The Great Loop

After a few weeks of prep work we are finally under way and on our adventure. This should be a year long experience up the Atlantic Coast, over the Great Lakes, and down the inland rivers. Read more

Follow Insights Calendar Photos Share

The Great Loop Traveler
Paducah
October 28, 2023 in the United States
Paducah is a walled town to prevent flood waters from entering the town. The inside wall is decorated with lovely murals depicting the history of the area.

Nearby is an old bakery, train museum, quilt museum, and civil war museum. The shops are quaint and the buildings charming.Read more
0 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Green Turtle Bay
October 29, 2023 in the United States
Green Turtle Bay is like a community or small resort village. The marina has restaurants, spa, docks, and courtesy car. Nearby is Pattie’s 1800 settlement that is all decorated for Christmas. It has a small old village feel with little quaint shops and restaurant. The restaurant is known for their 2 inch pork chop.Read more
1 like
The Great Loop Traveler
Nashville
October 31, 2023 in the United States
Nashville was fun! From the lights and live music on Broadway to the quick sight
seeing trip on the Hop on Hop Off, we saw as much as we could in a couple of days.

We also celebrated Michael’s birthday with lunch at the aquarium restaurant and games at dave and busters.Read more
1 like
The Great Loop Traveler
Anchoring near Paris Landing
November 3, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 55 °F
We found a small bay to anchor for the night not far from Paris Landing. The area was mostly residential with one side just trees. There were lots of bugs once the sun went down.
1 like
The Great Loop Traveler
Anchoring near Birdsong Marina
November 4, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
It was a little squirrely getting into this area. It is a windy shallow channel around sandbars. The area is beautiful with calm waters and no wind. There are lots of fish jumping. Unfortunately we didn’t catch any. It’s also a great spot to kayak around.Read more
1 like
The Great Loop Traveler
Kelleys island
November 5, 2023 in the United States
We traveled a long ways to find anchorage. Our original plan did not pan out as the river level is low and we couldn’t enter the streams. We finally found a spot next to a small island.
1 like
The Great Loop Traveler
Clifton anchoring
November 6, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F
Dropped anchor near Clifton in an area called Ohana. Not much here but the journey provided pretty scenery and rocky cliffs.
1 like
The Great Loop Traveler
Wolf Island anchorage
November 7, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F
We dropped anchor around wolf island. The current was a bit faster than the previous night, perhaps the channel is narrower.

The trip over was scenic. I’m loving the cliffs. We did spot one segment that appears to have been hit by a tornado. Houses were torn apart. One had furniture exposed.

The day was spent with good food, games, and homeschool.Read more
1 like
The Great Loop Traveler
Grand Harbor
November 9, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F
We passed through the Pickwick lock and dam, was in three states at the same time (Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee) and pulled into Grand Harbor Marina.

It’s a nice area where many boaters make their slips into a home. The dock will have tables, rugs, chairs, and even golf carts. It’s interesting watching a golf cart roll down the dock.

The marina also has a courtesy car so we were able to get groceries and visit Shiloh.Read more
1 like
The Great Loop Traveler
Anchoring at Piney Grove in Bay Springs
November 10, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F
We anchored before the lock in a nice bay. There were many offshoots of pools for other boats. Michael and I took the dinghy out and spotted a beaver swimming.
2 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Anchoring by John Winnet lock
November 10, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F
We anchored for the evening just before the lock. It had a few little harbors to tuck into. We explored a bit by dinghy and saw a beaver.
2 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Shiloh
November 11, 2023 in the United States
We took a quick trip to Shiloh route uto learn more about the Civil War. We walked the cemetery and looked at a few of the monuments. Afterwards, we headed to the catfish hotel restaurant which served delicious southern cooking.Read more
2 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Anchoring near Midway Marina and
November 11, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F
We dropped anchor before the lock and before Fulton not far from the Midway Marina. The sunset was stunning for Veterans Day. Unfortunately the next morning we lost our anchor. We tried searching for it but had no luck. A pup did swim up to our boat and it was taken to the marina where they found someone to adopt it.Read more
Traveleryour trip is so interesting. I thought you'd be on the Mississippi. but you're not?
11/15/23Reply
We were only on the Mississippi for a brief portion as it’s not very friendly for pleasure crafts. Not many places to anchor or marinas and the distance between fuel stops is too far. The commercial tow and barge traffic is also too many to deal with. So the typical route is to go through the smaller rivers like Tennessee and Tombibee [Mayli]
11/17/23Reply
3 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Canal section cutoff anchorage
November 12, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F
We had to boat at night in the dark as we had a late start due to the loss of our anchor. Thankfully Legacy went ahead and found an Anchorage. With rivers low it’s been a challenge finding spots to anchor with enough water. The anchorage was lovely but we didn’t have much time there.Read more
1 like
The Great Loop Traveler
Columbus
November 13, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F
We stayed the night at Columbus Marina. We met two other loopers, one who had kids. Michael and their boy played all day outside.
The marina offered a courtesy car which we took into town to eat at Harvey’s, the marina area itself didn’t have much and was quite shallow to get in, but was still a nice spot to stay.Read more
1 like
The Great Loop Traveler
Cooks Cutoff
November 14, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F
It was a long day of boating with two locks. The first lock is our 100th lock on the loop. I had to help out on Legacy. We arrived late at the anchorage and had just enough time to take Flash to shore and have dinner before we turned in for the night. Not
Much offered here and it was a challenge finding a spot to take Flash.Read more
2 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Demopolis
November 16, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F
We stayed at Kingfisher marina in Demopolis. They had a courtesy car and shuttle service so we explored the town. There were a few historic buildings and statues for the confederates. The theater was showing Trolls 3 so we watched that.

