South, then back North

Moving upstream on the Tennessee:

From Ditto Landing (Huntsville) we motored up to Guntersville after locking thru Guntersville Lock & Dam (40 foot lift). Guntersville City Free dock was just a few miles from the Lock. The city of Guntersville has done a nice job improving the waterfront with floating docks and restaurants to lure in the boaters in the area. There was a construction team building more docks out into the lake as I’m sure during the summer months the docks are filled with boats coming for the restaurants and such. We stayed 2 nights free of charge (no electric or water). Tim found a great Barber to cut his hair which made him feel good. We walked thru the small town after his haircut. Because our dock was free we decided to splurge on dinner and eat at Big Mike’s Steakhouse. It was good, but not near as good as Longhorns steak. I was disappointed. The next day Tim walked to the hardware store for odds and ends of things he needed. For brunch we ate at Another Broken Egg restaurant. I recommend this establishment–good food. In the afternoon we walked along the river and enjoyed the river from land. Along this walkway, the city had planted different kinds of trees…oak varieties, weeping willows, dogwood, maple, magnolia… We tried to guess the tree type before we looked at the plaque. Apparently we need to brush up on our tree varieties. Again, this was a very nice place to stop, especially since the docks can be used free of charge. Free is good!! Guntersville lake is the southern most part of the Tennessee River. From here we travel north thru Chattanooga, eventually to Knoxville.

Shellmound Park: 65 miles to go today. We left Guntersville at sunrise because of the long travel day ahead of us. The hours seemed to go very quickly and the next lock, Nickajack Lock (40 foot lift) was open for us when we arrived at the lock. Our destination, Shellmound Park, was just about 15 minutes from the Lock. Again a free dock–yeah!!! There was another looper boat at the dock who helped us tie-up for the night. There were many campers in this park, but the area we were in was very quiet. We enjoyed a walk around the campground and seeing all the Halloween decorations. The night was chilly, but the moon was out and it was beautiful. I think I should have brought warmer clothes on this trip.