We left on this our final day of travel at 7:00 A.M..  It was 60 degrees.  The cat is like

Are we there yet????

The Admiral took over the driving in the morning 

so she could take lots of pictures when we get to Chattanooga!

So as we drove we saw some more bird nests

boy these birds are lucky there are so many measuring things around for them to build nest on ;).  We have never seen so many of these measuring things before.  I guess I have to do some research to find out what they are all about.

The river is starting to narrow down some  so we can’t use the auto pilot as much.  We are still seeing some fantastic boat houses

and homes to die for

Ooh La La

one with a spiral staircase 

one with an English phone booth 

We even saw this old Chris on shore.  They must be restoring it.

Old Chris on shore

Plus we saw 3, I repeat 3, sunken boats in a relatively short period of time

Sunken boat 1

Sunken boat 2

Sunken boat 3

Keep in mind that the river is very deep, like 50 feet, so you wonder, what the heck???

There was one section where the shore was very rocky.  Every home’s yard had big boulders in them.  This house had this cool rock formation in their front yard

This rock formation is in someone’s front yard

We eventually reached the downtown area of Chattanooga.  We knew we were close to our new home.  We saw a paddle wheel boat

Show boat

The Aquarium, which we are very excited to see

Aquarium

Another museum that is on the edge of a cliff

Museum

And a cool wall by the water front

Wall

There is a bunch of stuff to explore around here and you can bet we’ll be taking lots of pictures and putting them here where you can see them.  You lucky people you :).

We passed this marina, it has this huge rock in the middle of it, how would you like to have the slip in front of it.  Kind of tricky getting out of that slip

Rock in Hale’s Bar marina

Everyone says it is not a very nice marina.  Needless to say, we didn’t stop to check it out.

We did pass this old abandoned factory, right on the water’s edge, that was right before that marina

Old Factory

And we saw an old demolished bridge where just the legs were left

Old demolished bridge

We still saw plenty of beautiful scenery before we got to our final destination

More Tennessee

Beautiful Tennessee

Plus we saw a Whitcraft which is near and dear to a few people’s hearts

Whitcraft

Then we reached our last lock, Chickamauga.  I couldn’t believe the cracks in the wall and door as we entered the lock.  And the bollard was very low and had no ears on it

Bollard at Chickamauga Lock

Gary had to make sure we didn’t move much so the rope didn’t slide off.  We hope the next time we go thru here is when we leave!  It was scary!

But we finally reached our destination of Island Cove Marina.  Closer

Island Cove 1

Closer

Island Cove 2

Closer

Island Cove 3

And here is our slip, Sanabelle #6

Our new home

It was a little warm when we landed

Hot Kitty

so warm, the cat had to lie in front of the fan.  Poor kitty!

Now we are all tied in and ready to get the boat all ship shape again.  We have met more new friendly people in just a few hours than we did at Aqua Marina for a full year.  Ooooh, we like this place :).

So, as we explore the marina and the area around here, we’ll be sure to keep you up to date.  For now, it is time for a cocktail and a good long rest :).  We hope you have enjoyed our trip from Orange Beach to Island Cove Marina.