Green Turtle Bay Resort and Marina in Grand Rivers, Kentucky

Monday we left Paducah to head to our next stop at Green Turtle Bay Resort. The anticipated rain held off until after we got there at 2:30. There are 2 routes to Grand Rivers from Paducah. You can take the Tennessee River or the Cumberland River. A lock was closed on the Tennessee so we took the Cumberland, which we had wanted to anyway so that worked out. The first 3 photos below show the entry to the Cumberland from the Ohio and a town called Smithland. I was intrigued by the mansion there so took a photo and a map snapshot from above. I found out later it was built by a Smith that owned a large paving company. Also found out from a local at the resort that it was then bought by a Kentucky native who made it big in crypto currency, but then committed a horrible crime in New York and so the house was raided by the FBI a few months ago. You can google that for an interesting story. We thought it would be a little less traffic, but the barges that would have been on the Tennessee obviously joined us on the Cumberland. There is one lock on this route and it is just before Green Turtle Bay. We didn't have too long of a wait, though, and went through with several other small boats. When we came out of the lock we saw a very large cargo ship, the ULA and were glad we did not encounter it on the Cumberland due to its size. We looked it up and it is called United Launch Alliance and transports rockets from Decatur,AL to Cape Canaveral FL. Interesting! Our friend from home, Todd , also arrived when we did and we all went to the famous restaurant in the area called Patti's 1880s Settlement. Known for 2 inch thick pork chops, flower pot bread, and mile high meringue pies. It also is a recreated historical log cabin village. Outdoor shops were closed but they have lights all year round and already have Christmas lights so we walked around and looked at those.

So we stayed in Green Turtle Bay until Friday. It was restful to be in one place for awhile. The resort is very nice and a great place for boating and fishing. They have a lot of condos and homes of various sizes that can be rented. And lots of boats to rent, even the 2 decker pontoons with slides. It would make a great place for a family vacation. A favorite spot was The Tiki Turtle restaurant. It has a large outdoor area with lots of separate tiki huts with tables. It's right on the water and you can get there by boat. The resort also has a spa where I got my nails done, and a couple restaurants, and it is close to Grand Rivers and a few other towns. They have a courtesy car so we were able to go into town for errands and dinner. So with the extra time we were able to catch up on laundry and workouts and walking. They sell turtle food too and I got a photo of one when we fed them (not the best photo I know). We also had time to get the second boat issue looked out. The generator needed a new fuel filter as the old one caused a diesel leak. Now we will be ready next time we need to anchor! The resort has a webcam so our daughter Caitlin got a snap shot of our boat from the webcam. We still have a lot of time to head south so we decided to take a side trip to Clarksville and Nashville! More on that fun trip in the next blog!