Grayceful Waterbug

02/04/2024

Waterbug's final post…

We are very happy to announce that we have sold our Grayceful Waterbug to Michael and Joanna of Texas. They will be starting their Great Loop adventure Tuesday. Our Waterbug will now be known as “Patience”.

A year ago we bought her and left from a local marina in Destin. After a day out on the water helping Mike and Joanna get used to her, she is back at that same marina and ready to leave Tuesday to do it all again. This will be the 3rd consecutive year that our Bug has done the loop!

There have been tears, but we couldn’t be happier with the hands she is being left in and that she gets to do it all over again.

01/09/2024

Tornadoes all around Waterbug, but no damage to her. Driving into the neighborhood was a bit nerve wracking. Our Bug looks great though. All is well.

12/30/2023

We crossed our wake! 🥳

As soon as we got in we started running. I was hoping to get the obligatory picture of us holding the gold flag together, but it’s yet to be taken.

I do have some fun pictures of that day, but the official picture will come soon.

12/18/2023

Today is our big day.

We are thankful for being stuck in Pensacola for a few days. It allowed us to process everything.

Poor Mike. One minute I am kissing all over him, giddy about our adventure, the next I am sobbing that it’s over today.

Great dinner at Jackson’s Steakhouse. The perfect place to have our last meal of this trip.

See you all soon❤️

12/15/2023

Pensacola, FL

We are 1 travel day from completing our loop. 1 day!

We left Mobile, AL after the Christmas boat parade came by to give us a show. Fun and very cool to have front row seats for it. Mike missed it:( but I am sure there will be more in our future.

From there we went to The Wharf in AL. Looks like it would be a blast in the summer with cute little shops, bars, etc, but we were the only ones there while we walked around and even at dinner. A lot of our trip has made me wonder where everyone is hiding.

We left The Wharf yesterday and stopped in Pensacola. There is a small craft advisory for the next few days. Traveling isn’t bad, we’ve been in worse, but it is white capping with water over the bow. We will stay here the next few days until this all passes. It would seem we don’t want this adventure to come to an end, but it’s the weather, I swear.

Pensacola is fun. Mike took me to Seville French Quarter last night and I loved it. I’m proud of myself to be out after dark. 9pm! When they told us it doesn’t start hopping until after 11, I gave up and we went back to the boat.

It looks like Monday is our day to cross our wake and complete this great adventure.

💛

12/11/2023

https://fb.watch/oSc9yIGnJz/

12/09/2023

Mobile, AL

Over 130 miles today. Mike’s Aunt Joyce passed last night so we will be off the boat and back to Decatur for the funeral. :(
Joyce was one of the very first family members that I met. A very sweet woman with a kind heart. She will be greatly missed.

We were moving as soon as the sun gave light. Very little fog this morning which was greatly appreciated after several days of fog in the morning.

A very somber day of travel, but it was so good to see that we are back in the south. Dolphins! Spanish moss and marsh land.

Mobile, AL is a very commercial waterway. Kind of wild to go through, but fun to see it.

First day of dolphins in months. There were a lot of them.
We also passed Manatee again. They have done the loop over 30 times. We first passed them in May, in Charleston.

🙁

12/08/2023

12/08/2023

All the comforts of home on our cute little boat❤️❤️❤️

12/08/2023

Coffeeville, AL

Our last lock of our loop. A little drama so we remember it. We got to it at 1 when a barge was supposed to be finished. As we arrived we were told they had to put it through in 2 parts so it would take a bit longer, no biggie. Once he cleared we were told to enter the lock, but right as we were getting there another tow called and said he was 24 minutes out. They gave priority so we were pushed back and still had to wait for him to arrive. We finally got through at 4. Sunset is at 4:40, last light at 5:14.

We found a place pretty quickly, dropped anchor and smoked some chicken wings. Yummy!

Another long day tomorrow so we are hoping we can get an early start without fog being an issue.

