After our side trips to Nashville and Chattanooga, we are once again heading south toward Mobile, AL. We departed Huntsville, AL after saying so long to our gracious hosts, Todd & Mary Brooks. Our first stop was Joe Wheeler State Park for a quick overnight stay, then back to Florence Harbor Marina for the next night. At Joe Wheeler, we spotted white Pelicans, which we first saw on the Great Lakes. The marina host shared that currently there a few hundred white pelicans at the park and in a month or so, there will be over 2,000! They will head back north in the spring, leaving their “elderly” to stay at Joe Wheeler. On the third day we arrived at Grand Harbor Marina, near Iuka, MS ready to turn left heading south again. But first, we stayed an extra day to visit Shiloh National Military Park. More on this in a bit.
The loopers all say you must try Hagy’s Catfish Hotel Restaurant while near Shiloh. We hopped into a marina courtesy car and drove about 30 minutes into Shiloh for a catfish dinner. And boy was it good. It definitely makes my “best of” list for catfish. And then on to desserts. Homemade pies – lots of varieties. Dave and I settled on slices of German Chocolate and Banana Cream to take back to the boat (we were too stuffed from catfish, yummy hush puppies, taters, and salad that we couldn’t eat another bite). And, the pies were every bit as delicious, especially the crusts, oh, and the fillings were scrumptious too! The servings were so large, we finished our pieces of pie the next night. Easily on the “best of” pie list.
On to a history lesson: Shiloh National Military Park. As I mentioned before, the history lessons we are receiving on this loop are incredible. Shiloh, TN is the site of a 2 day long epic battle in the western theatre of the Civil War in April, 1862. Over 110,000 American troops clashed in a bloody battle between the Union and Confederate armies that resulted in over 23,000 casualties. The various battlefields span over 5,000 acres and the park provides a driving tour to 23 key sites. There is a video shown in the visitor’s center which gives a great overview of this epic battle. You can watch the video on You Tube, it’s called Shiloh Fiery Trail HD. It’s 48 minutes long – a really great history lesson starring Ulysses S. Grant (well, an actor playing Grant).
We have now turned off of the Tennessee River onto the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway “Tenn-Tom”. The Tenn-Tom is a man-made 234-mile waterway built from the Tennessee River to the Black Warrior-Tombigbee River in Demopolis, AL which includes 10 locks and dams. Under construction for 12 years (after many years of political wrangling), it was completed in December 1984. For loopers, it provides an alternative to the traveling the lower Mississippi River with its strong current, heavily commercial traffic (huge barges), with limited stops for recreational vessels. The two primary commodities shipped via the Tenn-Tom are coal and lumber. Reading on-line about this waterway, provided another interesting history lesson.
Mobile, AL here we come!
Fun Facts: Distanced traveled so far: 5,150 miles in 7 months and 2 weeks, stopping at 136 unique locations, passing through 67 locks (with 10 more ahead!)
Thanks for following along on our adventure,
Brenda with Captain Dave, and loveable Murphy