Sandrobber: Florence Harbor Marina to Grand Harbor

It was a beautiful day as we left Florence, AL on Wednesday morning. The highlight of our time in Florence was dinner with Fred and Joanie Myers, the original owners of our boat. We have kept in touch with them over time, and had promised to get together when we traveled through their hometown of Florence. Fred is a bit of a legend in the Looper community as well as the Tennessee, Tenn-Tom, and Cumberland river systems, as he and Joanie spent the better part of 2 decades cruising these waters and writing cruising guides. His books on this subject are still considered to be the best guides available in this part of the world. And on top of that, they are great folks to spend time with...a real treat for us!

Pickwick lake was very enjoyable...and the weather again was as perfect as it could be. Temps were in the low 70,s, hardly a cloud in the sky, and 10 mile visibility. We had no locks to contend with, and only needed one puppy pit stop in the 42 mile cruise. The Looper community is small at times as we experienced in these 2 days. On Wednesday as we made our pit stop, a couple came to help us with our lines from their dinghy parked at the dock where we were stopping. They had come across the lake from their anchorage to use this spot as a place to take an afternoon walk. Then, to our surprise we ran into them again on Wednesday as we were touring the Shiloh Battlefield National Park...both of us having traveled further downstream, taken slips at different marinas, and both using marina courtesy cars to drive 30 minutes to tour Shiloh.

At the end of the day, we landed at Grand Harbor marina. It is an interesting piece of geography, as the mailing address is Tennessee, while the physical location is actually in Mississippi. And just across the river is Alabama. If you look at a map, it is in the precise spot where these 3 states meet. The boat was very happy here, as it had returned to its long-time home. This is the exact marina where Fred and Joanie kept her from 2001 through early 2014.

And now some pictures...and more on Shiloh...

Trusty crew helping with route planning.

Some of the color is just starting to show...we hope to see more before we get too far south!

OK...admittedly not a great photo, but it was the best we could do. This is our first sighting of a flock of white pelicans. We know we'll see more down the line.

Early Christmas decorations? Actually just some cormorants sitting in a tree.

TVA's Colbert Power Plant...coal fired.

Coal hopper being loaded from a barge...

This is a whole lot of coal.

Sandrobber at Grand Harbor.

On Wednesday, we took a couple of hours to tour the Shiloh National Military Park in Tennessee, the site of the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. The Battle of Shiloh was fought over two days, April 6-7, 1862. In an effort to stem the Union advance toward the important rail junction of Corinth, Mississippi, Confederate General Albert Johnston led 44,000 Confederate soldiers in a surprise attack against the Union forces of Ulysses S. Grant encamped at Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee. The attack was very nearly successful, but a premature cessation of fighting on that first day, and the subsequent arrival of Union reinforcements, turned the tide and the Confederate Army was driven back toward Corinth on April 7.

Shiloh was a bloody, bloody battle that resulted in just under 24,000 dead, wounded, or missing. Two days of fighting had resulted in more casualties than all the previous wars of the US combined, and with no net gain of territory for either side. It was a harbinger of the bloodbaths that would follow before the Civil War drew to a conclusion in 1865.

One of the sad truths that we came to discover was that the National Cemetery that is part of the park was only reserved for Union troops. Confederate troops were buried in mass graves, of which 5 have to date been identified. It is a testament to the times when this cemetery and park were first built, and a bone of contention for those from the South to this day.