We left Clifton Marina at 8:40 am, again under overcast
skies. Our ride today is not too long,
about 60 miles to Aqua Yacht Marina in Iuka, MS. The area around Clifton is chiefly farms and
we saw cattle drinking from the river. The
Tennessee River here is more populated with stilt homes, homes up on the bluffs,
and motor homes parked under metal canopies to shade them from the sun. One section of the river has a flood wall,
but most of the shore is built up with rocks.
Two of the boats from Clifton, Satin Doll and Lady J, left
before us, but we travel faster and passed them at 9:25 am and 9:45 am
respectively. We passed the first tug with
barges of the day, the Evey T, at 10:14 am – we had passed her yesterday as
well. There was a working barge with 2
tugs tied along shore, a possible dredging barge. All along the river system we have to make
sure to stay within the channel markers or risk running aground. Captain Randy pays close attention to the
markers and depths.
We arrived at the Pickwick Landing Lock at 11:20 am and waited about 20 minutes for the doors to open. The boat was raised 63 feet inside and we exited the chamber at 12:10. From this point on, all of the locks will be lowering us to sea level.
After we left Pickwick Lock, the sun was finally out and the scenery here was gorgeous; large homes sprinkled in the trees high up on the bluffs to the left, and a wooded state park to the right. The river widened again and there are several small islands in the middle of it. We turned right into Yellow Creek, which is also the entrance to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. We passed more spectacular homes and the Grand Harbor Resort before pulling into Aqua Yacht Harbor at 1 pm. The marina and resort sits on the border of Tennessee and Mississippi.
We arrived at the Pickwick Landing Lock at 11:20 am and waited about 20 minutes for the doors to open. The boat was raised 63 feet inside and we exited the chamber at 12:10. From this point on, all of the locks will be lowering us to sea level.
After we left Pickwick Lock, the sun was finally out and the scenery here was gorgeous; large homes sprinkled in the trees high up on the bluffs to the left, and a wooded state park to the right. The river widened again and there are several small islands in the middle of it. We turned right into Yellow Creek, which is also the entrance to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. We passed more spectacular homes and the Grand Harbor Resort before pulling into Aqua Yacht Harbor at 1 pm. The marina and resort sits on the border of Tennessee and Mississippi.
We were met at the fuel dock by Mark and Betty Klym our
friends and fellow boaters from Diversey Yacht Club in Chicago. They were in Mississippi to visit some of
Betty’s family and decided to meet up with us and “tour” Pickwick, TN, area. After a drink on the boat, we were off to
Freddy T’s – a landmark of sorts in Pickwick.
From the looks of it, Freddy T’s belongs in the Florida Keys. There is a shark head coming out of the sign
in front. As we stepped inside, there
was a cardboard woman with a moving sign advertising new merchandise in the
store. We had a drink in the upstairs
bar overlooking Highway 57. We could not
help but notice truck after truck carrying pine logs passing by.
Freddy T’s has several rooms, all decorated with great
detail: one with lobster buoys hanging
from the ceiling; one with old wooden water skis, a wave runner, and a Chris
Craft boat transom; one with hanging fenders; and the “club room” that was
decorated for Halloween. After a dinner
of barbecue at the Rib Cage, we returned to Freddy T’s to watch the beginning
of the baseball game before returning to the boat. We worked on our blog entry, but the internet
was very slow and we could not post. A
recurring problem on this trip.
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