December 9, 2013 Tuesday

  Touring Columbus

 Beautiful Christmas Decorations downtown Columbus

 Cute shop called Holly Hocks

 This gourd is for you Mony.

Bouquet of Cotton plants

Beautiful cotton plant wreath

Drift wood Christmas Tree

 Neat angel paintings for sale

Christmas stockings for you Kaye

more store decorations in the south

 Tennessee Williams home with magnolia leaves adorning the front step

Front gate of the Waverly Plantation Home with walking path thru the garden to the front of the house

Front of the house, bedrooms upstairs, beautiful antebellum home in the country, built in the 1800's with some original furnishings

December 12, 2013  Thurs.  Day 52 on the river, 70 miles today

Slept good last night, woke up at 6:30, starting to get light.  Curt crawled out of our cocoon warm bed to start the generator which starts the heater and the coffee maker.  Then crawled back into bed to warm up.  To Curt's amazement we didn't float back in the river during the night.  Coffee done, starting to get light and we need to make 70 miles to Demopolis today.  Frost over everything, got the motor started after turning the generator off and heat off in the cabin.  Curt pulled the anchor and turned to go out into the Tombigbee River at 6:50 am.  I think this is the earliest we have left anywhere on this trip.  A brisk(Darn Cold) morning.  Frost still on the boat, dingy, gas tanks in the dingy.  Curt and I on deck happy to go farther south, we haven't frozen yet, but close the last two nights.
9:00 am-1300 miles since we left Minneapolis at mile marker 268.  Making good speed today 6.9 average speed, must have a good current.  Went thru our next lock at 10:30, some hyacinth here also but definitely not as bad as the last lock at Columbus.  Saw some beautiful white cliffs today and fan palms on the back with the pine trees and other unknown trees.  Arrived at Demopolis at 4:10 pm, didn't get dark till a little after 5, hooked up to the fuel dock and watched our boat rock and roll from the dock office from a tow boat pulling up to the other side of the dock so decided to tie up to an end dock farther away.  Still rocking when the tow goes by but out of the hyacinths and floating trees and branches.  Drove around town, saw the Bluff Hall, an antebellum (built before the civil war) home a father built for his dau. and her husband.  Also saw other antebellum homes and beautiful museum all lit up-Gainswood Antebellum House Museum, Jewish Temple built in 1800's by people who came hear from Europe.  The Gainswood House was designed and built by Gen. Whitfield, it is a plantation house in Demopolis, completed after 20 years on the eve of the American Civil War.  It is the grandest plantation house ever built in Marengo Co. (Look it up on Wikepedia)  It is a huge white house, amazing to think they could build something so grand in the 1800's, very interesting story.  The city center had all their trees lit up in white lights, beautiful to walk thru, we didn't because we were cold.
 Had cheeseburgers on the grill on our boat with steamed broccoli and cauliflower, key lime and strawberry/banana yogurt with grapes for desert.
Will try to get to Bobbi's Fish Camp Sat. morning and gas up, them keep going, hope to get to Mobile by Sun or Mon.  Will most likely anchor out next three nights, depends on the rains Fri. night and Sat.

 
6:51 am Morning sun

Sun around the corner, it's cold

 Frost on the gas cans and dingy

 White Cliffs and green and red train cars going across the railroad tracks bringing all those Christmas presents.

 

 

Water temp 48 degrees and depth of river 32.5

Morning sun

 

Frost on the solar panel

Sunshine just around the corner

All dressed up warm and no where to go

December 11, 2013  Wed..

Left Columbus this morning at 8:00 am on mile marker 335. Lockmaster was ready for us upon getting out of the Columbus Lake area but the lock was completely full of water hyacinths.  We really had to push our way thru them, back up and take another run while Marilyn pushed them away from the front of the boat with the boat hook.  At one point they stopped us till Curt backed the boat up and Marilyn pushed them aside to a tighter clump.  They were caught around the motor and rudder upon leaving the lock.  We stopped after getting out of the lock to free our boat from the clasps of this water monster.  After stopping later again to get them off around the motor and rudder we were finally freed and now going 6.9 kts sometimes 7.1.  Saw three boats the whole day and 1 Bald Eagle, no barges. Anchored at Windham Landing Cut-off at 4:30.  Nice flow of water down stream into the Tombigbee River.  We swung on the hook all night but was so smooth couldn't tell, just had the moon shining in our eyes off and on, off and on as well as the stars.  Had a tow boat with barges come by sometime during the night which lit up the darkness around us.  Don't remember rocking from it's wake, Curt barely remembers me saying "there is a barge going by with the lights from the Tow boat shining on us!"  Clear and cold night, think it got down to 24 degrees, no heater on all night tonight.  Watched a movie on the computer since we were running the generator to warm things up anyway before we went to bed. We kept warm under our blankets more than the night before (when I felt cold to the bone, till I got up and put the heater closer to our bed), think the wool army blanket on top did the trick tonight. 

Frost on the bow of Castaway 8:00am

Curt, awake ready to go south to warmer weather

unbelievable blockage from the hyacinths going into and in the lock

Our path into the lock

our path out of the lock in the foamy water

Curt's journaling and on watch

 

 

 

 

 

December 10, 2013.  Tuesday

Just got back from the Messiah concert at the Annunciation Catholic Church, was an opera type concert, very talented people.  We're planning on leaving Columbus Marina in the morning, finally had sunshine today, high in the 30's no rain.  Had downpour last night with thunder so  stayed at a hotel again.  Supposed to get down to 28 tonight and 22 tomorrow night.  The heater will keep us warm tonight but we're GONNA FREEZE! tomorrow night, hope to get 60 miles but will be without electricity all night.  So I'll try to add on when we get to Demopolis in 3 days.  Will add more neat pictures in a couple of days from our touring yest.

Christmas in Columbus,

Anybody had Wassail, sure wish we could stay to try it, all the shops downtown will have their own version with free samples and Christmas treats.  Columbus, MS is the place to be.  I bet Curt would even get warm after a couple of sips of Wassail.  They say some serve it with Brandy.

Corner decorations, I've never seen a Holly Bush grown in a pot with Collard greens and Pansies in the same pot.  Cute Cedar Christmas decorated trees on every corner downtown.

Neat house with all kinds of ladies and men's clothes, Curt found his Army dress blues there but didn't show me.  The dress and outfits, gloves, hats looked like they came out of a movie set from the 30's, 40's,50's, 60's, 70's.  The owner said she lived upstairs.  She said she used to work in Hollywood and has had some of her clothes in the house used in movies still.

Outside the front porch was a yellow tinsel Christmas tree with purple pansies in the pot in front of it

Add for Messiah, was amazing opera  with the opera singers

Curt and Marilyn, sun's shining, last picture in Columbus Marina, note the winter coat and scarf on.  Did I say we're gonna freeze, we gotta get south!  Jimmy Buffett said, so did Judy R.:)

windows of the church at night time, wish we would have seen this church during the day for pictures, it was beautiful inside and outside.