Leaving from the anchorage as the water steams and the sun comes up making the trees glow was a sight this morning. It was a cold night but we were toasty. Today we will make the left turn and follow the Tennessee River heading east instead of the usual confluence of the Tennessee and Tombigbee Rivers heading south. The bluffs along this area are beautiful, homes sitting atop high hill tops. We end up cruising with a couple other boats that came out of other anchorages. There are lots of osprey nests and a pack of white pelicans. It is the most we have seen together. We also were able to sneak a peak of a bald eagle grab a fish from just off the starboard side of the boat. He moved so fast we didn’t have the chance to catch a picture. It’s these moments that take your breath away.
The river narrows along the route to Florence, AL making for a bit more current against us. It is around 1 knt or so. The river weaves its way through the limestone and sand and remains around 35 feet deep on average. Nestled within Northwest Alabama on the banks of the Tennessee River, Florence is one of four cities that are collectively known as the Shoals, which technically is a shallow area of the river where once-plentiful mussels lured people for an easy harvest.
In this small corner of the South, the Shoals refer to the towns of Florence, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, and Sheffield, which blend into each other nearly as seamlessly as the Tennessee River’s lazy current. Helen Keller was born here, and somewhere under Main Street, outlaw Mountain Tom Clark’s body is buried. Clark terrorized local citizens after the Civil War and confessed to at least 19 murders. He was hanged in 1872. If outlaw lore intrigues you, the legend of outlaw Tom Clark met his end in Florence after supposedly bragging that “no one could ever run over Tom Clark. After the townspeople lynched the murderous outlaw, The Mayor ordered the bodies buried “in one of the old fields near our town.” A local myth says that one of the men burying the outlaw remembered that boastful statement and got the idea to bury Clark underneath East Tennessee Street so everyone would “run over” Tom Clark. The University of North Alabama in Florence boasts of the only city-dwelling lions, Leo III and Una. Frank Lloyd Wright built one of his most gorgeous creations here called the Rosembaum House a mid century Usonian prototype of which the Rosenbaum House is one of the purest examples. The Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum house was built in 1939 for the two newlyweds as one of only 26 Usonian houses in the United States.
Heading out on a bike ride to see The American Queen Paddlewheel Cruise, as it was in town and its passengers returning after exploring Florence, she is quite a sight at 420 feet long. She is the largest steamboat ever built. The American Queen is gracious and elegant in her American ingenuity. Although filled with todays modern amenities, her rooms and accommodations display all the American Victorian era. Lacy filigree evokes memories of the many stately river steamers that preceded her and so inspired her designers.
We will be here a couple days as Scott does the 500 hour checks and maintenance on the engines. The marina has both fuels, laundry, showers and a restaurant called River Bottom. It’s a busy place and although we will not partake many of the folks we have chatted with love the food. Then there is Florence. We named the local Blue Heron Florence. She doesn’t mind people as long as you don’t interrupt her solitude. We have never been this close to a heron before as they are rather shy birds but Florence owns the dock. Scott greased up the pods as they were due. I went into town with the courtesy car to Walmart Grocery. After all the chores were done we were able to discover the area. We run out to play pickleball at Veteren’s Park. There are historic aircraft there and the sun through the trees and fog shows morning just waking up. After a few drills we head back for lunch then off on our bikes to the Wilson Lock and Dam to see what we are in for. We have been told that due to a problem at the lock that recreational craft heading upbound must be at the lock by 6:00 AM. That means that tonight, daylight savings time change, we not only lose an hour sleep but we must be up by 5:00 to get to the lock, in the dark. That’s new for us. We head out on the hilly terrain that tests our riding uphill skills. Although the hills are quite large we do okay for a couple old farts. We find the mile long bridge that overlooks the dam. We can now see what the channel offers us in the morning.