Getting here, we passed through a lock and the white cliffs of Epes. These cliffs were formed at the same time as the white cliffs of Dover.Read more
2 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Edna anchorage
November 17, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F
We passed through a lock with a lovely waterfall from a dam and headed for a few hours by some pretty cliffs. The trip was along a windy part of the Tombigbee river where is was particularly shallow. We had one moment for a tow tried to run us all out of the Channel.

The anchorage was pretty but not the best location. A sandy beach was nearby to take flash. The weather is warming up as is the water. But that also means alligators could be lurking nearby.Read more
2 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Okatuppa Creek anchorage
November 17, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F
When we first approached the creek, it was daunting. We thought no way will we fit in there. But we had to check it out. So one by one we eased our way in and found one spot to drop anchor and tie our stern to shore which allowed all four of us to raft up. Shortly after two other loopers showed up and they rafted on as well.

The creek was full of plant life that was so thick, the kayak had a hard time paddling through. These plants had minimal roots and would just float.Read more
2 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Sunflower anchorage
November 19, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F
We passed through our final lock on the Great Loop. This was our 104th lock. So happy to be done. After anchoring, we popped open a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

The anchorage was lovely with a nice sandy beach nearby. One side had cows in the morning!

It is tidal; which we forgot and didn’t put down a stern anchor. As a result, the anchor chains got twisted.Read more
2 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Tensaw River Anchorage
November 20, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F
Pretty uneventful day except for the start of it. We awoke in the morning and noticed we were pointing in the wrong direction. Forgot that this part of the river (since there are no more locks) is tidal. So the tide changed directions and swung us around. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal, but we were rafted four boats across and three of the boats had anchors down. Those anchors are now twisted around.

We had to try to figure out whose anchor chain was where and spin the boats around to untwist. Not an easy feat. After 15 minutes of fiddling, we all managed to untangle and get free. Must remember to throw out a stern anchor next time.

The journey was calm and quiet. A storm is approaching in the evening so we are trying to get to the next anchorage before the rain hits. We finally pull into the Tensaw river. Coda, Lil Sudden, and Legacy all rafted together and tied their stern to a large tree. We decided to anchor alone just in case the wind got bad (it was projected to have gusts of 60 mph). So solo we went which was nice. We still dinghied over for dinner.

The river was quiet and large enough for many boats to anchor. The shoreline provides some easy access by kayak to take flash.Read more
2 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Mobile
November 22, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F
We spent the day exploring Mobile with a stop at the science center and a walk down Dauphin St. I stopped in Wet Willie’s and the kids had ice cream at three Georges.
2 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Fairhope
November 23, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
We stayed at the Fairhope Yacht Club and celebrated Thanksgiving here. I had a little time to go into town to see the castle house and hermit house while also taking Michael to a nice playground.
2 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Dauphin island
November 24, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F
We arrived in the early afternoon, passing under the Dauphin Island Bridge and by some oil rigs. The marina was simple but accommodated us and across the parking lot was a restaurant with delicious crab claws. We took the dinghy to the top of the island to see Fort Gains. Surrounding area also included remnants of an old ship wreck and a WWI battery.Read more
2 likes
The Great Loop Traveler
Biloxi
November 25, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F
We arrived in Biloxi to stay one night. It’s a big casino town that also has an arcade and amusement park. We strolled along the boardwalk, waved by a church And Buddhist temple, then took the kids to The arcade.Read more
2 likes