What I did on my Christmas vacation

Friends make our lives so very special. I could not return to the Midwest without spending time with some of my nearest and dearest.

Same Time Next Year or My affair With an Older Man

For as long as I can remember, I have been enamored with this gentleman and have always wanted to be more involved in his life. During the past fifty-nine years, he has brought me joy, happiness and many wonderful times. I have admired him, written him letters, and provided him with snacks during his busy work hours. At times I have even shared kisses and hugs with him. So it was with fondness and excitement that I became involved with and committed to him on a regular basis each year beginning four years ago. To have been chosen to be part of his life was a dream come true for me and I am willing to do whatever is necessary to make his life easier. The requirements to be a member of his team are stringent and exacting. He is a boss who expects only the best and highest quality from those lucky enough to be part of his unique crew. He asks that I forsake all others during my time of involvement with him and that I work physically harder than I have ever worked in my entire life. All the while I am required to be terminally perky, always smiling and ever cheerful. All of these things I do eagerly, with great enthusiasm and with nary a complaint. Each year my time spent with this wonderful fellow just gets better and more rewarding than the year before. My days with him are full of smiles, laughter and a cheerfulness that carries me through the year until we meet once again…



Yes, I am an Elf working for Santa at Macy’s (formerly Marshall Fields) State Street flagship store in Chicago. I spent December in Chicago with Santa while Captain Mark practiced piano in Indiana.

One Cool Dude

Grandchildren are the best gift that we can ever be given. I smile as I remember the last eighteen years and shudder to recall how fast the years have gone. However, it has been our pleasure to watch Andy grow and mature into the handsome, bright and coolest grandson of all time. Happy 18th Birthday!
Go Purdue! XOXOX
Grandma and PaPa

Madeline's Big Day

Miss Madeline turns 9 years old today!! Happy Birthday to the cutest granddaughter ever. XOXOX Grandma and PaPa

November 12 Back Home Again in Indiana

We rented a car to return home to Indiana. Captain Mark figured that it would take us about twelve hours if we drove straight through, which is what we did. It was nice to be home and to sleep in one's own bed – not that the bed on the boat is at all bad, but there is something special about one’s own bed in one’s own home on land.

I have big plans for my time back in the Midwest and I will share them with you in another blog entry. What I will be doing during my Christmas vacation is so special that it desires its very own blog story.




Mark will relax, play piano, relax, plan/plot out the next leg of our journey, relax, watch Indiana University basketball, relax, Christmas shop and relax while he is home.

By request, I am planning to continue the blog entries while we are in the Midwest but probably not on a daily basis. Once we resume the actual adventures in January however I will again keep a daily log of our journey.

Very Special Guests = Very Special Friends

Shortly after we arrived at Dog River, crew members Terry and Will joined us for the evening. They were on their southern migration to Naples, and as everyone knows, Mobile is on a direct path from Indiana to Florida = NOT! That they went out of their way to come to see us just made the visit even more special. An additional testament to their loyalty and devotion is that they had to stay in a hotel that was not what Terry or I would call a five star resort…

If there is a downside to making a journey like the one that we are doing, it is missing our friends and family back home. Of course, it is wonderful to meet new friends but not seeing friends and family on a regular basis is very hard. Keeping in touch via the phone and internet is great, but nothing beats hands-on hugs and kisses. So Terry and Will were the perfect antidote and the best gift that I could have received when we arrived at Dog River. As always when we are with Terry and Will, the time is filled with smiles, laughter, good food and great wine. This time was certainly no exception!

Mobile Harbor

As we traveled through Mobile Harbor we were both taken by the ocean-going vessels we encountered. As I mentioned previously, we have seen a few international freighters in Chicago, but nothing like the ones that we saw in Mobile.














They seemed to be everywhere and in every stage of loading, unloading, and repair. Offering a gateway to the Gulf of Mexico, the Alabama State Port Authority operates the Port of Mobile. The port complex includes facilities for handling general cargo, forest products, and metals, as well as liquid bulk and dry bulk cargo, chemicals, coal, and iron ore. A 75-mile rail line links Port of Mobile facilities and provides connections to major freight railroads. The Alabama State Port Authority began operations in 1928.




