We returned to Bluebird at Green Turtle Bay Resort and Marina in Kentucky after almost three weeks away. We had a sibling trip with Hervey’s sisters and their husbands in North Carolina (an annual event since 2002, made all the more poignant with the 100th anniversary of his father’s birthday.) We also had medical appointments and an opportunity to spend time with friends and family in Baltimore. We were gone from September 29 to October 16. While we were gone, the mechanics at the marina fixed the captains chair solidly to the bridge deck, fixed the windlass, and replaced the starter and impeller in the generator. With all systems ready to go, we left the next day for Nashville, via Clarksville, Tennessee. We were searching for the music of a generation…

It was good to be back on Bluebird and moving again. Lake Barkley was beautiful and benign as we travelled that first afternoon to our anchorage. The Kentucky State Prison was not the first one we had seen (the other was just south of St. Louis) and we could only image the stories that existed within its walls. After that contemplation of karma and the richness of life, we proceeded to run aground as we entered the inlet before our anchorage of the night. Hervey dove down to the engine room to check the strainers and then returned to the bridge and powered us through to deeper water on the other side of the sandbar.

We had a quiet night and headed out early the next morning to Clarksville, TN.

Our ultimate destination was Nashville and we hoped to find some music and meet some friends for a drink. But it was not to be: the marina was full, the lock between Clarksville and Nashville was soon closing for a week, the river after the lockout before Nashville was closed for filming a reality show, and our generator would not start but would quit after a few minutes. After hanging out in Clarksville for two days, we turned back from our musical journey to head back to Green Turtle Bay for another go at fixing the generator.

We took a little time to readjust to being on the boat together. Being in Baltimore again after so long away reminded us how much we enjoy our family and friends there. And this lazy trip up and down the Cumberland River and Lake Barkley was just the ticket to get us back in the groove.

We stayed overnight at a marina with a terrific Mexican restaurant on site and, after walking Duke, we had a great meal that hit all the right notes: exotic, spicy, and flavorful! With a couple of margaritas and the setting sun, we settled in for needed rest.

It was only a half-day journey back to Green Turtle Bay. They were expecting us and diagnosed the issue quickly, ordered a new solenoid and a new fuel pump, and installed them both the next morning.

They finished the work at around 11:00 am and we decided to quickly take off and head to the Kentucky Lake and the Tennessee river. Our goal was to head south and we ran the 40 miles to Paris Landing state park that afternoon, October 22. The next day, we were up before dawn and heading south through Tennessee, covering nearly the entire north/south breadth of the state in an 11 hour, 83 mile run to Clifton, TN. Along the way, we went past both Jackson and Wallace cemeteries, important names among our family “outlaws”. The grain elevators at the flooded town of Danville, TN were a reminder of the great displacement of towns and families that was part of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) projects that contained flooding, brought hydropower, and created these enormous recreation lakes along our route.

Somewhere along the way, we decided that, stymied at Nashville, we were going to see if we could find some music at Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Muscle Shoals is just across the river from Florence, Alabama in the northwest corner of the state and was the home of the “Swampers”, a session band of four players who played behind Percy Sledge, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and many other famous artists who sought them out and came to Muscle Shoals to record. Hervey fell into a common trap and spelled the town “Mussel Shoals” just because it sounded more logical. In fact, it was the humble mollusk that gave the town its name and a misspelling substituted beefcake for something with white wine and chives.

Success at last! We found Muscle Shoals to be a fantastic music destination and a great food town! Hervey is addicted to fried chicken. It is his culinary weakness and, unfortunately, is not on any diet regime he could find. So we found Champy’s Fried chicken (https://champyschicken.com) which rivaled the best chicken of his youth! This small regional chain has locations throughout the South! He bought a t-shirt and had a conversation with the owner. Amazing place!

And we found the people of Muscle Shoals and Florence, Alabama to be very friendly and easy to get along with. Hervey’s mother was from Dothan, Alabama (in the far southeastern corner of the state near the Georgia border) but he had never travelled much through the region. Florence is on the same latitude as his hometown of Laurinburg, NC and the region felt a little like home to him.

And the music! We still have a deep longing for Delta Blues, but the music of this town formed the soundtrack of our lives. We toured the Muscle Shoals Recording Studios and every time a new artist or piece of music was mentioned, we would hear the music in our heads and begin singing it. Percy Sledge “When a Man Loves a Woman” and the Rolling Stones “Brown Sugar”; Aretha Franklin “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.” and the Staple Singers “I’ll Take You There”; Wilson Pickett “Mustang Sally” and Etta James “I’d Rather Go Blind” …. it was all amazing!

The studio is still actively recording in the evenings and the analog equipment is still in place, although they move everything to digital after recording. All the original instruments are there and are still being used. And the stories of the “Swampers”, the session band that owned the Muscle Shoals studio and played for all these giants for forty years, were so fun to hear.

We went out with other loopers and danced at FloBama, a local music venue and restaurant. And Hervey danced with everyone — and Kitty too!