❤️

12/08/2023

Coffeeville, AL

We finished our last lock of our loop today. A little drama, which was appreciated so we’ll remember it. We got to it before 1. They were just loading a barge and so we were told it would be a little wait… no big deal. Then we were told it had to be in two parts, so double the wait. No big deal. They clear that one and okay us to enter the lock and then another tow calls and says he’s 24 minutes out. They have priority so we get pushed back, have to wait for that one too.

We finally got through at 4. Sun sets at 4:40. Last light at 5:14 so we quickly found a place to drop the anchor, smoke some chicken wings and call it a night. Yummy!

Definitely feeling excitement and sadness that we are in the last few days of this.

Early morning as it’s another long day. Hopefully the fog won’t be as bad tomorrow.

Good night all.❤️

12/07/2023

Waiting on the fog to burn off so we can get moving. Long day and our last lock of the trip if we can make it.

12/07/2023

A river in Alabama between Demopolis and Bobby’s Fishcamp.

We are back on the water. Bittersweet… it was good to reconnect with reality and feel like we just need to get home. That’s a good feeling because I’m pretty sure I should be crying that this is all almost over. Very mixed emotions. Is there a mixed emotions emoji?

We are anchored on the side of the Tenn-Tom in Alabama. It’s a very limited area as far as marinas and spots to anchor. A few of us are in the area and so we are all trying to find something that works for the night. I WILL MISS THIS:( It’s a big part of this adventure that I will miss most.

Mike put the fish camera out for me. :) Doesn’t look like anything is out there but I can’t wait to see. He was out pretending to fish earlier, but I know he was just assessing the anchor, our holding, the barges passing and if we are in a good area… the sun, the moon and stars and how they could possibly affect our life:)

:)

12/05/2023

White Cliffs at Epes, Alabama

Some beautiful scenery on our way to Demopolis, AL.

We also found the phone booth, but someone was going pretty fast and the other was too slow with her phone, but we still got a pic:)

We also found the Pinta again… and our beautiful beach in Destin ❤️

12/04/2023

Lots to tell…
We left Decatur and back tracked through two large locks, one we got through at sunset and made our way into the marina in the dark. The locks in this area are so big and we were the only ones going through. One has a tree growing through the middle of it. A little odd… you’d think they would put a stop to that.

The next few days we ended up back in a large group of loopers, which is crazy because there are days I feel like we are the only ones still this far north. 12 locks total the last few days. Groups of 7 or 8 boats locking together, in the freezing temps again (20s), with fog, working with frozen lines and starting at 6:30a every morning. It was kinda fun actually! Good people and good to be huddled together again when it’s so cold.

The last day we left the pack and decided to do a 100+ mile day (3 locks). We ran the boat pretty fast for quite a while, cleaned out the engines, made it in to Kingfisher marina and rented a car to drive home for a few. We had rain in the forecast and they were right, it poured for days. Thunder and lightning ⚡️, the whole enchilada.

Our friends on Boomerang happened to be coming through the area on their boat (in the crazy weather) so we met them for lunch here in Destin. Fun❤️.

Had to make a quick run to Daytona to see my dad. We head back to the boat tomorrow to finish this up.

Only 5 more travel days until we are home. I can’t believe it! I think I’m ready. I’m definitely getting there.

11/25/2023

What a wonderful Thanksgiving! This year was southern style with people coming in from all over the US to be together with family.

We had a two part day, starting at Mike’s mom’s side for lunch Thanksgiving, then going to dinner Thanksgiving with his dad’s side. Lots of people. Lots of food. Lots of love. It was wonderful to see Joyce, Hallie and Jean again- somehow I didn’t get one picture:(. :(

Other than eating, we fished… and ate. Then we fished some more. That pretty much wraps up our holiday in Decatur.

I finally met the last of Mike’s children, Lauren (and her husband Ben). Very cute and happy couple. They are a great match, Ben likes to fish and Lauren has a knack for catching them.

All around a wonderful week with wonderful people.

11/19/2023

Wilson lock filling.

11/19/2023

We are in Decatur, Yay!!!

So very excited to be spending Thanksgiving with family and just relaxing. We are ready.