I completely fell in love with one vessel and instantly wanted to make an offer. I am sure that we could get her cheap!






However, Captain Mark does not share my enthusiasm or optimism that we could rehab her and that she would then be the perfect ship for us!

Day 51 – November 9 – Dog River Marina in Mobile Bay

We awoke excited that this day would be our last day on the water for this leg of the journey. The plan is that we would leave the boat at Dog River Marina for approximately six weeks and return home to Indiana for the holidays. Big Bayou Canot is sixteen miles north of Mobile Harbor and Dog River is 15 miles into Mobile Bay which is south of Mobile Harbor. This meant that the day ahead was not a particularly long day but it was one filled with contradictory emotions. We would be seeing civilization again for the first time in six days, there were concerns about crossing Mobile Bay which can be rough at times and we most definitely had mixed feelings about this being our last day on the water. The three other boats with us at Big Bayou Canot were also going to either Dog River or one of the other marinas located in that general area. As Heart’s Desire has made this trip several times, we all lagged behind so that they would become the leader.


Our first sign of civilization was “14 mile Railroad Bridge”. This is the first swing bridge that I have seen that was operational. All of the swing bridges in Chicago no longer swing, so it was fun to watch how it operates. As luck would have it, a pusher with eight barges was coming through as we approached the bridge so it was already open. We only had to wait for the towboat to pass and then we got to go through. Since we were the last boat in the caravan, we had the best vantage point to watch the bridge return to its normal configuration.




Almost immediately after the bridge, the river again changes. Marsh and grassy areas comprise the shore rather than true river banks as seen earlier. We spot our first brown and brown/white pelicans eagerly swooping down to catch fish. I found it most interesting that we saw very few fowl along the Tenn-Tom Waterway and it was indeed a treat to see the pelicans. This area is known as the Mobile Delta. It covers an area 25 miles wide and 40 miles long. It is rich in plant and animal diversity and within its borders one can find Alabama’s only black bear population. Try as hard as I might, I could not find a single bear…black or otherwise.

Slowly we started to see evidence of people, places and things as we approached Mobile Harbor. It was so exciting to see the Mobile skyline and to know that we were getting closer to our destination.




What we were not prepared for was the size of Mobile Harbor and the number of ocean-going freighters. While we have seen ocean-going ships in Chicago, we had never seen this many ships in one single location before. Some were loading, some were being repaired in dry dock and several were entering the harbor from the Gulf. We even had the crew of a Chinese freighter waving to us as we passed.





Upon leaving Mobile Harbor one enters Mobile Bay. Here I saw my first shrimp boat. I have been waiting all trip to see Bubba Gump and there he was…Between bouy markers 63 and 65, we turned starboard to enter the long channel into Dog River Marina.


We had heard such nice things about Dog River and we were excited to arrive. We docked at the fuel dock, pumped out and checked in to receive our slip assignment. The area was totally hustle-bustle but very well organized. After checking in, Mark headed to our slip assignment. We passed it up and then had to turn around and come back. As testament to Mark’s captaining abilities, he just turned the Lolligag around on a dime and headed back in the proper direction without so much as a minute’s hesitation or panic. We found our slip and I was immediately freaked out for several reasons. Unlike the long piers between boats that I am used to seeing in the Midwest, these piers were only about six feet long. This meant that I had to wait until we were within six feet of the head of the slip before I could get off the boat to secure the line. THEN, when I did get off, I could not find the cleats…there were no cleats…how am I supposed to secure the line? Dumbfounded I just stood there holding the line, not knowing what to do with it…finally it dawned on me that I needed to wrap it around the piling. Eventually I figured out that there were no cleats due to the tide – oh, silly me. If the boat was secured to cleats then it would not be able to raise and lower in the tidal waters. As I was having a very minor hissy (I say minor, Mark says major) fit, Mark was able to assist me at this point with securing the rest of the lines.

As soon as we got settled in we encountered many of our new friends that we have met in our adventures. Dog River and the surrounding marinas are excellent places to leave one’s boat for an extended period or at the least rest for a couple of days before venturing on.

