Calypso closes the "loop"!

At approximately noon on Thursday, Sept 27, we completed our Great Loop adventure as we crossed our wake in Charlotte Harbor.  A couple of hours later we were safely tied up at our dock.  It is certainly a bittersweet feeling to have reached this point.  Over the past 173 days we experienced many ups and downs.  The high points included seeing lots of beautiful places in two countries (1 province and 16 different states), meeting some wonderful people, sampling new and unusual food, and the sense of accomplishment at overcoming challenging situations.  One of the challenges that we did not enjoy was having to transit through 105 locks.  When all was said and done, however, we were probably quite fortunate as our longest wait was three hours.  When we were already past it, one of the locks on the Mississippi was shut down several days for emergency repairs and we know several boats that were affected by that closure.  It was a challenge traveling on the Mississippi during this year's severe drought since many potential anchorages were left high and dry.  We both agreed, however, that we would rather be on the river during a drought than during a flood.  We loved Georgian Bay and the North Channel in Canada and were totally amazed by the beauty of Lake Michigan and her ports, however, we still believe that there's no better place to be than in SW Florida and we're glad to be home! 

Winter - who inspired the movie, "Dolphin Tale"

It's great to be back on the Gulf again with all its fresh seafood



This little guy was performing for us

Downtown Sarasota - almost home!

Crossing our wake at Charlotte Harbor #5

Penultimate post, probably!

Well, folks - the day that we've all been waiting for has arrived.  Calypso is across the Gulf and resting comfortably in Clearwater, FL.  This past week was a great example of what a key role flexibility plays when one is cruising.  Last Monday we were docked at LuLu's in Gulf Shores, Alabama, waiting for the torrential rains to cease before we moved on.  Looking at the weather for the next few days, there did not seem to be a viable Gulf crossing window anywhere on the horizon.  Tuesday we motored to Pensacola, FL with very ominous looking clouds overhead, but the bad weather never materialized.  We had a delicious dinner at Atlas Oyster House (by now you've noticed that we spend a fair amount of time focused on food).  The next morning we were headed east again with Fort Walton Beach as our destination.  Along the way, we discovered that the local yacht club there is an FCYC (Florida Council of Yacht Clubs) affiliate, so we were able to exercise our reciprocity for a free overnight.  Then onward to another FCYC affiliated club, St Andrew's Bay, in Panama City.  Friday morning Mark checked the weather and announced that there would be a great window for crossing the Gulf directly on Saturday, but it would mean moving all the way to Apalachicola on Friday, which we had not planned to do.  He had also decided the weather looked so good that it would make more sense to cross directly than to go around the coast as we had anticipated doing.  Not being the most flexible person myself, I was skeptical about an overnight crossing.  Not to worry, Captain Mark said.  He was more than capable of making the trip without me and I could visit with my friend, Susan, from Tallahassee, and then drive to Clearwater to meet him Sunday morning. 

With light winds and calm seas, the crossing was uneventful and as close to perfect as one can hope for. So what does one do on a boat for 24 hrs, you might ask.  Well,  while I was sitting in my hotel room worrying about my poor husband out there on the dark, dark sea, strugglinig to stay awake, he was grilling baby back ribs, watching college football on TV, and taking cat-naps periodically.   Mark made such good time, cruising at normal speed, that he had to slow down and hold off-shore until it was light enough to enter Clearwater Pass. 

Now we really are on the home stretch - we're back in familiar water and that is a good feeling.  We'll probably stop at a couple of our favorite spots between here and Punta Gorda, but we should be home in about a week.  For the most part, we've had a blast, but as Dorothy told Toto, "There's no place like home."

Dinner at LuLu's - without Jimmy :(

Back in Florida waters!

This was docked on the Pensacola waterfront with us -
some kind of oil drilling equipment?

The Blue Angels provided us with a personal escort as we left Pensacola

Much of this day was spent motoring through cypress swamps

Enjoying oysters (of course!) in Apalachicola

Sunset on the Gulf of Mexico

Waiting in vain for the elusive green flash 

Happy to be back in the land of Publix!

