Today when we woke up it was sunny and warm. Looking
around, we realized the rest of the group we came into the marina with was
gone. We took some pictures and left the
marina at 8:40 am. It is 3 miles to the
Fulton Lock and we ran into our sailboat friend, Hipnautic, close to the lock.
We arrived at 9 and went right in.
As we were tying up to the floating bollard, a friendly dog trotted over
to say hello. We dropped 30 feet and
exited at 9:25 am.
The river narrowed again and both shores were lined
with trees. There was some debris in the
river that we maneuvered around. At MM
380, about 10 am, there was the first sign of homes around a small landing –
probably the outskirts of Smithville. We
passed a few fishing boats as well. Then
I saw what at first looked like a piece of wood in the water, but turned out to
be a snake, zig-zagging across the river.
It appeared to be a common water snake, brown with black markings. The only water snake harmful to humans is the
water moccasin. Harmful or not, I was
glad I was not in the water with it!
The river widened as we approached the next lock,
the Glover Wilkens, at 10:20 am. No
problem here, we entered at 10:49 am and left at 11:05 am. The Amory Lock was next at 11:45 am and we
exited at 12:02 pm. Both of these drops
were about 30 feet. Soon we passed an industrial
site: Kinder Morgan which is pipeline energy transportation and storage
(petroleum and natural gas); and Weyerhaeuser, which makes tree products from
wood pulp. We did not see the first
barge until 12:25 pm. Unlike the
Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, which are crowded with commercial traffic, there
is much less traffic on the Tenn-Tom and the barges are smaller (because the locks
are smaller – 600 feet instead of 1200 feet long).
There are many “marshy” areas along the shores now,
with tall grasses and low plants. There
are homes on both sides, possibly the town of Aberdeen. We see a second barge which, like the first,
is carrying large rectangular metal structures covered with blue tarps that
look like some type of electrical equipment.
The sky is turning more overcast as we approach the
Aberdeen Lock at 12:50 pm. We have
caught up with the group from yesterday:
Sweet Dreams, Humbug, Champs 3 and another boat from Midway Marina,
Bella Sea. The lockmaster held the lock
for us (about 15 minutes) and we were out at 1:20 pm. It is 22 miles to Columbus Marina and again,
we left the other boats in the dust because we travel faster. There are more homes on stilts and a few
mobile homes on the shore. We arrive at
Columbus (MS) Marina at 2:20 pm and I find a stow-away near the rear starboard
cleat. It is a small, green tree
frog. When we went to check in, Randy
took the frog and let it go in a wetland area near on shore – hope it survives.
Columbus, population 24,000, was founded in
1821. Columbus served as a hospital town
during the Civil War and also manufactured gun powder. It was attacked by Union forces but successfully
defended by General Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Columbus is second only to Natchez, MS, for the number of original
antebellum homes that are still standing (not burned to the ground by Union
forces). The Columbus Air Force Base is
one of four in the US for basic flight training. Columbus is also the birthplace of Tennessee
Williams.
The marina was busy and the courtesy car was booked,
so we called On Time Cab to take us into the town. As we waited for the cab, we saw a beaver
near the shore and more American White Pelicans. Randy walked through the grass to get
pictures and came back with ants all over the bottom of his jeans and
shoes! Ugh!!
On Time was a little late, but he cab was
very nice and cool. We were dropped off
at the Visitor Center which is also the birth home of Tennessee Williams. The house features a room upstairs that tells
the life story of the famous playwright in a series of posters on the
walls. We picked up some information and
a map of the historic homes, then took a self-guided tour of some of the
homes. We ate dinner at Huck’s Place, a
downtown restaurant that features southern cooking. I had Mississippi catfish and Randy had
grouper – both covered with crawfish sauce.
Delicious!! We were about to
leave when our friends from Sweet Dreams
came in. They were returning to Georgia
the next day for a couple of weeks. We
hope we will run into them again along our way.
From Huck’s Place we walked to the Columbus Riverwalk, featuring a newly
refurbished bridge over the real Tombigbee River. Then we called On Time to come take us back
to our boat. There was no cable TV at
this marina, so Randy was spared watching the Cardinals lose the World Series
to the Boston Red Sox.
Tomorrow is supposed to be very windy and rainy,
with possible flash flooding. We plan to
check the weather again in the morning and leave early if it doesn’t look too
bad.
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