Day 113 - 115 Paris Landing, Buffalo, Clifton, TN

After 2 1/2 weeks at Grand Rivers we turned our bow south to continue our winding meanderings toward Mobile Bay. Once we left the wide expanse of Kentucky Lake at the northern end of the Tennessee River, bluffs of time- and weather-sculpted limestone and rolling hills have lined the banks. Mother Nature has her painting crew working full time now spreading color over the trees that rustle and cast off their leaves in the breeze.

Against this scenic backdrop, we've witnessed vultures swooping and circling with a slight waggle in their wings. We've seen the wide wingspan and snowy-white heads and tails of eagles soaring above the treetops with their wings held strait. Ospreys have been more elusive, but we've seen their nests, like the one at mile marker 99.7.

Other animals grace the stage of our days, as well. A chorus line of green turtles averaging a foot in diameter stood on a podium of driftwood watching us pass. We saw cows come down the the river's edge to take their bows as we floated by.

The water level is about 5 feet above winter pool, so some of the trees are wading offshore. We've heard stories of the vagaries of the water levels and seen the evidence as we pass homes on stilts or on rollers fitted to poles, so they can float if need be. At Riverstone Marina there's a fuel pump on a high platform with a ladder. We figure that's either for high water or high fuel prices.

As we wound our way along, we were passed by a blue and white cargo ship the length of a football field named the Delta Mariner. This custom-designed ship travels down the Tennessee and across the Gulf of Mexico carrying Delta rockets to Cape Canaveral. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/launches/delta_mariner_010705-1.html

Passing a Confederate flag flying red and proud along the river, we knew that we are truly in the south . We were advised by a Kentuckian that, "The war is not over! And there was nothing civil about it." He called it "the War of Northern Aggression." He did admit that Kentucky had ties to both the North and the South in the Civil War.

Monday night we spent at Paris Landing. A group of Loopers invited us to join them for dinner at the Lodge at the State Park. Expecting a log structure with a simple menu, we were pleasantly surprised to see a modern hotel and banquet facility with tables of salads, entrees, vegetable dishes and desserts in a generous buffet. All for only $8.95! The server surprised Bob by bringing him a dessert of brownies drenched in caramel and chocolate syrup, strawberries and whipped cream, topped with a birthday candle.

Bob's birthday was again celebrated at our anchorage in Blue Creek next to Cuba Landing Marina. The captains and admirals of the sailboat Laura Lee and the trawler Miss Ruby dinghied over, and we ate a giant brownie with a tea light candle. I had baked it for ten minutes when I noticed the water that was supposed to be added still sitting in the measuring cup atop the stove, so I was relieved that it was still chewy and chocolaty.

We are currently spending two nights at Riverstone Marina near Clifton, TN. It has no showers or amenities other than fuel and pumpout facilities, but it's a picturesque, quiet marina adjacent to a hilly, wooded area being developed as a residential community. Thunderstorms were predicted for today, but so far haven't materialized.

Next, we'll head for Aqua Marina on the Tenn-Tom Waterway in Iuka, MS.