Green Turtle Bay Marina and Land Between the Lakes

After two days at the Kentucky Dam Marina, we cruised the short distance over to Green Turtle Bay Marina on Lake Barkley. The Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers come within close proximity to each other, and the land in the middle is appropriately called Land Between the Lakes (LBL). Dams were built to control flooding, which resulted in Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. These lakes are actually very wide places in their respective rivers.

LBL is partly in Kentucky and partly in Tennessee. There is a very large national recreation land, managed by the Forest Service. It has a planetarium, The Home Place (a working 1850's farm), a prairie with bison and elk, and lots of camping and hiking places. Rusty and Betty (from The Cooper) borrowed a marina van and invited us to go explore. We went first to the planetarium - which was awesome.

The Home Place is an authentic 1850s farm, with most of the buildings being original. Everything within the buildings is either original or faithfully reproduced. Several "interpreters" in authentic period dress go through the daily chores and will happily explain what they are doing and why. You really come away with a sense of how the people lived.

We have had two fabulous meals here, and one night of sing-along fun. Patti's 1880s Settlement is famous in these parts for their 2" pork chop. I couldn't eat that much, but the 1" chop was the best I have ever eaten! The next night, we had a very unique experience. Chef Marilyn Kunz loves to cook and to teach people to cook. She has a teaching kitchen set up in her house. When she is not teaching cooking, she serves dinner in her kitchen. Some of the loopers found her place and ten of us went there for dinner last night. Her menu changes monthly - and this month is Oktoberfest! We had excellent German food, including apple streudel, in a fun setting. Marilyn talked with us as her chores would allow and told great stories of running restaurants and cooking.

The sing-along was at the Yacht Club here at the marina. Bob (from Spirit Dancer) played the guitar, and was later joined by a friend of his who also had a guitar. We had a great time with lots of other loopers. There are between 15 and 20 looper boats here right now, but over the next few days we will scatter again. The Cooper left yesterday and we will be leaving today. We are heading towards Chattanooga along the Tennessee River. We will update as we can!

The marinas around here rent party barges

and houseboats

This is the really luxury edition

Coming into Green Turtle Bay, we found our friends on The Cooper. We actually ended up taking their slip and giving them ours, because ours was too narrow for us.

A looper sing-along

Bob DeGroot from Spirit Dancer

Bob was joined by a friend

He brought his own back-up singers

Going into the reception center for The Home Place

These old instruments were for sale - beautiful!

Some crops were left out to dry

This is the "second-generation" residence. It is the larger cabin built for a growing family.

Breezeway through the middle

A typical bedroom - a few comforts because this was an established farm and the owners had some goods and money to trade for a few luxuries.

Our interpreter was shelling the dried beans

She showed us wool in various stages of processing

A trundle and a cat

The quilt frame could be taken down when not in use

Preserved foods were stored in these crocks

This is how you preserved beans before mason jars

The smoke house

The vegetable garden is just about done

This young man was making a child's chair

Patti's Restaurant

Rusty and Steve

Beth and Betty

At Marilyn's for Oktoberfest

Mark and Terri from Terrmar IV and Kemba and Bob from Spirit Dancer

Marilyn Kunz - our chef!

Be jealous - be very jealous!