Grand Harbor Marina - Joe Wheeler State Park
Monday, October 2. On this day we borrowed the courtesy van from Grand Harbor Marina, made our way to the Shiloh National Park and Battlefield Visitor Center which was about 19 miles away. It’s interesting to drive away from the marinas if only to see a snipit of the surroundings. In this area, the roads we traveled on, were winding and somewhat hilly. There were cottonfields, a few gas stations and repair shops, as well as homes on cleared or lightly wooded grounds.
The Shiloh Battlefield Visitor Center showed an informative, reenactment film of the days leading up to the battle on April 6 -7, 1862. This battle had more than 23,000 dead and wounded soldiers. We learned there are 3,584 Civil War soldiers buried and 2,359 of them are unknown. The photo below shows some of the markers. As we walked through, they are numbered in order, some with names —but so many just have a number. For me, reading about this history does not compare to seeing and imagining what it must have been like for the young sodiers and men who fought this war.
Shiloh National Cemetery.
We came back to the marina and Darth spotted a ‘Looper’ boat at the fuel dock. Off he went to chat, and found out they too will be going to Chattanooga, but were on a short timeline to get there for the football game this weekend. They were two couples on ‘Soulmates’, a large enough boat that had two staterooms and were just beginning their loop. Chatting and learning where folks come from, how far are they in their loop, etc. is so much fun.
We learned NOT to be in Chattanooga on a weekend unless we are University of Tennesee football fans—then its game on! After they left, we were the only transient boaters left at the dock. We ordered a pizza and enjoyed sitting on the dock as the 87 degrees started to cool for the night.
Below shows our visitor with the view of the Tennessee River we will be traveling on.
Mr. Blue Heron was not to be disturbed.
Sunset from Grand Harbor’s dock.
Tuesday, October 3rd. We left Grand Harbor for Florence Marina in Florence, Alabama. This was an easy travel day, approximately 33 miles arriving in the late afternoon. The courtesy van was available, so we took the opportunity to stock up on a few groceries. We came back and had dinner at the dock’s River Bottom Grill. Delicious!! The Marina owner, Kyle, gave us a warning about the Wilson lock, only a few miles away, lock pleasure boats through early in the morning 6:00AM, or 6:00 PM at the end of the day. We are so glad he gave us this information.
Wednesday, October 4th. At 5:00AM we heard two boats start their engines and we decided to do the same. We had not anticipated leaving in the dark. It was stressful, we barked at eachother, but we accomplished locking through without a hitch. There was only about 7 miles before the Wheeler lock, we phoned ahead to find out when we may lock through. The kind lockmaster told us to come ahead, and lock with the two boats already in the chamber. We had less barking and managed to lock through easily, and arrived at the Joe Wheeler State Park by 9:00AM this morning.
Sunrise after Wilson lock.
This is a Golf and Country Club we passed by this morning.
And now its time for a walk through Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, AL. : )