DAY 46 - NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

Saturday, August 27, 2016 - Today we bought tickets for the Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour.  There were 18 stops including the featured  Historic French Quarters,  The National World War II Museum,  The Garden  District including the Lafayette Cemetery and the Mardi Gras World.  Throughout the day we enjoyed the culinary flavours of New Orleans starting with a beignet (ben-yay), corn and crab bisque at Le Bayou and Crawfish and Alligator bites at restaurants along Frenchman.  The popular streets of the French District - Bourbon, Royal, Chartres and Frenchman are lined with bars, restaurants, art and jewellery stores.  Our total distance travelled today was 7.5 km on foot.

A mode of transportation.
We used this to get to Frenchman Street

Famous Jazz Musicians

Beads on trees marking the Mardi Gras Route

Overview of the Lafayette Cemetery

Having coffee and our Beignet at the Brick and Spoon

Musicians playing along the streets.

Our Hop-On Hop-Off Bus

An open tomb - Each tomb is built over a below ground vault.
After a year of burial, due to the heat and humidity, tissue is quickly decomposed,
leaving nothing but skeletal remains.  When the chamber is needed for the next
interment the remains are placed in the cave on the bottom.  Many tombs have
dozens of names on them.

Bourbon Street, French District

Fresh Oysters for lunch.

DAY 44 - 45 - KINGFISHER MARINA TO NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

Thursday, August 25, 2016 - Today was spent getting chores done.  We are in a great location and have a courtesy car to get into town.

Our courtesy car

The Red Barn, Demopolis for supper

Very unique decor

Friday, August 26, 2016 - Frans and have been watching the storms developing in the pacific and the Atlantic Ocean.  Based on the impact they might have on The Gulf Coast we decided to rent a car and drive to New Orleans for the week-end.  Enterprise Car Rentals picked us up from the marina at 10:00 am.  It was a beautiful three hour drive to the Marriott Hotel, 555 Canal Street, right in the middle of the French Quarters District.  After checking in and a light lunch we found out that there was a preseason game in the Mercedes Benz Superdome.  Tickets were still available so it was a great opportunity for us to go.  It is a huge stadium with a capacity of 76,468.  Every body is searched.  You are not allowed to bring in any bags bigger than 4.5" X 6", unless they area clear.  We had intended on buying some things, so we had our faithful Beach Patrol bag from Mackinaw Island with us.  We had to remove everything from it and Frans was allowed to stuff it in one of his shorts pockets.  I had to throw my selfie stick away because they are not allowed in the stadium. (I guess it could be a weapon??).  After all of that we really did have great seats with special lounge privileges.  The excitement of the crowd in the stadium was contagious.  We have never seen so many #9 BREES jerseys.  I was even wearing one!  It was truly an evening to remember.  Unfortunately my Saints did not win!

View of the French Quarters from our Marriott Hotel room.

The Mercedes Benz Superdome

Singing of the National Anthem

Preseason Roster of 90 Orleans Saints Players will be reduced to
53 players by Sept. 5, 2016!

DAY 43 - COLUMBUS MARINA TO KINGFISHER MARINA, ALABAMA

Columbus Marina 335 to Kingfisher Marina 216.2 = 118.8 miles

Wednesday, August 24, 2016 - The Columbus Marina is only .3 miles from our seventh lock, Stennis Lock on the Ten-Tom .  We called the lock at 6:00 am.  Unfortunately Bobby Joe James was coming in and since they have priority we had to wait until 7:45 am to lock through.  We arrived at Bevill Lock at 10:00 and again we had to wait. This time for a northbound tug Alice Parker.  We have 41.7 miles before lock ten and our final lock on the Ten-Tom.  The Heflin Lock was available and we were thru by 2:15.  We still have a 48.9 mile run to the Kingfisher Marina.  Besides a few fishing boats and some cottages along the way we were able to make good time.  The scenery was spectacular and the canal was very windy in areas making the cruising interesting.  We filled up with diesel at the Demopolis Yacht Basin fuel docks before proceeding to the marina.  It is sweltering outside with the temperature in the high 30’s feeling like 45 C. 

Stennis Lock

Tug Bobby Joe James passing under the Illinois Central Railroad
Bridge and barges on the left side unloading scrap metal.

Cottage in the forest.

Scenic canal picture

Scenic canal picture

The US Montgomery Snag boat preserved here.
Snag boats are used to clear up the fallen trees that pile up
in shallow spots on the river.

Bendway Weir - These are usually underwater.
They are made to control the direction of the flow of the water
in the river.

The bluffs after Bevill Lock

The spectacular white cliffs of Epes.

Demopolis Yacht Basin fuel dock.
They fill up tows here.

