Many times people will ask us how do we get around once we have our boat docked at the marina.
Most of the marinas where we stay, either have a restaurant on the premises or close by. Of course if it’s close by, we just walk on over with our little legs. Last year we rented a Golf Cart to explore Put-in-Bay. We visited Crystal Cave and Percy’s Cave, rode around the island and had dinner at The Goat. When we were at Green Turtle Bay Resort and Marina in Grand Rivers, Kentucky, Patti’s 1880’s Settlement House Restaurant sent over a Golf Cart to pick us up and take us back to our boat.
If the restaurant isn’t close enough to walk to, then we might borrow the marinas, “Courtesy Vehicle”. We have used the “Courtesy Vehicle” to do our provisioning as well. And I love the fact that the “Courtesy Vehicles” have the name of the marina on them. We usually shop/provision at Walmart as they tend to be all over the areas we are exploring. And think about how big the parking lot is at Walmart! How many times have you come out of a store in a familiar place and wondered, Where did I park my car? At least the vans are easier to find as the name and the logo are on the side! Sometimes the marina will drive a group over to provision if you make an appointment.
We have some pretty cool light weight bikes that fold up and are fairly easy to store on the boat. Pete always carries them up the stairs, down the stairs and over to the dock. We have used them to get some exercise, explore, get coffee, go to a grocery store that’s not too far away, and to a restaurant as well.
We have friends Ginger and Dave who live in the Tellico Lake area which is about 30 miles from Knoxville. They came to pick us up when we were in Chattanooga and took us to their place to boat around their beautiful lake, visit Ft. Loudoun and spend the night.
When we were in Chattanooga, we took advantage of their free bus service and went around the city and stopped at the area known as the Choo-choo area. We transferred buses there and went to the very steep, Incline Railway.
We have rented cars from Enterprise a few times especially when we have had some boat gremlins. We made it to Nashville with the rental when we had some Battery Charging issues. When someone’s big butt dislodged the Port engine computer and we were stuck for a week, we rented a car to explore the Tri-state area of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama.
And then when it was time to come home, we rented a U-Haul Truck to get us from Huntsville, Alabama back to warm and cheerful, Centerville, Ohio. But right now it’s not too warm here! Notice the ice scraper in Pete’s hand! Brr! – Feels like winter!
