October 20: Clarksville, TN

Anchored out in the Cumberland River, we awoke to the temperature in our cabin at 59 degrees. I guess you could say it was crisp fall weather. Tom got up and started the generator so that we could run our heat for a bit. Dry Creek was dressed in mist this morning and as it burned off, we could see blue herons and white egrets fishing on the shore line. The sand bar between us and the main river has sprouted green grass so we know it has been exposed to sunshine for some time with their drought.

We saw another Ingram tug boat pushing four empties this morning and one pushing 6 barges full of coal and 9 of sand. Ingram must be a major player in the region since they seem to have so many boats in operation.

Mid morning we passed into Tennessee. We passed by the Fort Donelson National Battlefield where we could see the cannon fortification which was used to control the river. This was a Confederate Fort in the 1860’s and had the perfect view to defend the river from vessels headed south on the river. The banks of the Cumberland were scenic and just beginning to show some fall color as we cruised along.

We passed the Cumberland TVA Steam electric plant with two red and white striped smokestacks that were built 1000 feet tall with the belief that the high stacks would safely disperse the furnace gases. Now the obsolete smokestacks have been replaced with shorter ones since scrubbers are now in use to burn off the impurities in the gas. We also spotted the agriculture of the area passing both tobacco and corn fields, already finished for this season.

Tonight we are tied up at the Clarksville municipal dock. Clarksville is the home of Fort Campbell, the home of the 101^st Army Airborne. Tom was stationed here for four months back in 1972 before we were married; but we are too far from the fort to make a visit. We did go and walk around the downtown as the sun was beginning to set. There was a tornado here in 1999 that destroyed a lot of their historic buildings, so most of their downtown is relatively new. We did see the old Custom House built in 1898 that escaped destruction. It has a variety of architectures and an ornate roof line. My pictures are not too good because it was getting dark. The sky was pink and orange as we walked back downhill to the riverside park and crossed the ramp to the boat.