It’s ironic that we’re down in the Gulf states while a hurricane rolls through Connecticut.  Hope everyone is all right.  The pictures we get here have been horrific.  No power at home and a tree (ours) is blocking the neighbor’s driveway, but otherwise okay.

Eric Brazil, an old friend and my first boss, has joined us for the trip up to Chattanooga.  Trip got off to a great start — a tour of a perfectly restored Frank Lloyd Wright house in Florence, cocktails and a buffet on the dock, and a neighbor with a satellite dish on his boat that let us watch the Giants in the World Series (Eric is a huge Giants fan).  Then off in perfect weather to a great anchorage up a winding, Heart of Darkness creek.  We took the dinghy to shore for a (long) hike up to Mooresville, AL a tastefully preserved tiny town from the 1840’s.

Then as the hurricane ran up the coast, it dragged every bit of cold air in Canada down to the Gulf.  We are in the 30s at night and barely in the 50s during the day, which is cold on an old wooden boat.  So we’ve been jumping from marina to marina so we can plug in the heaters at night.  Good luck on the Series — we were able to find a restaurant with a TV or get streaming Internet on the boat every night.

The Tennessee Gorge is a beautiful as everyone said it would be, but having just arrived in Chattanooga and plugged in, I’m glad it’s over for a couple days.

Fredi riding out the hurricane with her friend Moosie

Molly riding out the hurricane

Rosenbaum House. Not to everyone’s taste, but you sense the creativity and thought given to every detail.

Cotton is in bloom or being harvested everywhere in
Alabama.

Eric and Paul heading up Limestone Creek to Mooresville.

Mooresville Post Office — selling stamps every day since 1840.

Mooresville Diner — still in operation, but you might want to take a quick look at their health certificate.

Unidentified mansion, Mooresville.

Old Brick Church, Mooresville, AL. A multi-denominational church since 1839 since there are so few people around here.

Note the filial on the Old Brick Church. I’d say Microsoft’s copyrights on the clicking finger are now trash and they owe these people billions.

Limestone formations are even more spectacular than downriver.

We’re really getting up in the mountains — bridge shows the scale.

Gorge of the Tennessee River. Exquisite, but you tend to take a look then run into the cabin to get warm.