It is 8:33 am Wednesday.
We docked last night at a little wooden dock meant for fishing boats in South Pittsburgh at about 6:00 pm. We needed a Walmart fix, so we put on our walking shoes and headed out. As we were leaving the dock, a young couple were getting out of their pick up truck getting ready to go fishing in the river. The young lady looked wide-eyed at the boat and asked us if that was our boat. Alison replied that yes, it was. She said "We don't get that kind of boat around here. It's really cool!" I felt like I had come from another planet and landed in my spaceship in this town. They said Walmart was 3 or 4 miles down the road. So we took off walking confidently.
We finally made it to Kimball, a nearby town that I had visited many times on driving trips to middle Tennessee and Nashville. Our feet were hurting and we were hungry. There were many restaurants close by, including a Cracker Barrel (our favorite), Shoneys and lots of fast food. There is a KFC there that Dad used to drive from Cleveland to service their A/C and refrigeration equipment. The Cracker Barrel was another 1/4 mile farther than the Shoneys, our feet hurt, so we chose Shoneys. Mistake! Worst meal I've had in a long time.
I had intended to hire a taxi to take us back to the boat, but it turns out, there are no taxis in the area, so we began walking back. We were walking past a car parked in the lot with kayaks on top and a camper trailer in back. The couple was still sitting in the car, so we stopped to explain to them that they remimded us of our car when we went on our cross country trip. They got out of the car to talk to us and it turned out that they were returning to Minnesota from living in the Florida Keys for several months. We told them that's where we were heading in our boat! They were real excited and gave us lots of good information about the Keys and boat navigation software. We talked about the Keys for at least 20 minutes in a Walmart parking lot in Kimball Tn! Is that serendipity or what? We walked back to the boat and fell into bed exhausted!
There's lots more I hope to put in the blog when there is time, but I'm anxious to get going this morning. Next stop is Huntsville, Alabama! Since there is lots to see there, and there are thunderstorms predicted, we may stay a day there before continuing our journey.
Larry
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| In front of the Aquarium in Chattanooga |
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| Chickamauga Dam Lock |
This is such a great story!! That's what you get for being brave and talking to strangers, not robbed or killed, but an interesting story and great advice. Super cool!!
ReplyDeleteI echo Cassie on the great story! I loved reading it! More! More! :-)!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the couple didn't offer you a lift back - or maybe you didn't want it - either way sounds like fun!
Yeah, I figured your new friends would offer you a lift back. But I agree, it's serendipitous to meet people on their way back from the Keys like that. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying your blog, Dad. It's more interesting than I would've imagined a travel blog to be, although it's probably because it's you writing it. You're a great writer. :)
I'm glad y'all are having a good time. The grand canyon sounds wonderful. Wish I could see that. I'll Google some pics of it to get a general idea, but I know that's not the same.
It's great you decided to sit out the storm today. Going to be heavy winds and large hail, they say.
Stay safe! Love you lots!