10-2-18 10-3-18  Cinnamon Rolls and Friends.  What more do we need.

10-2-18 10-3-18  Cinnamon Rolls and Friends.  What more do we need.

Sites along the Tennessee River.

This house is built on what is left of a bridge that is over half of the river.
This is what is left of a grain elevator from when they dammed the river. It is in much worse condition than when we saw it two years ago.
Marker along the river. It is obvious the waters rise significantly here at some time.
One side of the river
Drastically different on the other side.

Pebble Isle Marina on the Tennessee River in Johnsonville, TN. I can’t really tell you what this is close to because there isn’t much close by.  It is North of Savannah, TN

It is hot and sunny as we pulled into Pebble Isle Marina. Billy is the dock master and he is the epitome of southern hospitality.  He is friendly, helpful and best of all he makes free, fresh Cinnamon rolls every morning for his guests.

Billy

We worked hard all day, doing laundry, shopping, washing the boat so by evening we were ready for a little R&R.  There were quite a few loopers there and in true Looper style we had docktails on a floating pontoon that had tables and chairs set up just for this purpose.  Billy was so glad we used it, that he took photos to send to the new owners of the marina.  Great to meet new and already known Loopers.  It is always fun when we get together. We have never been involved with a group quite like this.  Everyone is so friendly, partly because we are all in the same boat… Pun intended

Docktails on the Pontoon lounge
Loop boats at Pebble Isle Marina
The people that own this boat, and cat are from France here  in the US to do the Loop. They have a cat from Italy and a cat from America on board. A multi-national family.

Later that night a huge yacht came in that dwarfed the marina building.  They took on ONLY 2000 gallons of fuel.  Glad I don’t have their fuel bill.  The boat was being moved from Chicago to Florida for the winter. Billy told us they come every year.  This marina has a great fuel price and it is fresh because they sell a ton of it.

Look at the size of this boat. It dwarfs the marina building right next to it.

We heard about the delicious fresh cinnamon rolls at the marina 2 years ago, but never made it here.  So, after 10 days at anchor we needed a marina stop so why not go where they have fresh cinnamon rolls every morning.  I have to say that I have had a hankering for a good Cinnamon roll and have been disappointed every time I have had one.  But Billy and his staff came through!  Warm fresh and amazing. That craving is satisfied at least for a while.

Thanks Billy and Staff

We are doing a talk at the AGLCA Fall rendezvous about  “The Best Stuff is at Anchor”  Here is an example of why to believe this to be true.  We were cruising the river with an anchorage in mind, but about half way there we hear our boat being hailed on the radio by a familiar looking boat anchored ahead.  It is Spiritus with Eddie and Linda asking if we wanted to join them at anchor.  We cut our day short and anchored close to them behind Swallow Bluff Island.

These two are too cute. They were sitting on the back of their boat with this sign when we pulled into the anchorage

This Island is known to have goats on it.  I was hoping to get a glimpse and a photo. Spritus invited us over for cool drinks and fellowship which we were happy to accept as it was very hot that day. After visiting we invited them to come for dinner as I had put lasagna in the crockpot that morning.  We needed to get back and turn it down so it didn’t get over cooked.  We both had the same idea to get relief from the heat….swimming of course.  However, we are on the river with a fair amount of current.  No problem, just tie yourself to the boat and float behind.  The water felt wonderful and cooled us down.

Eddie and Linda tied to their boat
Scott getting out noodles tied to our boat

Eddie and Linda came over for dinner toting a very special bottle of wine to share with us.  They bought it in Chicago and it was called “The Loop”  Great wine, great food, lots of laughs with amazing people made for one of those unforgettable days on the journey.

The Uber dinghy picked up Eddie and Linda for dinner.

You are probably wondering about the goats.  None, not even a glimpse, but the friendship was so special I didn’t even care.

Sorry I am so far behind on the blog, but my usual excuse of poor internet is true.  We are traveling down rivers with not much around us.  Many days we can barely get a text out much less load photos and text to a blog.  I do have to admit we did have a few days where I could have worked on it, but we were playing and that was more important.  Life is too short to not play when the opportunity arises.

Just can’t help posting a good sunset photo

I have committed to getting caught up soon. Keep tuned.

Karen and Scott

m/v Last Call

Unique Random Photo of The Day:

“Thank You Come Again ” sign like no other.