Fulton
So on Thursday morning October 27th we headed out of the anchorage on a sunny but chilly morning for a short 22 mile cruise to Midway Marina located in Fulton, MS. Tenn-Tom is short for Tennessee Tombigbee river that was man made in the early 20th century and runs for about 230 miles.
The waterway was created by connecting ten lakes with canals and 10 locks to join the Tennessee and Black Warrior river allowing a shorter inland waterway to the Gulf of Mexico. Anyhow the marina has a beautiful view of the river and has a wonderful restaurant on site. Good thing as the restaurant options in town were pretty limited. Speaking of town,
Fulton is one of those places where life is pretty simple. Everybody knows everybody. You can tell by the many understated churches in town that the locals still center their lives around the Christian faith. It was refreshing to see that in contrast to the many metropolitan areas we have been were just the opposite with churches being sold off and repurposed.
Fulton is the type of place where drinking on a Saturday night is looked down upon and whispered about in the pews Sunday morning. Even the court house has “In God We Trust” in big letters above the doors. I have said it before and need to restate, Americas fabric is still alive and well. Maybe a bit under represented but still present just the same.
So the town Square was but a few blocks with the buildings from the 40’s and 50’s I would guess. Back at the marina we were reunited with our friends from the UK and joined them for dinner with another couple also doing the Loop.
On Friday we hitched a ride from some folks returning a rental car to Tupelo, MS and spent the day exploring the town with them. Our first stop was to tour the birthplace of the “King” Elvis Presley.
They had a small but nice museum, the church he attended and sang at as a child and the actual house he was born in. The house style was called a shot gun home. Only had two rooms, a kitchen and a bedroom. As many of you know Elvis came from a very poor family.
Boy how that changed. The museum was great in that it highlighted the elements in Elvises life that influenced both his musical and clothing style. After the museum we walked the town and had lunch in a local restaurant. We returned to the marina and shortly there after the dock shenanigans began. The marina was kind enough to set up a little bonfire for all to enjoy.
On Saturday morning we headed off for McKinley Creek anchorage 43 miles down river but included a couple of locks. The good news is that we are nearing the end of the locks. We arrived at the point where the creek cut off the river. Well the entrance was pretty narrow and tree lined tight on both sides. Well we stuck the nose of Next Chapter into the creek and began easing our way in.
It was another one of those boating moments where Sue thought it best that she just cover her eyes. Well all went well and we ended up about a half a mile up the creek. Once we settled I launched the dinghy and explored the back waters to see what I could see. I noticed the the flora and fauna was definitely changing to that of a warmer climate with a few palmettos and Spanish moss hanging from the trees. At happy hour aboard Sue and I listened to a owl hooting in the woods. Fortunately we did not hear any banjo music!
This was a staircase at a cool antique warehouse in Tupelo called Relics. They had some really interesting items including an embalming table.
Nite time on the docks
Note the words above the entrance
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