January in DMop

It was great fun to go "home for the holidays" as we did not make that journey on our first Loop.  We had a busy social calendar and it was wonderful to see everyone after being gone for the fall.  Once the festivities were over, however, it was time for some warmer weather, so we packed up the van and Lucy and headed back to Demopolis.  It's about 18 hours by car (as opposed to two months by boat) with one overnight stop.  We made it to St. Louis in time to catch part of the sunset from the top of the arch.  Here's the view to the west.  The domed building in the center is old city hall, which is now open as a museum. 

It was only 23 degrees, after dark, and the dock water supply was temporarily shut off when we arrived at the boat the next day.   Brrrr, but just like in MN, it's been an abnormally warm winter here, and it's only dropped into the 20's a couple of nights since.  A few days after we arrived it hit 70 degrees, so we launched the dinghy for a 12 mile trip up the Black Warrior River.  This river flows into the TomBigbee just above Demopolis and we wanted to see what it looked like.  A little gray on the banks this time of year, but it felt good to be out on the water in January !!!

 The river is navigable for 100 miles to Tuscaloosa (Roll Tide) and beyond.  We spent most of our first couple of weeks on boat upkeep (it's always something).  We began to think it would be a rather lonely time here, most of the Loopers are in Florida by now, but then our social life was reborn.  Loopers Kathy and Bob (aka Trip Time) who we cruised with last fall, and Gold Loopers Hal and Cheryl (aka Mas Bueno) who we knew from our Loop arrived within days of each other.  Along with Michelle and John (aka High C's), who are here for a while like us, we have a formed great friendships and had lots of fun.  Cheryl made us Arroz con Pollo (that's chicken with rice) and we dined in the fabulous laundry room. 

A few nights later it was Steve's Jambalaya followed by a delicious pot luck.  We are also finding a few good local restaurants.  Having a car makes a total difference and everything in DMop is within a 3 mile drive.  There's two antebellum (that means before the civil war) mansions in town and we've toured them both.  This is the dining room in Gaineswood. 

Gaineswood was built in stages as the owner's family grew and his cotton plantation prospered.  It sits on several acres and is an impressive site.  

Shingebiss is docked in the last slip on the pier.  We get the morning sun in the salon and frequently see a good sunset. 

We have been getting a huge downpour about once a week, but for the most part the days have been sunny and in the high 60's ... much warmer than we expected.  Lucy is enjoying being outside all day.  She has discovered how to get under the dock decking and travels through the labyrinth on top of the floats.  Here she is preparing to exit her domain by jumping to our swim platform. 

There's a great place to walk just adjacent to our docks, so we often start our day with a brisk walk.  Here's Hal (Mas Buenos) and Steve (Trip Time). 

We thought Trip Time and Mas Bueno would be gone to the Gulf by now, but the recent heavy rains have brought the river up, cresting today so travel is not recommended.  Here's Fred, the ever helpful and friendly marina owner.  He's drawing a diagram of the locks and explaining to the captains why they should wait until the water goes down a bit before they travel.  

As the sun goes down, we gather on the dock, trade cruising tales and all agree:  Life is Good !!!