 |
| Sunrise at our anchorage |
 |
| Observer as seen from Millie's early morning walk. |
Friday : We had wanted to wait until we got a bit of light before we attempted to take Millie ashore on the dinghy. We called the Tom Beville Lock and got the green light to be over there in 20 minutes and we had the anchor pulled by 7:00. We had to wait for this barge to clear the channel entrance / exit before we could head on down to the lock.
 |
| Making our way to the lock |
On our way to the lock, we passed the USS Snag boat Montgomery. The Montgomery is a steam powered stern paddled snag boat built in 1925 that was used by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to remove large pieces of debris from the inland rivers. She was retired in 1982 and now serves as a ship museum attached to the Tom Breville Visitor's Center.
One more lock today - Gainesville/ Heflin lock and we hit that one just right, as well. Our goal is to make it to Demopolis which has a nice marina with a decent town nearby. It's an 80 also mile, 2 lock day. While underway, Alice made a blueberry/lemon cake.
We went by the White Cliffs at Epes - beautiful.
We travelled through the town of Aliceville
 |
| Aliceville |
and arrived at our destination about 5, topped off the diesel and made our way to the slip.
We ran into a number of Loopers here. There is a full moon and we had front row seats from our slip of the moon rise.
 |
| The harvest moon and its reflection in the water |
 |
| The moon rising in front of Observer |
Saturday : It rained overnight and we have a lay day here in Demopoulos. Tim went for a bike ride. There is a great neighborhood off the downtown with some really beautiful and architecturally diverse homes.
Alice and the female crew (Paige) of Golden did some touring of local attractions. First stop was Gaineswood. This beautiful Greek Revival mansion underwent a 20 year renovation from what started out as a two room cabin connected by a breezeway. Over the course of two decades, the Whitfield family transformed it into this stunning home by 1861.
 |
| The front of the home |
 |
| Opulent dining room |
 |
| Parlor |
 |
| Beautiful plaster work throughout the home |
 |
| Marble fireplace in guest bedroom |
 |
| Two story slave cabin behind the house. |
Our next tour was of another stately mansion called Bluff Hall. This antebellum house was completed in 1832 by the slaves of Allen Glover for his daughter and son in law to be used as their town home. Like Gainsewood, this home had many of the original furnishings, as well as an extensive period clothing collection on display.
 |
| Music room |
 |
| Original bed and light fixture |
 |
| Wardrobe displaying children's period clothing |
 |
| Check out the size of the waistline on this dress! |
When we returned to the marina, it had been suggested by the marina manager that everyone going through the Demopolis lock meet at 4 and get organized so we all agree on the leave time and communicate to the lockmaster as one group. After some kitten herding, it all fell into place. There will be 8 of us leaving at 5:45 to make a 6:30 lock through provided the lock master is good with that when Scott from 'Ramble On' calls him tomorrow morning. We even identified who would tie on what side of the lock and positioned the fast boats forward so they wouldn't have to pass the slower boats leaving the lock. Scott will make an announcement to us all at 5:30 am. It is early, but we get an extra hour as it's the morning we lose daylight savings time. We had dinner out at a place called Smokin' Jacks. It was pretty disappointing but since we've been out on the road / water 172 days, it's really our only subpar meal.
Comments
Post a Comment