Adventures on Sea Fever: Chattanooga

8/19 Did you miss us? What did you waste your time on at work, with no Boat’s Notes to look at?

The next three months will be the final Volume of the Boat’s Notes account of the Great Circle Loop -
we plan to "cross our wake" in Stuart, FL - sometime in November.

Last October (as I’m sure you recall) we took a 260 mile detour off the Loop to explore the Tennessee River. We were glad we did, as this was a very scenic and interesting trip. We docked about 12 miles north of Chattanooga and that was our base for the past 10 months. Having Sea Fever the closest she will ever be to Atlanta was fun - we made multiple visits, often with friends, and we typically cruised to downtown Chattanooga (which included going through the Chickamauga Lock - usually a first for our guests).

We had spent some time in Chattanooga, but our past year convinced us and our visitors of what a recent internet list had claimed - that Chattanooga is one of the top 10 small cities in the country. Lots of art (in museums, galleries and public spaces), a great riverfront and parks on both sides of the river (13 mile bike path), Aquarium, good restaurants, live music, interesting bars and brewpubs, AND a very nice minor league baseball stadium (see in photo above) overlooking the river (where we went to the Lookouts' opening night, in April, with Steve and Mary). Many of these attractions are accessible on Chattanooga's free electric small bus shuttles, which you can just hop on and off - a very nice amenity the town offers. Oh, and one of Debi's favorites - a Christmas Boat Parade in December!

During these past months, Chattanooga guests included:

March: Josie, Mary White, Hilde Perry, Ray Harbor

and Patti Lombardi - all neighbors from Inman Park.

They came up for a chilly but beautiful birthday week-end for Mary.

April: Ginger Lyon (IP), Steve and Mary Erickson,

Bill and Kathi Hagan (former IP neighbors who now live in Virginia).

May: Bill and Gigi Barnes, Rob Godsall and his lovely fiancé
Susan Scott, Melanie Bliss (all celebrating Jim's birthday
weekend), and Emily and her friend Daniella for a short visit.

July: Marcia Harrell (from Jupiter FL) and Robbi Spector (from Kansas City) - great four days of old friends catching up (and them trying to beat us at Maneuvers). Then, Lori Feig from IP came up for a solo trip - just relaxing on riverfront, walking around town and a Duck ride!

August: Mike and Gina Hecht (Emily's Drew's parents) and long-time friend Julie Harris (from Greensboro, NC) came up for Riverfront Nights concert and cruise back up the river. Jim and Debi rode the 13 mile riverfront bike path - great ride through multiple neighborhoods and water eco-systems that we hadn't done yet.

Then, Debi and Julie took Sea Fever 70 miles further up the Tennessee River - just to enjoy more of
the beauty it has to offer! Oh yeah, and three different nuclear power plants - courtesy of TVA!

We docked in Spring City, TN - next door to our new friends (and mechanic) William and Lisa (known to all as "Luscious" Bryant. In one afternoon/evening, were treated to clear skies, crazy rain storm and beautiful sunset - quite a show from the bow, in our under-cover slip

Ronda (Debi's niece) and her sweetie Geoff came to help bring SF back down the river.

And finally, Shaheen Rana and Zuri Murphy from EMSTAR and Kathryn Kain (Sugar Mag Innkeeper) came to Chattanooga riverfront and then helped Debi move SF one leg back out Tennessee River, to help us get started on our new journey…