Foscue Creek Campground, Demopolis, Alabama

I am writing this from South Central Arkansas. We have been here on beautiful Lake Ouachita for 10 days. We have really enjoyed our time here. We did see temperatures dip to the low 20's F on Monday and Tuesday. Looking at the weather reports for further north, I am glad we stayed down this far south. We will move north tomorrow. We are excited to see our family up in the Russellville area. That is where we started this trip and that is where we will finish it before moving back to the ranch in about 10 days. I am trying to get caught up on this blog BEFORE I get back to the ranch. I seem to lose interest when we are back to normal life. For now, I get to write about one of my favorite stops on this entire trip.

We left Cotton Hill park on February 10 and quickly crossed into Alabama. We drove across the southern part of the state through Montgomery and then up the historic highway 80 through Selma. This is the famous route that was marched by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his followers. We drove on to Demopolis, Alabama. Foscue Creek campground is a COE park right on the Tombigbee River. I had looked at the sites on line and knew I wanted either site 49, 50, 51 or 52. These 4 sites are right along the river. I was able to reserve site #49 at $28 per night with FHU. Why is that so important? you may ask?

Site 49, Foscue Creek Campground

The view from site 49 of the Tombigbee River

The view to the left, downriver to the lock

Let's go back to one of the major reasons we did what we did on this trip. We have this crazy dream to buy a large sailboat and do some of our traveling each year in the boat. Last year, during hurricane season I became concerned what would happen if our boat was in harms way when one of those monsters was headed to the US coast. We would have to drop what we were doing and get to the boat to attempt to get it to a safe place. There is also an issue of  insurance. Most insurance will exclude damage caused by a named storm. The best course of action is to spend the 6 months of hurricane season in a safe place. Either north or south of the "hurricane zone". After doing a bunch of research, I have determined that I could motor a boat that could fit under a 52 foot bridge up the river system from Mobile, Alabama through the Tombigbee to the Tenn-Tom waterway on to the Tennessee river and down river to Kentucky Lake in far Eastern Kentucky. Kentucky lake is 120 miles long and a great place to leave the boat for the summer months to sail in relative safety. From there we would only be about 300 miles driving from the Springfield, Missouri area where we have most of our grandkids and other friends and family.

You might not be aware of the Tenn-Tom waterway. This is a large canal system that was finished in 1984. It is the largest construction project ever done by man. It was controversial when it was under construction, but has since proved it was a very good idea. It starts in Demopolis and goes north 234 miles. It has 10 locks and dams.

This route is part of the Great Loop if you are familiar with that.

Demopolis also has a large marina and boat yard. I went to visit this yard and talked to the owner. Their pricing is very good for many of the goods and services I may need. This would be an excellent place to get work done after a sailing season in the gulf or down further south.

While we were at Foscue Creek, I enjoyed the hiking trails and walking all over the area. I even went to the local COE office and gathered information about the river and waterway. I came away from this visit with all the information I needed to know this was a viable plan. We also enjoyed watching the barge traffic on the river. There was a lock just downstream from the park, so it was common to see two barges passing each other as one was leaving the lock heading upstream and a downstream barge was going into the lock.

The barges operated well into the night. They were an eery site as they quietly passed. First you would see large spotlights well before they arrived and then you would just see lights as they cruised through the water.

I loved to look out over the calm river. I would imagine myself at the helm of my boat cruising slowly through the glassy water.

I loved the reflection of the trees in the smooth water

The view upstream to the city of Demopolis, Alabama.

We had a big thunderstorm blow through while we were at Foscue Creek. The next day, there were lots of logs and other debris in the water. We enjoyed watching the egrets hitching a ride on the logs.

We even had a nice sunset after the big storm.

We had a great time at Foscue Creek Campground. The experience may not be the same for others that are not interested in the river and where you can go from here. The answer is: Anywhere!

In my next entry the journey west continues through Mississippi and then Louisiana.