Alabama: Joe Wheeler State Park to Huntsville

Day 117
NM Today: 48  (~55 statute miles equivalent)
NM Total: 2325 (~2676 statute miles)
Locks Today: 0
Locks Total: 85

We decided to go for a slightly longer day today and go directly to Huntsville, Alabama from Joe Wheeler State Park instead of looking for an intermediate stop along the way.  We got underway at 9:00 and pulled into dock six hours later.

The landscape along the way offered impressive opportunities for photos today.

Looking upriver on the Tennessee River

Close up of the rocky shore

Today was a day for interesting bridges.  From looks, the railroad bridge crossing over the Tennessee River looked like any other, but the cruising guide provided its historical relevance.  The current railroad bridge stands in the same place as the original Memphis & Charleston Railroad Bridge that was burned in 1862 to stop a Confederate advance.

When we docked at the Ditto Landing Marina, we were greeted by a feathered complainer who honked at us repeatedly for disturbing his peace.

Honk! Honk! Honk!

When we signed in at the marina office, the person on duty told us that a bike trail runs through the area, so we were anxious to go out to explore.  We had a slight delay on our expedition, however, as I had a delightful call from Heather, my daughter-in-law.  We talked for over an hour and got caught up on what's new.

After the call I went to find Clark for our bike ride and found him asleep on the bench seat on the fly bridge.  I guess all the long days of meetings took their toll on him as well as me, but it took a little longer to catch up to him.  I did my napping yesterday.  He woke up when I came up, and he somewhat reluctantly agreed to get up for the planned bike ride.  After the last couple of places with hilly terrain, the landscape here was superb for bike riding - mostly flat with a little up and down to make life interesting.

The first part of our bike ride we traveled around the immediate area near the marina and found more bridges to admire.

Closed Bridge Over Aldridge Creek
tributary to Tennessee River

Bridge over the Tennessee River

Like Tennessee, Alabama is rich in military history.  Most of the military history I have seen has related to the Civil War, but today I came across this marker for the War of 1812 stating the significance of Ditto Landing where troops were ferried across the river.  The marker mentions Andrew Jackson and Davy Crockett specifically. Ditto Landing is named for James Ditto - a pioneer who operated a ferry at this spot to help settlers move into the area.

Ditto Landing - War of 1812 Historical Marker

 After circumnavigating the marina by bike, we were able to get a good picture of Sea Moss at dock with several other looper boats - some of which attended the rendezvous and some that did not.  Among those here now are JimKat, Sea to See, Pearl, Melinda B, Reflection, and Liquid Assets.  I guess taking the side trip to Chattanooga is popular with loopers.

Sea Moss at Dock at Ditto Landing Marina
(on the right with the light blue hull area just at water level)

After the trip around the marina, we headed off to find the bike trail that we had been promised.  We found it but not the food store that is reportedly somewhere if we go far enough.  By asking some pedestrians on the trail we learned that we had to go another two miles beyond the distance we had already covered to get to the store.  As it was getting late we did not venture that far today.  Shown below are some of the awesome pictures that Clark managed to take along the bike trail.

Autumn in Huntsville, Alabama

Sunset through the trees in Huntsville, AL

Bridge over the Bike Trail Catches the last rays of sun for the day

Old Trestle Bridge over Bike Path

The only not-so-awesome part of the bike ride was the bugs that came out at sunset.  When the sun started going down, I took off my sunglasses only to find that the bugs wanted to fly into my eyes as I rode along.  Even though it got quite dark in shaded areas, I decided to put my sunglasses back on and kept them on.  At one time I almost inhaled some sort of flying bug, so I got a bandanna out of my satchel and put it over my mouth.  That worked quite well as then I could breath without fear of swallowing something unsavory.

I am not sure exactly how far we traveled, but it was something close to 6 miles all told, and we even managed to get back to the boat before full sundown.  After we got the bikes stowed on board, I set to and made dinner.  After dinner I looked online in Google to see what the tourist attractions are in Huntsville. Two of interest for tomorrow include the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and Big Spring Park.  The space center is about a half hour away from the marina.  Big Spring Park is in downtown Huntsville and the place where John Hunt founded the city in 1805.  Neither are accessible by bicycle.  We pick up a rental car tomorrow to help us get around to see the sites.

If after those two items we still have any time / energy left over, I will either do my laundry or go for another awesome bike ride or both depending on how time goes.