Hours on the water: 4
Nautical miles traveled: 31
Number of locks: 0
Time spent waiting at locks: 0
Tomorrow's Destination: Indiana
What we're listening to: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
What we watched: 0
Lesson for the day: These 51 days sure passed quickly !!
Obligatory knitting report: Mittens for Wunder Kids

Hey Mark - I don't think we are in Indiana anymore

We met this charming fellow between anchorages on the Tombigbee-Black Warrior Waterway. A tow captain told us to look for him sunning himself on the river bank. I must confess, I did take the shot with the telephoto lens on my camera. He was about 16-18 feet long and he looked hungry...

Day 50 – November 8 - Big Bayou Canot

The three larger boats all scooted around us very early in the morning in order to make Mobile Bay by day’s end. These boats were all larger and faster than the Lolligag. We knew that we did not want to travel the remaining 53 miles in one day, so we went back to sleep and waited for the fog to lift before starting our day a couple of hours later.

As we made our way south, Heart’s Desire and Always Saturday soon caught up with us. They left the anchorage at Three Rivers very very early that morning and did not have any difficulty reaching the river as the tidal waters were in their favor. With the Lolligag as the lead boat, we once again traveled caravan style to our destination of Big Bayou Canot.


At approximately mile marker 45, the river starts to change dramatically. If I thought I had seen bayous previously, I was only being teased by Mother Nature. The river becomes very wide, more marsh-like and less like rivers that we have seen before. Now the cypress trees, the Spanish moss and the spooky-movie landscape are everywhere. You just know that the Creature from the Deep Lagoon is lurking just around the next bend…This area is teeming with alligators. We only saw the one but our companion boats had multiple gator sightings.


We also had a really serious towboat/barge encounter. We were approaching a sharp bend in the river and could not see around the curve. Just as we started to make the turn, we spotted what looked like the front of barge coming directly at us. I immediately hailed the towboat captain to let him know our location, that there were now four boats in our convoy and ask how he wanted us to proceed. For the first time since making this trip, I heard a hint of panic in this towboat captain’s reply and there was certainly reason for concern. It turned out that one pusher with eight barges was in the processing of overtaking another pusher with six barges. Both vessels were at that time in the bend of the river and the overtaking vessel was booking at an unbelievable speed. This meant that there was no place for us (the four boats) to go without going out of the channel. The Lolligag was the only boat in immediate danger as the other pleasure boats were about a half mile behind us. He told us to get as close to the port shore as possible and stay put until these two tows/barges had cleared the bend. This we did and we just prayed that the wake from the two barge configurations would not push us into the shallow water at the shore. We were very fortunate in that we were able to maintain our location while the two barges passed. Then just as we caught our breath and started back to the middle of the channel, another pusher with ten barges appeared. I hailed this captain to alert him to our location. He replied with instructions and then told us that another pusher with six barges was immediately behind him. I must say that Captain Mark did an excellent job maintaining a cool head and maneuvering from one shore to the next during this river exchange. This is the type of piloting that shows the true skill of a captain and Mark totally rose to the occasion.

Just a few miles before reaching our destination, we saw a most heart-warming sight: the I-65 Bridge. Interstate 65 dissects Indiana, so in a small way we felt a twinge of comfort in coming upon this landmark. On a humorous note, the locals of the area refer to the bridge as the “Dolly Parton Bridge”. There does seem to be a close resemblance…








We reached the Big Bayou Canot with several hours of daylight left. This anchorage was just like being on the set of a scary movie. I had Goosebumps and the willies for the duration of our stay here. It was a narrow deeply winding creek complete with swamp huts, haunting bird sounds and the splash of alligators entering the water around us. After the four boats got settled in, Mark and I decided that we would explore the area.



As we explored, Mark rocked the dinghy to tease me…I just knew that I was going to fall into the water to then be eaten by gators. Now for the really unbelievable thing about this location is that we had excellent cellular and wireless Internet signals for the first time since leaving Demopolis – go figure!

