{"id":2503,"date":"2024-08-16T16:35:43","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T20:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/?p=2503"},"modified":"2024-08-16T16:35:44","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T20:35:44","slug":"paducah-ky-to-green-turtle-bay-grand-rivers-ky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/?p=2503","title":{"rendered":"Paducah, KY to Green Turtle Bay, Grand Rivers, KY"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our travels today are only 42 miles. We will journey up the Ohio River, turn into the Cumberland River, rise through Barkley Lock and arrive to Green Turtle Bay on Lake Barkley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We leave Paducah behind anticipating our goal of crossing our own wake at the mouth of the Cumberland River.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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At the gold star, we will officially become gold loopers! It is at this confluence of the Cumberland and Ohio Rivers that we will cross our wake with our initial voyage from Cincinnati, Ohio. (This blog only records our journey from Dunedin, FL to our wake crossing. The story of our trip from Cincinnati to Key West, FL can be found at https:\/\/cincinnaticrazy8.blogspot.com\/<\/a> .)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

To mark this momentous occasion, we stop and change our burgees. The white one indicated we are in the process of “looping” and the gold burgee means we are officially “looped”!<\/p>\n\n\n

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We did it!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Our journey is highlighted in yellow. The red line shows the possible loop routes. Approximately 150 people each year complete the loop. Our journey was approximately 7,500 miles, passing through roughly 224 locks and countless bodies of water! We are not the typical looper, who usually accomplishes the loop in one year. We had no time frame and took our time (10 years), often leaving the boat for extended times as we headed home. With no deadlines, we were able to enjoy different areas of the country for extended periods.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Once we complete our photo shoot and the high fives, we resume our journey on the Cumberland River. The first impression of the Cumberland River in not a scenic one. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Rock quarries line the river<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

However, as we venture further along the Cumberland River, it becomes quite panoramic with the green forest lined hills engulfing the river below.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Despite it being a Sunday, there is not much river traffic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We pass an occasional barge, but not much pleasure craft.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We have one lock to deal with today, and it’s a biggie!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It is our first lock in which we are sporting some gold! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The Barkley lock, unique from many of the others, will lift us UP<\/em><\/strong> approximately 57 feet to Lake Barkley. Between the mucky walls and the floating dead fish, the inside of the lock is quite odorously putrid. I quickly attach our line to the floating bollard and head inside Prime 11, avoiding \ud83e\udd2e!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The doors close, the water fills, and we rise up to beautiful Lake Barkley!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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AH! Fresh air!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The construction of the Barkley Dam, along with the Kentucky Dam, formed the Land Between the Lakes Recreational Area. By stopping the flow of water of the Tennessee River and the Cumberland River, two lakes were formed: Lake Barkley and the Kentucky Lake – with land between them!<\/p>\n\n\n

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There is one intersecting canal between both lakes. This 1.5 mile Barkley Canal allows boaters to cross between both lakes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Leaving Paducah, loopers have a choice to make. They can either go up the Tennessee River, through the Kentucky Dam and into the Kentucky Lake or they can leave Paducah and head up the Cumberland River, go though the Barkley Lock into Lake Barkley then take the intersecting canal into Kentucky Lake. We chose to take the Cumberland River. Although this route is 33 miles longer, it also has less commercial traffic and hence less potential for lock delays.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Illustration of both river routes from Paducah.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Once leaving the lock, we do not have far to travel before we arrive to Green Turtle Bay Marina.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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While we are not on the lake long, the houses we pass along our way are gorgeous!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We arrive to Green Turtle Bay Marina and Resort.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Green Turtle Marina and Resort has everything you need! They have two restaurants, two pools, rental condos, covered boat slips ( if available), boat repair facilities, full spa, and even pickleball!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As their name suggests, there are turtles everywhere!<\/p>\n\n\n

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We walk to the resort’s restaurant, aptly named Thirsty Turtle, for a quick bite. It is bingo night, and lucky Captain Tom wins the first bingo of the night. He is awarded with outdoor wine glasses! <\/p>\n\n\n

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A thirst quenching win!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The resort offers golf cart rentals for $90 a day. We opt to use the loaner car, for $0 a day, to make a trip into the nearest town, Grand Rivers, about a mile away. Given the heat of this July day, and our goal of purchasing groceries, a vehicle is the preferred mode of transportation to and from town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grand Rivers is a small town, 1.9 square miles, with a population of 380+ people. It’s location, on the isthmus of land between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, is a haven for boating enthusiasts and outdoor recreationalists. They have a small grocery store along with several boutiques and restaurants.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Grocery, cafe, and liquor store all in one!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The largest tourist attraction in Grand Rivers by far is Patty’s Settlement. What started out in 1975 as an ice cream parlor has morphed into quite an establishment. Despite the fire on February 5, 2017 which destroyed a large part of their business leading to its complete demolition, Patty’s has risen from the ashes bigger and better. On November 27, 2019, Patty’s reopened. Today, besides their large restaurant, known for savory pork chops, they now have an inn with 58 rooms, a bed and breakfast, boutiques, moonshine store, mini golf, beautiful gardens and even a chapel for weddings. We, being tourists, naturally venture to Patty’s for lunch. We arrive at 11:30 am and have an 1 1\/2 hour wait. Luckily there is plenty to see within the settlement while we wait.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Patty’s settlement<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Pink Tractor Boutique – everything they sell is pink!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Moonshine store<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Lush gardens with the largest hanging ferns I have ever seen!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The wedding chapel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While we opted not to have a large pork chop for lunch, Tom did have a tasty burger and I had a flavorful spinach salad with a hot bacon dressing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While our initial plan was to leave Prime 11 at Green Turtle Bay, the unavailability of covered slips changed our decision. We will move further south, searching for a protected slip for Prime 11 to take a much deserved respite.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The sun sets on our looper adventure but our boating travels will continue. We will meander without any destination or direction in mind, allowing desire to be our only guide.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Thanks for sharing our journey by reading these posts! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To mark this momentous occasion, we stop and change our burgees. The white one indicated we are in the process of “looping” and the gold burgee means we are officially “looped”! Once we complete our photo shoot and the high fives, we resume our journey on the Cumberland River. The first impression of the Cumberland…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2503"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2539,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503\/revisions\/2539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatiprime11.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}