October 19-21, 2019 – After the AGLCA Fall Rendezvous, we and a flotilla of 11 other boats departed for a side trip 250 miles up the Tennessee River to Chattanooga.
We were joined at our first stop, in Huntsville, AL, by Ben’s cousin Alec and his fiancee Lena. Long-time boaters, currently based on the Hudson River near Hyde Park, they were excited to join us to get a taste of the Loop, and experience what was supposed to be a pretty nice leg of the inland rivers. Alec never goes anywhere without his camera, and he took over a thousand pictures in the three days they traveled with us.
Their first leg aboard turned out to be a wet one, with early clouds and then steady rain, but it let up for a smooth locking through Guntersville Lock, and then for docking at Goose Pond Marina. That marina had a twisty, narrow channel to come in from the river, with depths that looked only a foot or two more than our draft. Yikes!
Along the way we saw some beautiful rock formations as the river entered the Cumberland Plateau, plenty of birds, and an amazing number of fishing boats, blasting around in the rain.
We left Goose Pond Marina and traveled next up to Nickajack Lock, plenty more beautiful scenery (and a few bits not so beautiful).
After a short wait, at the lock, 10 boats entered with a couple rafted together and up we went.
Within a few miles, we turned into the anchorage, and all ten boats anchored rafted to one or two others. We dropped the dinghy to make special delivery of Bushwacker frozen drinks to the other boats, and then Alec and Lena took the dinghy around for some up-close pictures of the cove.
The next morning we left at first light, ahead of the pack, to get to Chattanooga with as much exploring time as possible- our guests had a 6am flight out the next morning!
The hills along the river in this section were really stunning, even with some morning mist in the hills as the sun rose.
We docked on a long floating dock between two bridges right in downtown Chattanooga, so it was an easy walk up the Riverfront area for lunch at a spot recommended by some locals.
We walked around downtown after lunch, and after looking at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel, we found a distillery that offered tours and tastings – perfect!
By the time we walked back to the dock, we agreed that it had been a great trip and that we’d better make it an early evening, so Alec and Lena could get up early to make their flight – no late docktails tonght!
