Further Down The Tenn-Tom

Hello All-
The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is a little-known connection between the Gulf and the Tennessee River. It's 450 miles long, so it's handy to consider it in three different sections. The northernmost sections are in northeastern Mississippi; they are the "Divide Cut" and "Canal" sections, which was a bigger engineering project than the Panama Canal. The middle is the Tombigbee River section, which crosses into Alabama, and this part along with the upper section has 11 locks. The southern section (which is about half the overall length) is also the Tombigbee River but below it's junction with the Blackwarrior River, and it only has 2 locks. The locks on the Tenn-Tom Waterway have a total drop (or raise, depending on which way you're going) of 340+ feet from the Tennessee River valley to the Gulf of Mexico. We've been traveling in this area for the past couple of weeks.





Here is a very well marked (but curvy, shallow, with lots of weeds and waterlilies) side channel leading into the small marina basin at Aberdeen, MS. We stopped here overnight with Jerry & Betty in their boat 'POGO.'

We toured Aberdeen in a borrowed Lincoln! We saw a few of the grand antebellum homes and the still-vital downtown. The Tombigbee River has carried commercial traffic since the area was first settled, and most of the small towns along the river have a long history as river ports.



Here is another photo of lovely scenery from the marina near Fulton MS. No boats have been by since the evening before, and there's not a breath of wind to make any ripples, so the water is like perfect mirror. The Tenn-Tom Waterway with its lockage and the wandering Tombigbee River results in many flooded areas, with flowers sprouting around trees and stumps.

This shot, like all the others on this blog entry, were taken by Kathie.





This is an afternoon view of the White Cliffs of Epes, a few miles north of Demopolis, Alabama. Check the scale by the size of the pickup truck on the bridge... there is also a rope swing hanging from the left-hand end of the bridge!








Here is our Hank, getting some exercise to work off his Thanksgiving turkey. His friend is a Portuguese Water Dog named Yogi. It makes us tired just to watch them!
As you could probably tell from our "blog silence" over the past week or so, we've been visiting family and friends over the recent holiday. We're back 'on the road' again, so more adventures; however, internet coverage is sparse, so we'll update when we can.

Best wishes to you all
Doug & Kathie