LADY V in her covered slip at the
Kingfisher Marina, Demopolis, Alabama

DAY 42 - MIDWAY MARINA TO COLUMBUS MARINA

Midway Marina 393.8 to Columbus Marina 335.0 = 58.8 miles

Our fourth lock is just one mile away from Midway Marina.  After a phone call to the Fulton Lock at 7:00 am we got an all clear and left.  Our next lock, Wilkins was also a breeze.  Five miles down the waterway we are at the Armory Lock.  We cleared three locks and it is only 9:30 am!  Our next and final lock for the day is the Aberdeen Lock.  We are now on our way to Columbus Marina.  At 1:30 pm we are docked on a very nice wall.  We took their courtesy car into town and drove through the historical and new sections of town.  It is a larger town than we thought with a population of approximately 24,000.

Scenic picture after the Fulton Lock

The Mississippi Railway runs along the waterway on the east side.

Groves of trees in the Armoury Pool

Bird perched on a dead tree branch.

People working on a barge.

This is an 'Ox Bow', an inlet off of the waterway.

Aberdeen Dam

An alligator at the marina.

This ???Boat??? was in the Amory Lock with us and then came
into the Columbus Marina

This is what the captain does when I wear my
new tee shirt.

DAY 41 - PICKWICK LANDING STATE PARK TO MIDWAY MARINA

From the end of the Tennessee River to Midway Marina on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway 59.6 miles

Monday, August 22, 2016 - We decided to start a bit later today.  At 8:00 am we were at the gas dock to refuel.  We left the marina at 8:30.  In only 7 miles we are finished our portion of the Tennessee River and joined the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway at mile 450.  We are now heading south towards Mobile.  The Ten-Tom project to build a waterway from the Tennessee River to the Gulf of Mexico began construction in 1972.  After 12 years at a cost of $2 billion the waterway was completed and officially opened January 10, 1985. Construction required removing 307 million cubic yards of earth and pouring 2.2 million cubic yards of concrete.  There are three lakes along the waterway Pickwick Lake, Bay Springs Lake and Aberdeen Lake.  Just before we got to the Whitten Lock at 11:00 we passed a tug Cooper Devall going the same direction as us.  We now have to wait for him to lock thru.  This lock goes down 84’, the biggest drop in the Ten-Tom Locks.  The Montgomery Lock was our second lock, going down 33 feet.  Our third and final lock for the day was the Rankin Lock.  We cleared it at 3:30 and headed for Midway Marina, Itawamba County, Mississippi docking at 4:00.  This is a very quiet location just off of the Ten-Tom Waterway navigation channel.  They provided us with a courtesy van which to took into town to the Walmart to pick up some provisions.  It was a great way to see the area. This area was also our initiation to the 'May Fly'.  I do not like them!

Pickwick Landing as we are leaving in the morning.

Entering Pickwick Lake on the Ten-Tom Waterway

These are Baffles used to prevent creeks from 'rushing in'.

Smithville Marina on the Ten-Tom - Not an alternative plan to stay!

Trees growing in the water on the side of the canal.

Whitten Lock with the doors closed

Looking up the bollard shaft in the Whitten Lock

When the dams were made flooding the area the existing trees
were not removed so there are thousands of dead trees and stumps.

View from Lady V of part of the shoreline at Midway Marina.

DAY 38 - 39 GREEN TURTLE BAY

 Friday was a day spent preparing for the upcoming week with laundry, shopping, cleaning and even some relaxation.  We rented a golf cart to get to town to do some sight seeing and shopping.  In the late afternoon we both went to the spa for massages.  This was to be our last day with our fellow loopers Michael and Cyndie so we all went out to supper at Patti’s Restaurant.  It is famous in the area for their 2” pork chops .  This was followed by a night cap on LADY V.

Saturday the weather map was not favourable so we made the decision to stay.  It was a wise move because we experienced numerous rain falls through out the day and evening.  The heavy rain came with heavy gusts of wind and fog.  These were followed by beautiful sunny breaks.  

At 3:30 we did have abit of excitement.  PAISAN, a 65' Neptunus Yacht pulled in two docks from us on just one engine.  There where five people on the dock helping.  She got in without a scratch.  She has IPS engines that work with a joy stick providing thrusting power, but on just one engine it does not work well.

Cyndie surprised me with a gallon jug of Milo’s sweet tea to enjoy as we continue our voyage.  Supper was at the yacht club.  There was a band playing and the place was packed.  The six of us celebrated the near completion of Michael and Cyndie’s Loop.  Kent and Jan just started their’s a few weeks ago.  It was a night to remember.

The main street of Grand Rivers

A family place and a memorable experience

PAISAN - A beautiful new yacht that came in one one engine.

Grand Rivers might be a dry count, but you can bring in your own.
A better stocked bar than most bars!

LADY V docked in Green Turtle Bay