We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Green Turtle Bay. Not only did we do the necessary boat repairs, maintenance and reprovisioning, but we had plenty of time daily for walks around GTB and into Grand Rivers. My long walks usually involve finding a bakery and my internal GPS (Get Peggy Sugar) led me to the Sugar and Spice Cookie Shop where German cookies were featured for Oktoberfest and the Lite Side Café which had a huge selection of “healthy” muffins.
Grand Rivers is located in Livingston County which is a “dry county”—no bars or liquor stores at all. They could definitely not do this in Wisconsin! We went to the Commonwealth Yacht Club which has a way around this restriction—patrons bring their own alcohol and put it in the liquor lockers and then set-ups are provided from the Club.
We rented a car for Fri-Sun and explored the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation area. This area is steeped in history. When the Jackson Purchase was made in the 1830’s, the Cherokee were displaced and forced on the Trail of Tears march 1500 miles to the west. KY remained neutral during the Civil War but Tennessee was the last state to join the Confederacy. There was a lot of guerilla warfare in this area.
Do you remember learning about the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) in grade school? The TVA literally shaped the land, water and destiny of this entire area. Due to the perennial flooding in this area and the need for navigatable waters to carry goods, dams were placed on the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers in this area. Whole towns were moved to higher ground while many others were flooded by the dam waters to a height of 359 feet above sea level. From the 1930’3 through the 1960’s, 7,000 families were dispossessed by the Right of Eminent Domain to make way for the Kentucky and Barkley dams. The project was even more ambitious than the building of the Panama Canal.
The Land Between the Lakes Park is also stunningly beautiful. We did 5-8 mile hikes daily through the rolling forested hills. There is a Prairie Bison and Elk area with about 90 animals total but we found our Elk walking across a parking lot. There is not much color change yet and the dry conditions might effect the change this year
There are 200 family cemeteries in the park. Families come back to hold reunions and to tend this sacred ground as a way of maintaining their connection with the land and their ancestors.
Grand Rivers is located in Livingston County which is a “dry county”—no bars or liquor stores at all. They could definitely not do this in Wisconsin! We went to the Commonwealth Yacht Club which has a way around this restriction—patrons bring their own alcohol and put it in the liquor lockers and then set-ups are provided from the Club.
We rented a car for Fri-Sun and explored the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation area. This area is steeped in history. When the Jackson Purchase was made in the 1830’s, the Cherokee were displaced and forced on the Trail of Tears march 1500 miles to the west. KY remained neutral during the Civil War but Tennessee was the last state to join the Confederacy. There was a lot of guerilla warfare in this area.
Do you remember learning about the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) in grade school? The TVA literally shaped the land, water and destiny of this entire area. Due to the perennial flooding in this area and the need for navigatable waters to carry goods, dams were placed on the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers in this area. Whole towns were moved to higher ground while many others were flooded by the dam waters to a height of 359 feet above sea level. From the 1930’3 through the 1960’s, 7,000 families were dispossessed by the Right of Eminent Domain to make way for the Kentucky and Barkley dams. The project was even more ambitious than the building of the Panama Canal.
The Land Between the Lakes Park is also stunningly beautiful. We did 5-8 mile hikes daily through the rolling forested hills. There is a Prairie Bison and Elk area with about 90 animals total but we found our Elk walking across a parking lot. There is not much color change yet and the dry conditions might effect the change this year
There are 200 family cemeteries in the park. Families come back to hold reunions and to tend this sacred ground as a way of maintaining their connection with the land and their ancestors.
