October 13, Day 122 - Johnsonville, TN to Clifton, TN

We woke up and rushed to the Pebble Isle Marina office to line up for the free cinnamon rolls and coffee. Best cinnamon rolls on the loop and the coffee was good too! Roy served up the goodies and even cleaned up. Thanks Roy! Great job as a marina host.

The forecast was for rain all day, but we managed to get in about 4 hours before it hit. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful run. Jay spent a good amount of time driving today and passed the one tug we encountered today. We saw another on the AIS, but took a short cut around an island and didn’t even see him.

We were going to stop at Mermaid Marina, but decided to bypass it and go a little further to Clifton. We arrived in the rain at Clifton Marina at 5:30 and came into the harbor to dock. The person on the radio asked us to back into the first slip as we came in, but the guys “helping” asked us to back into the spot right at the marina porch. Gerry did a masterful job getting the 36 foot boat into a 35 foot space and we tied up snug as a bug in a rug. We were so close that we had covered parking … great on a rainy day. The lady who gave us the initial directions wasn’t happy with her crew and where they told us to park, but things worked out fine.

We borrowed the courtesy car to go into town to celebrate Jay and Nanci’s anniversary at a local restaurant. Well, this turned out to be a bit harder than we expected. Most of the places are only open on the weekend and the one place with an open sign had most of the chairs on the tables and was closing up. Gerry made the mistake of asking if they were open and they said to “come on in”. What the place lacked in quality, it made up for in entertainment value. Sort of like the place we had dinner at in Eddyville, NY. See the pictures below to get a sense of the place. If nothing else, it will be an anniversary dinner that Jay & Nanci will never forget.

Then it was back to the boat for a nite cap and showers. We plan to head out early for another long run. The forecast is for rain all day and we want to get through the lock and up to the marina before dark.

Jay, the salty sailor

We approached what looked like one bridge

..... but it was really two, a railroad bridge and a regular bridge

The two captains .... Jay and Gerry .... what a pair

The changing leaves

Captain Jay's first barge passage ... on the 1's

These houses had a natural rock retaining wall .... also notice the house shaped like a lighthouse

Lady finger bluff

The entrance to Mermaid Marina .... however, we passed her by and went on to Clifton.

Mermaid on stilts

This is the menu from the Riverside Family Restaurant. We were particularly interested in the corn naggets and the soft prestiles ..... also the jello salad with bacon bits ....... yummmmmm.

.... and here's the dessert menu .... check out the cocnut pie and, of course, more jello

and here we are ..... notice the chairs on the tables in the back and our hanging coats .... great ambiance