Buchanan, Tennessee - Day 2 (Paris Landing State Park Marina)

We met up with Alan again today and he gave us a personal tour of the park. He showed us another small cemetery on the park grounds. After I mentioned to him my curiosity of the other small cemetery's we've seen in the middle of nowhere within the Land Between The Lakes, he shared a wealth of knowledge on the subject.  In fact, his family traces back at least 5 generations to that area.  His parents are actually volunteer caretakers of all the cemetery's in Land Between The Lakes on the Tennessee side! They keep fallen trees and debris removed from the small cemetery's.  They have also put forth the efforts to not only preserve but to get the Veteran's who are buried there the proper Military headstones for recognition of their service. (More importantly, they are the family members that retain "claim" to these.)  As I researched the take over of this land further, I found this small victory for the original landowners being forced out, "..One of the few victories the land owners had was the concession to allow us to continue to use our cemeteries as long as the families maintained them; otherwise they would be allowed to disappear into the forest and we would lose all claim to them." Now, I completely understand and deeply appreciate Alan's family for continuing the effort to maintain and preserve their family's grave sites along with neighboring community grave sites. Alan did mention that now his parents are aging and he will take over the duties of preserving these sites. He will be the sole family member keeping these small grave sites protected (and claimed)  from simply disappearing into the forest.

Who knew?!

Land Between The Lakes History:

This area was once known as the land “Between The Rivers”.  It is comprised of 170,000 acres between the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.  The area, now known as “Land Between The Lakes (LBL)”, was once home to more than 800 families which were forcibly removed by the power of eminent domain. Only the 250 cemeteries were left undisturbed. This land is now the largest inland peninsula in the United States.

Click below for a very moving account of families being removed by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to form what is now known as Land Between The Lakes: I feel it would be a shame to not learn of their plight.
http://www.betweentherivers.org/dnickell.html

Additional historical information:
http://www.grandrivers.org/notes.shtml
http://www.betweentherivers.org/index.html
http://www.betweentherivers.org/cemetery/index.html

Alan then drove us to the Raptor Sanctuary where birds of prey are cared for and rehabilitated then returned back into the wild. We were able to see a few owls up close being cared for! Thanks so much, Alan!
Later, we enjoyed a hike and saw many white tail deer and a very loud woodpecker.

Many of the graves here and in Land Between The Lakes are designated only by an unmarked stone.  A large number have no headstones at all.

Engraving reads: "Her happy soul has winged its way To one pure bright eternal day." Mary Lemonds 1848 - 1881

Alan and Charlie at the Raptor Sanctuary.

Recuperating owl.

Safe flying area for the birds.

Tennessee Geocache, "check".

Yes, it was.

Lantana's never grow this big in Texas!

Looking out at the beautiful State Park cabins across the river.

Coast Guard Station here at the park. These guys take care of the buoys along the river system and we appreciate them.

Looks like huge sunglasses.

Houseboat

Beautiful sunset illuminating the bridge piers.

Who knew?!

Founded in 1945, Paris Landing State Park was named after an old steamboat and freight landing on the Tennessee River.  In the 1800s, the river landing was an important spot for the delivery of goods to serve the settlements of the region and shipping point for produce and other agricultural products.

Buchanan, Tennessee (Paris Landing State Park Marina)

We traveled 7.45 NM today to Paris Landing State Park Marina and Resort, Buchanan, Tennessee. We were driven to the Inn for lunch by the Dock Employee, Alan, and driven back to the marina by the Park Ranger.  Lunch was great! This State Park Marina and Resort is hoping to win the bid for the AGLCA Fall Rendezvous next year. We think it would be a fantastic location for it! Fingers crossed they win the bid!

Thank you for the ride!

Dining room view (overcast skies and cold today).

Lower section is summer water level mark. Top is dam height.  The water levels in this lake have already been adjusted to winter levels which are approximately 5' lower than summer pool levels.

We are "here"...

... which is "here".

Garmin is happy!

At port.

Dry Fork Bay, Tennessee - Days 1 - 2

Thursday, October 1, 2015
Friday, October 2, 2015

We traveled 17.5 NM to Dry Fork Bay, TN and anchored in a beautiful cove in Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area.  We shared the cove with two other Loopers the first day, and only one the second.  We enjoyed exploring the trails. We spotted a few Bald Eagles. We came upon an old cemetery with unmarked graves on a beautiful hill overlooking the water. We are having a great time anchoring out and dink'in around!

Anchorage.

I thought this tree root was a snake!

We are "here"...

...which is "here".

Lil-Dub is loving this!

Zoom zoom!

Unmarked Graves.

Beautiful resting place for this small cemetery. When I researched this cemetery and Nichell's Cemetery from our visit a few days ago this is what I found: "Before modern transpiration and developed road systems, many families buried their dead on small family plots or in community church cemeteries.  There are more than 240 known cemeteries in Land Between The Lakes.  These cemeteries are remnants of the communities that existed prior to the creation of Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake, pre - 1938."

Got Moonshine?!  Charlie does!