Hours on the water: 4.5
Nautical miles traveled: 33.0
Number of locks: 0
Time spent waiting at locks: 0
Tomorrow's Destination: Dog River Marina in Mobile Bay
What we're listening to: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
What we watched: The sunset
Lesson for the day: When in a crisis, trust your instincts and your training
Obligatory knitting report: Mittens for Wunder Kids

Bobby’s Fish Camp, Erosion and My Naiveté

While we purposely did not stay at Bobby’s Fish Camp, I must tell you about it none the less…Everyone who travels the Tenn-Tom and therefore does the Loop has a comment or opinion on Bobby’s Fish Camp. The reason that this location is so famous (or infamous) is due to the fact that it is truly the ONLY place to purchase fuel between Demopolis and Mobile Bay, a distance of approximately 217 miles. For a boat with a range of less than 200 miles this means that the boat must refuel at Bobby’s Fish Camp which is located at mile marker 119.4.




Yes, it is owned by a man named Bobby who has lived along the river forever. A new fuel dock was installed in 2003 and while not fancy in the least, it is a vast improvement over the previous arrangement which consisted of a fuel tank up on a hill with a really long hose… The transient dock is 160 feet of connected floating docks that run parallel to the river bank. The dock spaces fill very quickly, especially during the fall and spring migrations, so it becomes necessary for boats to raft together as they stay the night. To date the maximum number of boats that have been accommodated at Bobby’s at any given time is seventeen. The dock has no electrical service except for one 100 volt 30 amp outlet and if you need water, there is spigot at the fuel dock. Don’t even think about asking for a courtesy car…Now here is the best part, the fee to stay at Bobby’s is .80 a foot for these luxurious and stellar accommodations and that is if you are one of the seventeen boats “lucky” enough to get there first. There is a restaurant on site that is open Thursday through Sunday “most of the time”.


Mark and I planned our anchorages so that we would not have to “experience” Bobby’s. Not that we are being snobs, instead, because we are becoming tightwads with our retirement funds. Eighty cents a foot is a lot to pay for the privilege of banging into and bouncing around with sixteen other boats as barges/ pushers pass during the night within literally feet of one’s boat. I will not even get on my soap box about the joys of being rafted when it comes to either being the one who has to walk across all the rafted together boats or being the first boat to which all the other boats are attached…So it was with smugness and a sense of frugality that we passed Bobby’s Fish Camp shortly after leaving our anchorage that was located just a few miles upstream.

I am often chided for being naïve about many things but I really did not understand why someone did not just build another marina between Demopolis and Mobile. Having heard the rumors about Bobby’s Fish Camp, I figured that whoever developed a new marina (or at least a posh transient dock with a fuel tank) would make a gazillion dollars and quickly be able to recover all costs of developing the area. While at the Demopolis Yacht Basin social hour days earlier, I expressed this opinion to several seasoned Tenn-Tom travelers. After they stopped choking with laughter and regained their composure, they explained to me that the Alabama waterways are still trying to find their way as they meander through the state.



The river banks are subject to erosion unlike anything seen thus far and the rivers are never the same year to year or even month to month. The “silting in” along with the movement of the water and the way the shorelines recreate themselves makes it impossible for development. Dredging could never keep pace in a cost effective manner with the rapid changes of the waterways. The creation of the Tenn-Tom Waterway, by connecting the Tennessee and Tombigbee Rivers, is something that Mother Nature is still trying to decide how to handle. We all know that she ALWAYS has the last word and I think she is still pondering this situation.

Days 48 & 49 – November 6 & 7 Three Rivers Lake & Alabama River Cut-off

We left early the next morning with just a little bit of fog and haze on the river and are still traveling with Heart’s Desire and Always Saturday. Today we will pass through our last lock, lowering us to sea level. This will mean that for the first time we will experience the effects of tidal waters.

Within the first hour on the water, we passed Bobby’s Fish Camp and headed toward the Coffeeville Lock and Dam. Now the lockmaster at the Coffeeville Lock and Dam has a rather checkered reputation among boaters so we were unsure what to expect.


