Well it is our last leg of the voyage home from Fort Myers Florida. Rick and Debbie are with us for this leg, Chuck drove us to Green Turtle Bay then he returned home to Evansville. We would normally lock down through Barkley lock and dam but when we called the lock to see how long the wait was the lock master indicated the wait was over one hour so we decided to cruise over to Kentucky lock and dam and lock down on that side since the wait was only 30 minutes.
Here you can see we are in the lock in the water is still at the top of the chamber. We will lock down more than 50 feet.
All the way down we are now waiting for the doors to open.
Big doors!
In this lock it is a little more challenging to tie off since the Bollards are not raised near as much as many.
A view to the top.
As the doors fully open we can see there is a tow waiting to enter the chamber.
Both Barkley and Kentucky lock and dam are both hydroelectric and produce much energy for the Kentucky region. The Tennessee Valley Authority operates the hydroelectric power generation station on the dam. This is what Real "Clean Energy" looks like!!
This picture is looking a stern as we exit the lock
Barge building
You can tell the economy is recovering from the 2008 meltdown by the amount of barge construction that is going on along the waterways.
James Built fabrication facility. You can see the bow of a barge under construction.
This looks like a towboat convention but it's actually the mouth of the Tennessee River where it meets the Ohio.
Lots of steel.
Big River.
Debbie is playing co-pilot from the flybridge.
Here we are entering Smithland lock and dam, which is the first of two locks we must transverse on the Ohio River headed upstream.
As you can see we only have to lock up approximately 15 to 20 feet.
Lock gates are starting to close.
On this stretch of the Ohio River the locks and dams have Bollards that have extensions on them to accommodate towboats when they are empty. This provides us with an easy way to tie up.
http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Navigation/LocksandDams/SmithlandLocksandDam.aspx
Just one more lock to go and we will be home.
At many of the locks they have built an apparatus that enables them to build a lock gate and have it staged and ready to go when a replacement is needed on site.
Clouds are building behind us and it certainly looks like it could storm any minute.
These two houses are the last remaining evidence of the dam that was at this position on the Ohio River years ago. We are slightly downstream from Golconda and the city of Golconda has now purchased these houses and rents them overnight. A few years back we stayed the weekend with Rick and Debbie in the house on the right. You can't see it but the houses even have a hot tub on the front porch.and they are furnished with antique furniture.
This shot is of the mansion in Golconda. Get operated for years as a gourmet restaurant bed and breakfast. Viv and I stayed here years ago in a room that look like it was right out of the brothel. It was red velvet with a canopy bed.
This is the marina at Golconda which is relatively new and provides one of the few opportunities to get fuel between here and Evansville.
There is a bridge that goes across the creek which connects the marina with the river front of Golconda providing a way to walk from the marina to the bed-and-breakfast.
I must stop place on the Ohio River in this section is the Elizabethtown restaurant. It has the best catfish dinners on the Ohio River. They offer Pond raised catfish is well is catfish directly from the Ohio River. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethtown,_Illinois
The last time we were here a couple of fishermen pulled up in a john boat and carried a wash tub full of freshly caught catfish. Then into the little shack on the left no more than 20 minutes later they emerged with the wash tub empty, and a separate container full of catfish fillets ready for the deep fryer in the restaurant. A pound of Catfish Chunks a side order of Okra and Onion Rings and you have a fantastic meal. We got our order to go.
The house on top of the hill is the Rose Hotel which is the oldest operating hotel/bed-and-breakfast in the State of Illinois. Patrons that stay at the hotel are treated with a fantastic breakfast with the servers dressed as they would have in the 1800's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Hotel
We anchor for the night offshore from an area that is used frequently by the locals.
Another Great day with our Great Friends the Millers.
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