, Shiloh National Military Park. The Battle of Shiloh lasted for only two days, but when all was said and done 24,000 soldiers had died. Sobering.

We hired a guide, Larry DeBerry, to tour us around Shiloh. We started in the chapel which was rebuilt with donations from the surrounding community. Larry and his neighbors care deeply about preserving the history of their kin and this remarkable site. It was impressive.

Then Larry drove us all around the park describing the battle scenes. We could really imagine it all playing out. He pointed out notable landmarks like this concrete memorial to a soldier that fought and died slumped at the base of a tree. It was a thorough and very educational tour!

After Shiloh, we made it to nearby Corinth to eat at Abe’s Grill. Abe and his wife have run the place for 42 years. They still work there, but their son does most of the cooking now. The menu was basic, the burgers were delicious, and the hospitality of Abe and his family was completely heartwarming!

We were discovering that Iuka was a dining hot spot! So for dinner we went to Hagy’s Catfish Hotel Restaurant. Another fantastic meal and definitely food that we wouldn’t normally eat at home!

That’s a load of catfish!

I guess we are learning that every place has something to offer. And most of the time we can find some really cool things if we slow down, look around, and just hang for a while. Then if we are willing to try some things that we think we might not be interested in, we are almost always very pleasantly surprised!

To see our current voyage path with Gary’s photos, click on this: G&P Voyage Map