June 13, 2010
The interior, where I lay and sweat at night.
AHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh. Air conditioning! Big comfy, fluffy king-sized bed! A real shower! Oh bliss! My visit to Nereus was short and not sweet enough!
In case you hadn’t guessed, I’m at the Clarion in Birmingham, AL. I fly out at 8:00 am. Going home.
After I cooled off and showered, I spent some time in Demopolis. It is a very pretty old town. There’s a history here that is interesting. It looks like it was really quite a place a long time ago. But now, there just not much left of it. I saw the sights, revisited the Demopolis Lock & Damn, which we went through when we brought Nereus up here. On a Saturday afternoon, it felt like I had the whole town to myself. There was nothing going on here and nothing was open.
The bowsprit is shot.
I went back to the New Orleans Bar & Grill for dinner late. I ordered their “Smothered Rib-eye.” Holy moly! A giant steak covered with mushrooms, onions, and three cheeses, plus a salad, baked potato, and broccoli. WOW. I could feel my arteries clog as I looked at it. Unfortunately, I ate the whole thing!
When I finished, I took a last walk on the docks, trying to walk off some of that steak. I was really surprised when I saw the Niagara Prince side tied down at the fuel dock. Last we saw them we were just coming out of Locks 34 & 35 on the Erie Canal in 2004 and they were heading in. I talked with one of the deck hands who told me they were doing a heartland tour and just waiting for their guests to return from their Demopolis excursion. Fun.
Surprise find: Niagara Price
One thing I’ll digress about, briefly: When planning our cruise, the hardest part was finding reliable information on marinas and port. I’ll take a paragraph and put in a plug for Demopolis Yacht Basin. The continue to be terrific, but it is worth noting they are seriously upgrading. The field to the north of Nereus is being dug out and they are building a HUGE marina facility here. The oil spill in the Gulf has driven a lot of additional boat traffic up here and they are full. Future cruisers, however, can take note of these facilities and plan accordingly. Here’s a link to the project.
I had everything I could packed. I got up at 6:00 am, pulled the power, locked up and got the hell out of there. I drove back through to Tuscaloosa and got off at the same exit – this time a southern favorite Waffle House. Then the rest of the way back to here for my shower and a nap. I’ll be home tomorrow. Now, time to go check out Birmingham. Let’s see, where’s there a HOOTERS?
– Steve