Ithaka's Odyssey: October 2014

As we leave Chattanooga, we must retrace our wake back to Grand Harbor, where we will once again head south and start down the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Chatanooga was a great side trip!!! We highly recommend the boat trip down the TN "Grand Canyon". Beautiful! One of our best looper memories.

The morning we left Joe Wheeler State Park Marina it was cold and a heavy dew was covering everything, including some of Mother Natures handiwork.

Since it is almost Halloween, it's only fitting these be included.

The Tennessee River valley is just as beautiful going downstream as it was going upstream.

This is the Wilson Lock that we had to go back through. On the trip up it took four hours of waiting to pass through this largest of locks. Luckily, on the return trip we were in and out in fifty minutes. Considering this is a 95' drop in elevation and the largest lock of its type in the U. S., we were happy to get through in such a short time.

This is looking forward as we pulled into the lock.

Looking aft as a "Jackup Rig" pulls into the lock behind us.

The "Jackup Rig" is a floating work barge that is used in shallow water. It is used extensively in the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico and many other places, the barge will arrive on location and then jack it's self up on the four long legs that are visible sticking up in the air. Once the barges' hull lifts clear of the water, it becomes a solid, steady work platform until the job is complete. Then, it jacks its self down and moves to its next job under its own power.

The rig is secured to the wall, waiting for the locks back gate to rise up from below.

The gate is coming up out of the water....

.......and up......

.......and up.......

........and up......,

The gate is up and locked and the water is being lowered down.......

.........and down........

........and down.........

...........and down........

........and down to the bottom.

The front gates start to open and we prepare to depart the lock.

Free at Last!

A must stop for any history buff is the Civil War battleground at Shiloh, Tennessee. The Tennessee River played a vital role in this first major battle of the Western Theater. It was here that the Confederates ALMOST had their first major victory on the western front if they had just continued the fight until the end of the day. However, when the Confederate General Johnston was killed on the field, they stopped for the day, thinking they had the battle won and they would finish off the Union Army the next morning. Much to their surprise, the Union gunboats based at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River bombarded the Confederates all night and Union General Grant reinforced his beleaguered troops with 11,000 fresh troops by ferrying them across the river at night and attacking and defeating the Confederate Army at dawn the next day. The 23,746 casualties over the two days forecast a long, bloody and protracted war that would drag on for three more years.

This is the military cemetary for the Union soldiers.

The Confederate soldiers were buried in three mass graves. No headstones, no markers, no identification.

One of the many monuments and markers dotting the three square mile battlefield.

Monument marking the location of one of the Indiana regiments that fought in the battle.

A monument erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy in 1890 to honor the Confederate war dead buried in mass graves.

Confederate siege line of artillery aimed at the Union forces at the "Hornets Nest" where the Confederates captured 2,200 Union soldiers on the first day of battle.

This is the largest collection of actual Civil War cannon in the U.S. This is the actual line of artillery, in its actual location, all 66 guns.

A reconstruction of the Methodist Meeting House (Church) at Shiloh from which the battle took its name.

The original was destroyed during the battle. The Shiloh Methodist Church is still an active congregation and is located a hundred yards from this log church.

The center of the Union line in the Hornets Nest where all the Confederate artillery was concentrated.

Confederate memorial.

Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River where the Union gunboats bombarded the Confederates during the night and where the 11,000 Union troops were ferried across during the night.

Despite the somberness of the Shiloh battlefield, Mother Nature can still brighten the place up with her colors.

The Captain and his beautiful First Mate (also known as the Una Bomber)😍 sitting at the helm, coming down the Tennessee River on a cold, frosty morn.

One of the side trips that many past Loopers recommended we take was the 374 mile round trip from Joe Wheeler State Park to Chattanooga, TN. We decided to take the time to do this, so instead of continuing on south, we headed east, upstream of the Tennessee River to Chattanooga. We were not disappointed!

The Tennessee River is probably one of the most beautiful rivers we have traveled on. With its many miles of hills and valleys on each side, its limited commercial traffic and almost no floating debris to navigate around, it was truly pleasure boating.

Just one of the many sheer cliffs along the river.

The closer we approach Chattanooga, the more rugged the terrain becomes.

One of the few mansions that dot the ridge lines above the river.

As we round the bend in the river,

famous Lookout Mountain comes into view.

Though this picture is slightly out of sequence, it is still a great picture of ITHAKA while underway. It was taken by one of the marina personnel who happened to be visiting the Shiloh battlefield as we cruised by after leaving the Grand Harbor marina.

Once in Chattanooga, a little nap was in order before seeing all the sites!😃

We rented a car for a few days to travel around and see the many sites. Here we are on top of Lookout Mountain and the Civil War battle that took place here.

The view from the top was spectacular

One of the many monuments commemorating the "Battle Above the Clouds"

Entrance to the Lookout Point.

Approximately eight miles to the southeast of Lookout Mountain, across the state line into Georgia, is the Chickamauga battlefield. The two locations, Lookout Mountain and Chickamauga are all part of the same battle that took place during September thru November of 1863. Chickamauga was the last major victory for the Confederate forces, but though they won this battle, they were not able to keep the Union forces from taking control of Chattanooga. More than 140,000 Confederate and Union troops met on these two battlegrounds, with 34,000 men killed or wounded.

The Chickamauga battlefield was the first site to be turned into a National Military Park (NMP) in 1890.

Today it is one of the best maintained and most well defined Civil War sites in the country.

Every infantry, artillery, and calvary unit has an identifying marker or monument showing where they were positioned on the battlefield.

Our last sightseeing trip was to the wonderful Tennessee Aquarium. Located in two separate buildings, one housing fresh water fish and animals and the other housing saltwater fish and animals.

This picture is of a rare species of Sea Horse.