Welcome to Alabama !!

Only one lock today but they are spread out much further apart now. We locked thru Stennis this morning after Moki and I did a quick walk up to the Waverley Mansion. It was a plantation built in the 1840s. According to Wikipedia it was named after the Sir Walter Scott novel Waverley. It is now a private residence. After locking thru Stennis with two other boats we slowed down and enjoyed a leisurely cruise making it to the Welcome Center dock by the Bivell lock (our next lock) around 1:30. The welcome center is a replica plantation built in the 1980s. It was closed but we enjoyed walking the grounds. Also at the welcome center is the U.S. snagboat Montgomery. Built in 1925-26 and retired in 1982 it was the last steam-powered work boat in the southern river system and one of two remaining steam-powered snagboats in the U.S. BTW did you know the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway opened in 1986? It was started in 1971 under the Nixon administration and cuts the distance from the Tennessee River to the northern Gulf of Mexico by over 800 miles!! Also of note today James changed the oil on the motors and the venison last night was excellent. We are making chili with the leftovers tonight . 41 miles today.Les mer