As we approached the lock, we noticed a very large barge configuration sitting right smack dab in the middle of the river which is really unusual. Upon hailing the tow captain, he told us that that he was awaiting a change of crew. I had wondered where and how the crews change on commercial vessels and it seems that often times the locks are used as way stations for both supplies and crew = very clever indeed. The tow captain gave us permission to go around him and thereby have priority at the lock since his crew would not be arriving for at least another half hour. Once again we could not believe our good fortune in not having to wait at another lock. We also found the lockmaster to be very professional and quite accommodating to our group of boats. I think the stories/rumors of ill temperament are a reflection and reaction to the sometimes unreasonable demands made by some pleasure boaters who have no patience.


The herons like to perch on the doors of the Coffeeville Lock and when the doors open, they will swoop down to get the fish.

A little south of the Coffeeville Lock is Lover’s Leap. Steeped in local folklore and legend, this rock formation definitely stands apart from the adjoining landscape. The colored rock is deeply cracked and covered with trees which were gorgeous with fall foliage as we passed. With little effort, one can conjure up many scenarios as to how this site received its name…

Since we got through the Coffeeville Lock so quickly, we made wonderful time as the three boats made our way to this evening’s anchorage at Three Rivers Lake and arrived by 3p. Heart’s Desire has stayed in this location in the past so we let them lead the way into the anchorage. The entrance to this anchorage is via a narrow creek that then opens onto the most delightful and scenic hidden lake. All of the waterways in the South are below normal pool due to the severe drought of the last few years. So if the sailboats with their deeper drafts could make it through the creek entrance, we knew that we would be fine. As Heart’s Desire made their way up the creek, they did encounter some low water but all three of us were able to reach the lake with success.

Heart’s Desire has been such a skillful and fearless leader and Always Saturday was so kind with their generous invitation to dinner the night before that I wanted to return the courtesy in some manner. The only thing that I had to offer was muffins…I have found that muffins almost always bring a smile and are the perfect thank you gift, besides I just LOVE to make muffins. So we fired up the generator, I baked muffins and then we delivered them via the dinghy to the other two boats much to their surprise and delight.



The plan was that we would all depart at about 6am the next morning or when the fog lifted. We awoke to radio communications between the two sailboats commenting on how much lower the lake appeared than the night before = at least a foot lower. Since we are still approximately eighty miles north of Mobile Bay, I think we were all surprised by the effect of the tide. Heart’s Desire seemed to feel that they must have been anchored here last year at a different moon phase and that is why they did not have an issue with the tide last year. We all agreed to go back to sleep and check the water level in a couple of hours. The water did rise slowly but it did not seem to be rising fast enough for the sailboats, with their deeper draft, to be able to leave…what to do? After waking up again around 10a, Mark and I spent the next few hours relaxing and futzing around the boat.


Then a fisherman came by to tell us that a major fishing tournament would commence the next morning and that if we stayed that we would be surrounded by hundreds of fishing boats for the next three days. I must interject here that Captain Mark does not like to fish, will not allow fishing poles aboard the Lolligag and the last thing he ever wants to do in life is be the epicenter of a fishing tournament with at $125,000 purse. Upon discussion with the other boats, we decided that the Lolligag would attempt to leave the lake since we had the shallowest draft. I would relay the water depths back to the sailboats as we made our way back out the creek to the river. We pulled anchor at about 3p. This was approximately the same time of day as our arrival the day before so we felt confident that the water level would be sufficient for us to return to the river. We did encounter low water levels but Mark said he did not feel us touch bottom at any time. However the two sailboats did not feel they wanted to chance the low water level and they decided to spend another evening at Three Rivers.

With only two hours of daylight remaining, Captain Mark knew that he had to reach the next available anchorage at the Alabama River Cut-off without delay. Luckily for us this spot was only about 12 miles away. We reached the anchorage location with no difficulty and found that three very large boats had already settled in for the evening. This was very encouraging as it confirmed sufficient water level to anchor. So we found a spot, had dinner and went to bed as the sun set.

Hours on the water: 10.0
Nautical miles traveled: 64.0
Number of locks: 1
Time spent waiting at locks: 15 minutes
Tomorrow's Destination: Big Bayou Canot
What we're listening to: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
What we watched: 0
Lesson for the day: Once again, being a smaller boat does have its advantages
Obligatory knitting report: Mittens for Wunder Kids