Tennessee Cruising & Visiting then heading out west

 The last of the catch-up posts finds us saying 'Bye Honey' to each other before heading out for our various Tennessee adventures. He cruised away on the American Symphony for some TN river action.

The ship with gangplank deployed.

The planned cruise route was as follows, however, we all know about plans. The Cumberland River was too high to dock in Nashville so the passengers were bussed to Paducah, KY to board.

The ship's route

The boss was quite impressed with the ship's amenities and spaces, and he thought the food was really outstanding.  He lounged with coffee & his book, walked around the various towns/ports and generally enjoyed being back on the water. 

Aft deck

A wonderful fish dinner.

He mentioned that the Paducah riverfront had lots of murals painted on their Riverfront Wall. Here's a sampling of several - really well done!

Riverfront Wall with a few murals.

A few more murals for you.

And a few more. (I wish I'd been there to see all these!)

Anyway, he thought Paducah was a nice town, from what he saw of it, and looking at all these murals and historical placards, I can see why. The rest of the trip was equally interesting with stops along the river at Shiloh, Florence, Decatur and on into Chattanooga.

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On to my adventures, my first stop was a neat little (Airbnb) Studio in Celina, TN with fantastic views of the Dale Hollow Lake region. It was incredibly peaceful, and even though my hosts were living in the house above me, I never heard a thing, and I felt all the more secure, (out in the boonies), knowing they were there.

Peaceful setting right out the front.

My objective was to really laze-about and relax after the push to wrap up the yard projects and decommission the fridge/freezers and ready the house for summer shutdown. I accomplished that with 3 nights here. I arrived in the vicinity too early to check in, so I stopped for a short bit at the Standing Stone State Park up on the Cumberland Plateau. I didn't venture very far into the park, but there was a stone dam spillway flowing into a lovely river right off the first parking area.

Spillway

What a peaceful scene.

After my chill-out session I headed down to Crossville to meet up with my super-close friend Shawn, formerly of 's/v Libertas'. We haven't seen each other since the solar eclipse in '17, totality went right over their house in Crossville. I spent 4 nights at a condo on Lake Catherine. Oh, here's a final view of the Dale Hollow Lakes area, so pretty.

What an elegant view - looks almost like I picture an Italian lakeside.

In between big-time gab sessions, Shawn and I spent some time thrifting (I love it), and went to the Dirty Girls Nursery which was a cool place to visit.

Best Buddies!

We also enjoyed a stop at the Dogwood Exchange, an artisan market  featuring works by local artists. Interesting place, the owner also offers various classes, arts, crafts and even cooking. She has also taken on organizing a Farmer's Market for the south end of town. Busy busy. Here's a link to their class offerings;

https://www.dogwoodexchange.com/collections/classes

I wish I could find something like this around my home area. Anyway, our visit was over all too soon and then after HARD HUGS I made my way to Chattanooga to meet up with Ed.

Next up will be the trip out west and re-opening Rocky. Thanks for stopping by! 👍😊