10/17/20 – Fort Loudon Marina to Fort Loudon Island Anchorage

Day 36

After the morning fog cleared, we left Fort Loudon Marina about 10 am on Friday, 10/17/20. Once we got out of the marina and headed upriver, we were treated with a spectacular view of the Smoky Mountains ahead of us. We’ve visited the Smokies on several occasions via car, but never via boat until now.

Our first glimpse of the Smoky Mountains up ahead!

As we cruised along, we passed multiple boats sailed by representatives of the Vol Navy, which were on their way to Knoxville for their scheduled home football game the following day. I’d always heard about the Vol Navy, but never quite understood what that meant. Now I know! After yet another stunning travel day, we arrived early at our anchorage in Tellico Lake (behind the island upon which Fort Loudon State Historic Area is located), at 1:00 pm. I was a bit nervous about this anchorage, as it seemed we were sitting right out in the middle of things, but Steve insisted we were way out of the channel and behind an island, for wind protection. We dropped Digney into the water and rode it across Tellico Lake to the Fort Loudon State Historic Area, where we tied-up to a small dock, and enjoyed a self-guided tour. Fort Loudon was first constructed during the French and Indian War in the mid-1700s, and helped Great Britain to prevent the French from penetrating the Appalachian region. All buildings were recreated to represent their original construction. There is a small museum onsite, along with the reconstructed fort. It was yet another incredible weather day, with low humidity and wonderful visibility. I was particularly enamored with the beautiful view seen from the fort’s location, and exclaimed about it on multiple occasions. The grounds of the fort occupy a rather steep hillside, so the different cabins and out buildings were quite a climb from each other, which Steve found senseless, thinking the British should’ve thought things through a little better and leveled the grounds BEFORE they started construction, but my thoughts were that soldiers from the mid-1700s were probably not quite as lazy as we are nowadays. The individual barracks contained six bunk-beds each, with the bed frames being wide enough to sleep two people each, which meant they could house at least 12 men per cabin. I told Steve those cozy accommodations would’ve been more off-putting to me, rather than the hillside upon which they were constructed. But each to his own!