Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee River via Kentucky Lake

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We were very glad to have left the Mississippi, it was very windy and the waves were about 5 feet - lots of spray and quite cold. At Cairo, Ill., the Mississippi is joined from the east by the Ohio River; we went NORTH for about 47 miles to Paducah, Kentucky. In 1948 the Atomic Energy Commission selected Paducah as the site for a new Uranium Enrichment Plant (the only one in America, we have been told). It is a very cute little town and we spent out last evening with our new German friends there. From there we went down the Tennessee River. The Tennessee was much prettier than the Mississippi and the Ohio. We are enjoying the ride again. The Tennessee River system is about 144 miles shorter than traveling down the Mississippi (via New Orleans).

In 1540, Hernando DeSoto’s Spanish expedition traveled the Tennessee River. For the next two hundred years Indian settlements remained virtually undisturbed in the Tennessee Valley.

Musselman: We have come across several mussel boats on the river. The shells were harvested for buttons until the mid-1950s when button makers shifted to plastic. The industry declined until the 1970s when the Japanese began buying the shells for the cultured pearl industry. Mother-of-pearl beads are made from the mussel shells and inserted into oysters. To "catch" the mussels, they mastered a method that uses brails, which are poles or boards rigged with a fringe of short chains to which "hooks" are attached. Each hook, made from wire, has four relatively straight prongs. The end of each prong has been heated with an acetylene torch to create a small knob or bead. When the brails are lowered over the side of a boat and are pulled along the bottom of the river, the mussels clamp down on the beaded ends.

Lifesaver: When we entered one of the locks we spotted a deer swimming with us while the lockmaster lifted us 52 feet up the river. When they opened the lock we chased the deer out with us and saw it swimming to shore. The poor thing jumped out of happiness and relief to be able to see another stunning sunset. What a day (for the deer!!!) – and Chris and I were very happy about it, too.