The floating docks are Lu Lu’s are really nice. So we negotiated a monthly rate while we return to Jacksonville. Before we left we got to enjoy dinner at the bar with live music. Even got to help write a hit song, well maybe. We highly recommend a stop at Lu Lu’s

When I turned on the stabilizers to deal with the beam seas they did not work. I had tried to hook up the engine instruments to the TZtouch and had used the wrong connection. It was to bumpy to fix it now so we just spent an hour and a half without the extra comfort. The seas were only about 2 feet.

When we got to Fairhope we had to drive bow first into the slip due to the low water. The boat could not get all the way in, but it was fine the next day after the wind shifted.

We took the courtesy car and checked out the town. The area reminds of our home in Mandarin, lots of big oak trees and moss. The town is known for all the flowers, they are on ever corner. I didn’t get a great picture so you will have to take my word for it, they are beautiful. We had a late lunch at the Gumbo Shack. One of those little spots that has been features on the “dinner show”.  The second day we did some boat maintenance, I put all the cables back in order so the stabilizer could work, then went to dinner and a movie with Doug and Betty from “Sea Biscuit”.  The new 007 movie was out, it was a little disappointing. Not enough gadgets for me. We enjoyed our night out with Doug and Betty and lookforward to seeing them this winter in South Florida.

We decide to join Dream Catcher and Monarch and head out. We were in the lock by 6:30. This would be our last lock on the loop, 105 locks. Charlotte had done all the piloting for them and I had done the fenders and lines. It was great to done with the locks, but it meant we were heading into salt water again. It had been nice not having to wash the boat as often and not worry about  tides.

This was the most wnding portion of the loop. Sometimes going 4 miles to get one mile furter south.

Big Briar is a nice stop outside of Mobile. We got there about 4 pm. It is a popular anchorage as we are only about an hour from Mobile.

We got an early start in light fog and were in the Marina just after 8 am. The marinas on the river are very accommodating so we were able to check in early. Some marinas on the east coast and the Great Lakes will make you wait till after lunch. The marinas on the river system are generally less expensive and have courtesy cars that you can use, they just ask that you put in some gas. Charlotte went for a run and I rode into town on my bike. After I got back we decided to ride in together and go to Wal-Mart for some provisions. We went by the Post office on the way and ended up turning a 15 minute ride to the store into a ½ hour through some rough parts of town.. We stopped and had lunch to recuperate and our phone rang. Given we are still on Sprint a signal is always a surprise. Kelly and Erin had been trying to reach us, Kelly’s knee had given out and they were on the way to a clinic. Looks like she will need a MRI. We are blessed that her big sister could take care of her. No wrong turns on the way back to the boat and straight to the Advil. This is the most exercise we have had in a while.

The dock was watching the Alabama game, the Tide did not pull it off this week. We meet some future loopers on the dock, Rusty and Kris on “Bliss”. We look forward to getting to know them downriver.

We enjoyed dinner at the Marina restaurant with Jerry and Marty from “Monarch”. The Marina supplies transportation and Jerry did the driving, a four seater golf cart. We planned to travel with them in the morning; they travel at about the same speed as we do, 11 MPH.

We got up early and called the lock master, he said to come on in and tie up. We will ask more questions next time. He did not answer or radio calls for 10 minutes. When did answer he told us we would have to wait until he called for any other south bound vessels. Monarch was about to pull their anchor so we waited. It was about a 40 minute delay, no problem if the lock would just communicate. Next time we will ask a few questions so we can plan accordingly. We had a nice cruise down passing some beautiful white cliffs. The anchorage which is  about 7 miles above Demopolis Marina. Rattle Snake Bend is just of the Tenn-Tom, it is the original river alignment  before the locks were built. We had a very quite night and beautiful sunset.

The fog cleared pretty early and we stopped at the Waverly Mansion. There is an anchorage near a public dock so we dropped the hook and went sightseeing. There were no signs or maps at the dock so we were looking it on our iPad when Dave  and Nan Ellen from “Tip Sie Waci III” drove up. They had the courtesy car from the Columbus Marina. They gave us a ride, the mansion was only about a half mile away. We were blessed as Dave and Nan Ellen had just decided to check out the boat ramp before doing the tour. Blessings seem common at the Waverly Mansion.

The Survival and Restoration of Waverly Mansion is quite a Blessing. Our Guide told us the story about Colonel
George Hampton Young  building the Mansion in 1852 as the Plantation prospered. All of his sons were in the confederate army, the home was never occupied during the war and the Colonel  was able to make the transition from Slavery to share cropping.

