CADIZ, KY TO DOVER ISLAND, TN

Friday, August 29th, 2014

Day 25
Miles Traveled: 32
Total Miles Traveled: 675


  We enjoyed a lot of beautiful scenery and saw a lot of wildlife on Lake Barkley.  Most of the day's cruising was along the shores of Kentucky and Tennessee wildlife refuges.  There are many islands on Lake Barkley and one section is often called the "Thousand Islands of the Cumberland".  It was very important to pay close attention to the navigation buoys is this section of the "lake" to avoid running onto a sand bar.

"Thousand Islands of the Cumberland"

  Most of the wildlife that we saw were birds, but we did see a couple deer running on one of the islands.  The most common birds seen were seagulls and great egrets, but we did catch some views of ospreys (one was eating his catch of the day).

Great Egret

Seagulls on small rock island

Osprey eating his catch

 Fort Donelson, the site of the first major victory for the Union, is along the Cumberland River shoreline.  The battle took place from Feb 11th to 16th, 1862 with General Ulysess S. Grant defeating General Simon B. Buckner, thus earning him major general status and the nickname "Unconditional Surrender Grant".  

Fort Donelson

  The Surrender House, also known as the Dover Hotel, lies just upriver from the battle site.  It was built in 1851 and was the headquarters of General Buckner during this famous battle. 

Dover Hotel/Surrender House

  As we cruised further along, the river became more narrow and the islands disappeared - giving it the appearance of a river and not a lake.  
  Just upriver from Dover, TN is Dover Island and it was a quiet and calm anchorage.