Mark has always talked about my "grocery store funks" when we lived in places with sub-standard grocery stores, but he was ecstatic today as we shopped at our first Publix since Lady's Island, SC last spring.  We are in Fairhope, AL on Mobile Bay after finishing our cruise down the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway yesterday.  We started this week anchoring Sunday night between Columbus, MS and Demopolis, AL.  It was a snug, but pretty anchorage, and with the cooler temperatures we were able to eat dinner in the cockpit for the first time in a long time.  Both of our locking experiences between Columbus and Demopolis were smooth ones.  We decided to spend two nights in Demopolis at their new marina - basically we just relaxed and it was a great place in which to do that.  We knew that the next few days were going to be long and hard and they were. 

 We called the Demopolis lock Wed. morning when we were ready to leave the marina and there was a tow just approaching the lock.  The lockmaster told us just to wait and he would call us when he was ready for us.  That cost us almost an hour on a day when we had almost 100 miles to travel to reach our destination for the night - Bobby's Fish Camp. There are no good anchorages on that 100 mile stretch of river.  We did make it to Bobby's with about an hour of daylight to spare and enjoyed a quiet evening there.  As we had the previous morning, we called the lock (2 miles away) before we left the dock and he said he'd be ready for us in about 20 minutes.  Well, we motored down to the lock only to have a different person tell us there was a tow locking up and then one would be locking down and that it would be a while before he could get to us.  So we motored up and down the river for an hour or so before the lockmaster announced that we could lock down with the tow.  The frustrating thing is that you can't complain to the lockmasters since you are totally at their mercy. Fortunately, this was our last lock!!  Anyway, we did eventually make it through and reached our anchorage for the night by 3:30.  It was a very snug little spot that required the use of bow and stern anchors to keep us from swinging into the shore.  We were hoping to see an alligator as sightings are apparently common in this spot, but none appeared.  I did hear a scary sounding creature sometime during the night, but wasn't sure exactly what it was.

Friday was our last day (yeah!) on the river system.  While we did see a lot of interesting sights on the rivers, we felt that it was tough traveling -  partly due to the drought.  Anchorages were few and far between and marinas tended to be rustic.  We are glad to be back on the coast.  While we are getting closer to Punta Gorda, we still have the not insignificant challenge of getting across Florida's Big Bend.  I think we have decided to take the coastal route instead of crossing the Gulf directly .  It will take longer, but just feels safer to us.  Looking forward to a stop at LuLu's in Gulf Shores tomorrow - perhaps her brother, Jimmy,will stop by while we're there.

Never get tired of watching the waterfowl

These beautiful white cliffs were north of Demopolis, Alabama



At times it felt like 2 steps forward and 3 back - and we were never sure which direction we were going.

Entering our "snug" anchorage

Sometime Friday morning we realized the scenery had changed!

Downtown Mobile seems overshadowed by a hugely industrial waterfront

BBQ, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Tennessee Wiliams

What do BBQ, fried green tomatoes, and Tennessee Williams all have in common?  Well, we found all three of them in Columbus, Mississippi.  Since last Monday, we have traveled 215 miles and transited 8 locks.  Our worst locking experience was on Tuesday at the Pickwick Lock on the Tennessee River.  When we arrived to be locked up, we were informed that there was a double locking down and it would probably be 3 hrs before we could lock through.  A double means the tow was too long to fit in the lock so they cut it in half and lock it through in 2 sections.  It takes forever to get a tow into the lock and secure it and now we had to sit through two of these cycles.  Fortunately, when we finally did get through, our destination for the day was only a few miles away.  This was our first night in Mississippi.  Wednesday morning when we got up at 6 AM for our usual early departure, we were greeted with thick fog. That delay cost us an hour.  However, we did have good luck with the locks that day and breezed right through all 3 of them with little or no delay.  Another basic, but adequate, marina awaited us at the end of the day.  For the second evening in a row, we were able to borrow the courtesy car and eat dinner ashore.  Thursday our goal was to make it through 4 locks to a marina just outside of Columbus, Mississippi.  Did I mention that the temperatures had been in the upper 90's all week with the heat index around 105?  By now we were totally wiped out and decided to spend a few days in Columbus to wait out a front coming through over the weekend. 

