6-20-2012, Lake Barkley State Park Marina, Mile 59.0+

Wednesday:  Another beautiful day on the river.  We went 33.4 miles to Lake Barkley State Park which is 2 miles up the Little River.  We got here early in the afternoon and this evening we ate at the Hotel restaurant.  It was very good; you could order the buffet or off the menu.  It is a beautiful old Hotel built in 1966.  On our way up the Cumberland we got gas here and then went a short ways to a nice anchorage but we decided to stay at the marina this time.  Very good rates at .85 a foot and their fuel is just $3.86 a gallon where most every where else on the Cumberland it is $4.50 to $5.00.  I even got five TV stations here.

We only passed one tow today but it was a big and heavy one.  He was pushing 15 barges all full with 15,000 tons of coal each and he was heading for the TVA Steam Plant at Mile 103 in Cumberland City.  Wow, 225,000 tons is a lot to push!

N36 51.127
W87 56.316

CO's comments:  Last time in here, I should have left a track on my chart plotter but I didn't and we had some difficulty finding the channel and markers.  This time I left a track so we can follow it on the way out.  It is a little alarming when you are in 27 feet of water and in a split second you are only in 6 feet of water.   This is a very nice marina but the yearly rate for a slip is twice what we paid at Pebble Isle on the Tennessee River.

Fort Donaldson National Battlefield at Mile 88 on the Cumberland River.  The guns are pointed downriver where they were placed by confederates to defend the fort against union troop in 1862.   They badly damaged the union fleet but the fort was eventually encircled and 13,000 confederate troops were forced to surrender after a bloody battle.

View from the Lake Barkley Hotel loft just outside the restaurant.