A Few days ashore.

Green Turtle Bay

We arrived took up the bargain offer of 7 nights @ $230 (less than $1 a foot). This is a very big marina (over 500 covered slips) plus condominiums plus spa, chandlery, boat sales & rental boat facilities. They had 150 loopers pass through @ end of Sept. - most staying 3- 7 nights. I finally got the hair cut I needed for $20 (Loopers discount). While sitting in the hairdresser I saw a doe& fawn & squirrels wandering in the grounds.

We arranged a gold Loopers Celebration docktails to honor a couple who had completed their loop (crossed their wake). All very casual and then a group of 4 couples went to Pattis 1880's for dinner. This is a very long standing restaurant that cooks traditionally in a very old rustic building and has gained a reputation for good food. This was the group we have been travelling with the past few weeks.

Next day we bumped into the agents who had sold us the boat originally in St Petersburgh – Bob & Shah Fillingham who had flown up to see some friends staying at the marina.

We rented a car for the next 2 days to explore further afield & were surprised that a town close by – Paducah had a lot to offer. The flood walls that had been built on the river bank were painted telling the history of the town – about 30 of them. We then visited the National Quilt Museum – showing patriotic quilts for returning vets, & a special display of some from The Philippines. We also visited the oldest bakery “Kirchoffs Bakery & Deli” that had the restaurant area set like the 1930's. We stayed at a motel for the night which included free dinner & breakfast. It felt luxurious after the boat. We had been slipped in a spot that was plagued with midges & Col had to spray morning & night to clear our decks & we had to keep our doors shut.

Next morning we drove to an area called the Land Between The Lakes which is a governmental reserve for nature & wild animals. There is an enclosed area where you can drive within to see Elk & Bison in a natural environment. We saw 4 elk (they are huge) but no bison – as per typical cows I suppose they were lying down some where hidden by the long grasses chewing their cuds. We completed the day by visiting the Tilghman House & Civil War Museum. We had a personal guided tour through this antebellum house & learnt that this was really the spot where the Civil war began. We returned the car & got delivered back to the boat. The following day (today) we completed all the provisioning, refuelling, & cleaning chore in preparation for leaving tomorrow. We finished off the weeks visit with a BBQ hosted by The Green Turtle Bay Marina for all the Loopers in appreciation for their custom. Tomorrow we continue our journey down the Kentuckey Lake.

We will post some photos once we work out how to retrieve them after upgrading to windows 10, not a good move.
Ps, We are well away from the Hurricane, shouldn't bother us much, if at all.