Clarksville (Aug 28-30)

The full moon was still out when we waved goodbye to Wally and pulled out of Bumpus Mills.  We really liked that little marina.  Our next stop, Clarksville, will be our last before returning to our home port.

    

Back on the Cumberland, not far up river at Dover, was Ft. Donelson National Battlefield.  An important naval battle of the Civil War was fought here.  Notice all of the canons lined up facing the water!

    

The scenery just kept getting better but we did notice the water pool being down…..

        

…..evidenced by this private dock on the dirt……

We had to hold back for the Cumberland City Ferry carrying a car across the river.

    

And finally we arrived at what would be our last marina on The Loop.  This will be our 132 marina on the trip.  Since we are on the move so often, sometimes at night we wake up and have look around to see where we are.  I also keep a spreadsheet of each stop – the marina, the town, the state, the country, how many miles we traveled, etc.  You’d be surprised how many times we have referred to it to see where we were just days before.

Clarksville Marina.  This was our first stop on the Loop and now is our last transient stop.

    

We walked up the hill to The Liberty Grill, just as we did a year before on our first night out on the Loop.  And we toasted to “The Loop”, just as we had done that first night.

    

Only last year our waiter did not take the eminent selfie as he did this year.  He also brought us Key Lime pie for dessert, free gratis, in honor of our completing the loop.

Santa is getting nostalgic about his trip as he poses with his “white” AGLCA looper flag, just days before he goes gold himself!

    

Courtney, a photographer from the Clarksville newspaper, dropped by for a visit and photo to document Santa’s return.

    

Sometime it’s birds, sometime frogs, sometime bears and alligators, but now this beautiful butterfly spent the afternoon with us.  I thought it was unusual that he was black and blue on top and black and orange on bottom – but then what do I know about butterflies?

        

Second day in Clarksville, our friends Robert and Linda (originally from Clarksville) drove from Nashville, picked us up for dinner and took us on a tour  around town.  Clarksville is a college town with a major military base, giving it unique flavor and character.

        

You may remember Gomer Pyle and Sergeant Carter?  Frank Sutton, aka Sergeant Vince Carter was from Clarksville, and this bronze statue was placed in honor and memory of him.  I’m sure you recognize the stance from the TV show!

    

There are a lot of Predator Hockey fans around Nashville, but this guy and his car take the cake!

    

We had dinner with Robert and Linda at Edward’s (a great steak place) and enjoyed catching up with them.  It had been almost a year since we saw them last.

    

And the sun set over Clarksville, the marina, and Kara Mia…………

    

It is now sunrise in Clarksville and finally time for us to go home.  We pulled out of Clarksville Marina with a bit of nostalgia ourselves, but not before we witnessed a gorgeous sunrise and rainbow reflecting in the water below!

    

    

Since the time of Noah’s ark, rainbows have been symbolic of God’s faithfulness and mercy and promise of love, care, support, and protection…..