A lovely Saturday

Considering that our Saturdays are usually pretty laid back, today was rather busy. We took our first ride on the new Tennessee Aquarium River Explorer. The Aquarium opened a new attraction last spring - a high-speed catamaran-hulled boat to take visitors into the Tennessee River Gorge. We decided to wait until cooler weather set in before giving the new boat a try. In the last newsletter, the Aquarium listed a Hawk Watch into the Gorge for today, so we signed up.

The River Explorer is relatively small, so the 50 or so passengers are seated comfortably with great visibility. The boat can go amazingly fast - about 50-55 mph - and can stop very quickly. Passengers are not allowed out of the cabin unless the boat has slowed down to its crusing speed. There is no seating on top, and it's relatively crowded when many of the passengers are on the viewing platform. Unfortunately, we didn't see many birds, mostly great blue herons, turkey and black vultures, but only one red-tailed hawk. The guides were very knowledgeable about the birds and wildlife, and also about the local history and sights along the river. We had gorgeous weather, and it's such a treat to be able to see the Gorge from the river. We'll definitely recommend this one (as all the other attractions at the Aquarium).

This evening, John rowed this afternoon, and his rowing partner and her husband came over for dinner. We had hamburgers, and a delightful evening on the deck. There's not much better than good food and good friends.

Tonight's photos were taken in the Tennessee River Gorge this morning.