Ultimately two of his son lived in the house but never had children. None of grandchildren wanted to live there so for more than 50 years it was vacant.  It is amazing that the place had such little vandalism. The four story building is open from the first floor to the copula. All the stairways are free standing. Most of the chandeliers are original as are several of the giant mirrors. This place had became a high school and college retreat while it is vacant. The original drapes in one parlor were all but gone, swatches had been removed as souvenirs. When Robert and Donna Snow researched replacing the drapes they would have cost 10,000 per window. Had the rest of the Mansion been vandalized it would not have been restored.

The story goes that Robert Snow , an antique dealer, heard about the house and drove 90 miles with his wife to visit it. The porches were rotted out, vines were growing from the roof and the door was open. They went in and decided to buy it. It took 8 months to get an agreement with the 12 decedents.

Truly a labor of love. Mr Snow lives in the house with a family member, they sit in a more modern part of the home while tours are conducted. They prepare the house for tours every morning 7 days a week. Most of the 26 years of restoration work was done by the Snow  family.

After Dave and Nan Ellen dropped us of we got back to the boat and headed south again. We were joined in the lock by “Monarch”. We talked to them as we cruised and were invited over for docktails after we anchored. It was great to get to know Marty and Jerry. They have been fulltime cruising for several years and are Gold Loopers. They will complete their third loop on the way to Marathon, their winter harbor. , becoming Platinum Loopers. We made plans to anchor with them tomorrow just above Demopolis at Rattle Snake Bend.

We did not vist the Steam Boat musem but it looked beatiful from the water.

We called the lock before we left and they were working a tow through so it would be at least an hour before we could go down. It’s a good idea to call and get information from the locks before leaving your dock or anchorage, of course it helps to have a cell phone that works, Sprint does not work here either. Luckily or Sat phone worked long enough to call the lock. This lock is 72 feet. We were travrling with “Headquarters”.

It was rather cool this morning so we travel in the pilot house to Grand Harbor. We had decided to stay here so that we could us their loaner van to visit Shiloh. We had passed the Shiloh battle ground a few weeks ago on the Tennessee’s river below the Pickwick lock.

We were the only looper at the marina so they let us us the loaner van to go to a dinner and a movie in Savannah Tennessee. Both the Chinese’s dinner and the movie, Taken 2, were disappointing.

Shiloh was not disappointing; we were quite moved by the vast site (6 Square Miles) and incredible loss of life that took place here in two days. This Civil War battle took place just over a year into the Civil War, General Grant’s 40,000 troops were surprised when they were attacked by General Johnston’s 44,000 troops. The first day the Confederacy won but lost General Johnston to a stare bullet, a mortal wound to the leg. The second day reinforcements arrived (8000 men) and the Union won the day and the battle. Grant later said it was one of the fearest battles of the war. 50000 men were dead, wounded or missing. The cemetery (built after the war) for the Union troops has over 5000 graves, 3500 unmarked. The Confederate troops are buried in 5 mass graves.

The movie and museum are a must stop before driving several miles through the park. One can only hope this nation never has to endure another Civil War.

This morning started out fine for me but the wind had shifted “Water Music” around and Joel’s trip line was caught on his prop. I put in our dinghy and helped them get it loose.

We got into Goose Pond pretty early and were the only looper. Goose pond has a loaner car so we made a trip into town for supplies. This is the first small town we have been in that had a Wal-Mart but on cell service on Sprint. Sprint has been a BIG DISAPOINTMENT on this trip. Most people on the loop have Verizon and have had service when we don’t.

We had talked to “Seabatical” and they would be in later today so we would enjoy seeing them and give them their gold burgee. Turns out I had heard about Diesel Don from Joe. Joe said I was in good hands.

On Friday Diesel Don should up at 8 am. It took a while to get the seal out, but once he brought in a large puller it was done pretty quickly. Don had talked to the Yanmar Dealer and was told it that the leak was probably cause by a broken race of a support bearing. The Yanmar dealer recommended not replacing the bearing. The race in the bearing had defiantly failed so we removed all the pieces we could find and replaced the seal. I can highly recommend Diesel Don if you have trouble.

We enjoyed dinner Friday night with Joe, Tara, Diesel Don and Don’s wife  Connie.

Saturday Charlotte and I got out and enjoyed walking in the area. Then I did some electricl trouble shooting on Jackets II. Diesel Don stopped by and gave me a hand for a while. Great Guy. Charlotte and Tara went into Scottsboro to a BIG unclaimed baggae facility. They said it was so big that it was overwhelming and that a lot of things were priced more than you could find it on sale.

We ordered in Pizza and watch the Alabama/LSU game with Seabatical. We told them goodbye and hope they will come see us this winter in the Bahamas.