We secured a rental car when we got to Columbus and discovered that we had arrived in the middle of the 11th Annual Tennessee Williams Tribute and Tour of Victorian Homes.  It turns out that Tennessee Williams was born here in Columbus, where his grandfather was rector of the local Episcopal Church.  Friday morning we were able to take a guided bus tour to visit his boyhood home, his grandfather's church, a Tennessee Williams exhibit at the Columbus Public Library, and to see many of the beautiful historic homes in Columbus.  This town has been a delightful surprise.  We've also sampled lots of great Southern food - catfish, shrimp and grits, barbeque, fried okra, and fried green tomatoes. 

This morning we went to visit Waverly Mansion, which was built in 1852 as the home of a wealthy cotton planter.  The house was empty from the 1930's to the 1960's, when the Snow family bought it and restored it.  Melanie Snow and her father still live in the house and they graciously open their home for tours daily.  The amazing part of the story is that in the 30 years it was vacant, it was the local lover's lane, a camp-site for hunters, and a spot where sorority and fraternity pledges from MSU were dropped off to spend a night in the "haunted mansion".  During all that time, marble mantles, mahogany staircase spindles, gold-gilded mirrors and ornate chandeliers remained undamaged.

The weather has broken finally (high of 80 today) and we are ready to resume our trip down the Tennessee-Tombigbee tomorrow.  We will anchor somewhere tomorrow and then be in Demopolis, AL the next day.  We are getting closer to Florida every day!

One of many beautiful limestone bluffs along the Tennessee River



Even the cattle were trying to figure out how to beat the heat



This fog bank was behind us as we left our anchorage

Leaving Whitten Lock after being lowered 84 ft.

Looks like Mississippi, doesn't it?



Baptismal font at St Paul's Episcipal Church where Tennessee Williams was baptized

Boyhood  home of Tennessee Williams

Waverly Mansion

Largest magnolia tree in the state of Mississippi

Isaac, Isaac - go away!

As we sit here at Cuba Landing Marina in Waverly, TN waiting for the remnants of Isaac to go away, it feels like we've been monitoring Isaac forever.  This time last week we were concerned about our home in Florida, but then the storm just tracked further and further west until SW Florida was no longer in the bullseye.  Then we worried that we were in the bullseye, but so far most of the bad weather has skirted around us.  Last night we did get a nasty thunderstorm and today with the rain probability at 100%, we decided to take a lay-day. We've been on the Tennessee River 2 days now and think it is much prettier than the Mississippi.  I would have to admit that we ended up with pretty negative feelings about the Mississippi.

Let me digress a moment and fill you in on our time at Green Turtle Bay.  For the most part we had a wonderful stay there.  Ate 2-inch pork chops and mile-high meringue pie at Patti's Restaurant one night.  I dare say no tourist has ever visited Grand Rivers, KY without eating at Patti's.  We had a rental car for two days and enjoyed going to Paducah, where we did major re-provisioning and saw our first movie in five months.  We met the owner of GTB Marina, who divides his time between KY and Punta Gorda - his house in PGI is only a few blocks from ours.  It is a small world, indeed!  The only downside of our GTB stay came when I slipped and fell down the steps in the boat and broke a toe - another ER visit.  After having my toes taped together and being issued a special shoe to keep the toe from flexing, I was good to go.  It has slowed me down somewhat and I hate not being able to go for a walk, but it is nice to have Mark waiting on me again. 

Right now we are about 550 miles from Mobile, AL.  Arriving there will be our next big milestone.  From there it is approximately 250 miles to Carabelle, which will be our jumping-off point to either cross the Gulf directly to Tarpon Springs/Clearwater or to make several shorter legs around Florida's Big Bend.  We're  keeping our fingers crossed that no more storms come along to impede our progress.

Green Turtle Bay Marina - Grand Rivers, KY

Clouds parted long enough for us to see the "luna azul"

Forboding clouds, but not much in the way of storms

Yes, Mark - next time I'll hold the hand rail!