It was an early morning today, up at 5. The first lock wanted us there by 6am as they already had barge traffic lined up and ready to go. Once they start them it takes hours to clear and they always have priority. They let us squeak through first thing but we had to wait three hours at the next lock. That’s the longest we’ve waited on a lock. We’ve been very fortunate. We spent the time exploring some of the off shoots of the lake and those neighborhoods while we waited. It is a beautiful area and the houses are pretty crazy.

Our first lock was another big one and they had it on super fill. It was fast and we made it out at sunrise. Some pretty big logs waiting for us at the top, but an easy day once we were able to get through lock 2.

We are in for a few days and very happy for it.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone ❤️

11/15/2023

Pickwick Lock. This was a huge lock. The only other boat with us is on the wall ahead of us.

11/15/2023

Pickwick Lock.
We think this is what moves the barges forward when they detach the tows to get through the lock.

11/15/2023

Pickwick Lake.

We left Clifton this morning and continued our adventure. More very interesting houses on stilts (housescrapers) along the river. It just looks like it would be so much fun in the summer.

We had one lock today. Pickwick Lock. Very large and thankfully very uneventful. As we are getting closer to the end of this adventure, we appreciate the uneventful days more and more.

Before the lock we started to see a few areas that looked like dump areas into the river. Then we started thinking it was a tornado? Family said they know friends that have flood damage and the house is just hanging, condemned. :( Just like the Nashville bomb waterfront properties that are just sitting… what is going on with insurance anymore?

We are on Pickwick Lake now and it’s like a different world. The houses are huge and amazing. Too big. It’s a beautiful area. You need a rail system to get down to the water. Wow! It’s a totally different world here.

11/14/2023

Tornado?

11/14/2023

Tennessee River

11/13/2023

Paris, Cuba and Tennessee.

Alright, 1st things 1st, we made it out of Nashville alive. 😅 So much fun but way too much stimulation. It has been wonderful to have some easy, short cruising days with no locks and wonderful weather.

We have had short cruise days, about 40 miles (mol) a day. Wake up, read in bed, enjoy coffee and the morning news, SHOWER and then start the day. No rush. No stress.

Our last two marinas were Paris Landing, a gorgeous park in Kentucky and Cuba Landing, in TN. We weren’t even off the boat and we had the keys to a loaner car to go get dinner and run any other errands we had. Cuba Landing was very welcoming.

The Tennessee River is very picturesque. It screams family fun, in a relaxed southern kind of way. The river is lined with covered pads for RV’s and boats. Some have been built up to homes on stilts. It looks like a good mix and I can only imagine the fun on the river in the summer. Another totally different part of our country that we are loving.

Mike cracks me up. We docked the boat today and within minutes he was chitchatting with everyone within half a mile, making new friends. Tonight’s lesson was teaching the kitchen staff of the marina restaurant how to have fun with rope knots. Fun loving and happy:) and I love him for it so much❤️

11/09/2023

😅

11/09/2023

Stacy Mitchart!❤️
Just awesome!

11/09/2023

Our last night in Nashville did not disappoint. We stayed on the boat until 2:30, doing work, scheduling, etc.

At 2:30 we did the Bronco tour with Big E’s. He was so good. We highly recommend. Great history and connections. He got us into Skulls for a private tour. Sad story. Great history lesson about Nashville then and now and he set the stage for the rest of our evening.

After the bronco tour we went to find our favorite band, Wild Bill and the Bruisers. Enjoyed the show and then went back to Skulls as they open for dinner at 5. There was a line to get in. I highly recommend Skulls for dinner and the show. Rack of lamb. Yummy!

We just happened to be right next to the bar hosting Mike’s brother-in-law’s favorite band! Just awesome!!! Stacy Mitchart was fantastic!!! We had great seats and the best night!

I wanted to watch the bull before we left so we made one last stop before calling it a night.

A perfect ending to a fabulous stop.

We came back to the boat and there were 5 boats there! One was a boat we traveled with back on the Hudson River at West Point (No Worries).

Goodbye Nashville❤️

11/08/2023

This guy was fun to watch too.

So much entertainment. One more night to take it all in.

I don’t think we could make it any longer!

We were back to the boat by 8 last night and I felt like we were crawling in at 4am.