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Travel Spotlight: Pickwick, Tennessee

Travel Spotlight:

Pickwick Lake, Tennessee

 

Once in a blue moon, you happen across a place that feels like home. A place that, for no apparent reason at all, strikes just the right tune in a song you never knew you needed to hear. That place for my family is Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee river. Depending on what area you call home, you might call Pickwick Tennessee, Alabama, or Mississippi. Truth be told, all would be correct (depending on where you’ve landed on the water).

 

To say that my first river trip gave me a bit of culture shock might be an understatement. Doctors and Lawyers are tied to skilled tradesmen and stay at home moms. Grandparents tie up to new young couples just hoping their boat will make it down river. Once you make it to a cove to anchor out for a day of sun and socializing, you’re likely to find a million dollar yacht tied beside a fishing boat or flat bottomed house boat. You’ll see jet skis and paddle boarders navigating around Pontoons that are older than the lake itself, cabin cruisers chugging down river beside cigar boats, avoiding the Barges as they transport massive shipments of containers to the next port. Once you’ve found a cove (we recommend Wet Stone, Dry Creek, Yellow Creek Waterfall, or Panther), thrown anchor and gotten settled, you’ll see kids playing on giant floats, pets swimming or sunbathing on the boat, and there’s always the occasional drunk uncle saying “hey y’all, watch this!” right before something asinine happens. Don’t worry though, he’ll get his cheers and round of applause from everyone in viewing distance so that it’s only his body that’s bruised, not his ego.

 

“Southern Hospitality” isn’t just a phrase at the lake, it truly is a way of life.

 

Below, you will see snapshots from some of our favorite marinas, coves, and rental properties (but there are so many hidden gems on this waterway that I couldn’t possibly name them all).

 

On Bear Creek you’ll find a small marina that can serve most of your basic lake-cation needs. From ice for your coolers, ethanol free gas for your boat, Junk food and snacks to keep your energy up for watersports, or a vacation house to rent for an extended weekend, both Eastport Marina is ready and able to serve you. Bonus: if you happen to go by Eastport on a Saturday morning in lake season (Memorial day to Labor day), have their pancake breakfast. A good ol’ classic stack with a marina view is a perfect way to start any day trip or full lake weekend. Eastport on Bear Creek has been my home on the river since I started my boating adventures 11 years ago.

 

Bonus stars:

Eastport offers the best deal on Boat Rentals with 150-200hp engines than any other marina we’ve come across. All you need is a boating license and desire to cruise, they’ll provide the rest. (Contact Eastport for availability and pricing prior to arrival.)

 

 

Eastport Marina

 

Shimmy on down the river a bit and you’ll see:

 

JP Coleman State Park

 

This is one of our favorite places to rent a cabin for an extended weekend. If you’re able to find an available cottage, we highly recommend the experience (just remember cottages require a 3 day minimum rental). For about $80 a night you’ll have 2 full bedrooms, a full bath, fully stocked kitchen, and a small living room with satellite channels. You’ll have a cute little porch, a full size picnic table with  a small outdoor grill (the only down side is that the grill is open so you can’t smoke or slow cook anything unless you bring your own grilling equipment), and all of this is walking distance from the water’s edge.

 

Grand Harbor Condominiums & Marina

 

Grand Harbor is a top notch marina for Yacht watching, but the water in front of the service station is extremely rough due to heavy boat traffic. Once you’ve navigated the choppy waters and impatient boats, Grand harbor will likely afford you the freshest gas, largest assortment of “lake stuff” (floats, hats, snacks, beer, ice cream, sunscreen, tee shirts, etc.) on the water. There are employees on most any fueling dock to help you catch your boat and be your “legs” back and forth. No shoes, no shirt? No problem. Bonus: if you happen to be down on a weekend with fireworks, Grand Harbor puts on one heck of a display. (Check the website for firework display dates)

 

 

Also on Pickwick, you will find

 

Aqua Marina (Counce, Tennessee)

Although the priciest option on the list for gas, supplies, transit slips, and rentals, Aqua has a lot going for them. A full service restaurant faces the Marina and serves simple dishes that will hit the spot after a day on the water, and also has a full service bar for when lake days turn into lake nights. Go for a night ride down the river on a Friday or Saturday night and you’ll likely hear the sounds of a live band jamming from Aqua’s restaurant porch. Aside from being one of the largest marinas on this part of the river, Aqua is nearest to “town” which translates to easy access from land. You will also find the most waterfront rental properties in this area, as well as some of the largest, nicest homes.

 

This is where old southern money lands, and they’ve landed in a beautiful way.

 

In the town of Counce you will find the local bar called Freddy T’s that most anyone under 45 has visited more times than they’d care to admit. One side functions as a restaurant while the other is a full service bar with black lights, a dance floor and lots free entertainment in the form of people watching. Down the road a little ways there are small boutique shops, a tiny grocery store connected to a gas station, a paper mill, Little Andy’s Cabins, and all of the boat storage facilities that your heart could ever desire.

 

In short, Pickwick is a wonderful place for a family reunion, a fun packed day trip, a couples only weekend, watersports, sunbathing, animal friendly, or get-a-pet-sitter shenanigans. No matter where you end up staying, a day (or 2) on this river will not disappoint. If you’re less of a swimmer and more of a cruiser, plan a trip in October while the leaves are changing and the air is crisp. You’ll find the lowest rental prices, calmest waters and scenery made for the movies.

 

If you happen to come down one day, give me a shout… we’d love to hear about your river adventures.

 

Tag us in your River images and tell us where we should write about next!

 

#DriftingMagnolia

#DriftingMagnoliaDoesPickwick

#PickwickTennessee

#TennesseeRiver

 

Happy travels!

-Stephanie

@DriftingMagnolia

 

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Booking Travel

the most commonly received question I get is “How do you afford these trips?” 

Well, here’s the big secret (that isn’t actually a secret at all).

Once upon a time there was a girl who loved to travel (but didn’t exactly have the means to do so).

In her long, exasperating search for the best deal the girl searched high and low for affordable travel deals. She searched from hotel run sites to travel blogs, from TripAdvisor to multi-platform search engines.

Enter Expedia.com (and AirBnB, but that’s a little later in the story).

Upon arrival to the Expedia.com site, she was pleasantly surprised to find the best prices available, but also a guarantee that they will match any deal that beats the advertised rate for the exact same stay. CHA-CHING! 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve searched for a specific hotel only to have their own published rates beat by Expedia. Our most recent adventures took us to a Vineyard in GA  (Chateau Elan – totally gorg and easily accessible for a one night stop off, or a week-long high-end wedding shindig), Disney World’s Polynesian Resort (remind me to tell you about the Luau on grounds), and finally the Margaritaville hotel on Pensacola Beach (did you know that Jimmy Buffett is from Pensacola?? Fun little TidBits about his life were all over the hotel). All of our rooms were booked on Expedia.com and I decided to compare rates that were available through the recommended hotels’ websites.

Balcony View – Margaritaville Hotel Pensacola, FL

 

No surprise…
EXPEDIA PREVAILED! Not only were the rooms beautiful, they offered friendly staff, beautiful grounds, and all of our rooms had views that I would be happy to see each and every day for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, my phone was a victim of the beautiful Volcano pool at the Polynesian on the second leg of vacation, so photos were limited.

My Husband and I are now 5 years into a committed relationship with Expedia. To say things are getting pretty serious would be an understatement.

The only time we wander astray from such a committed, happy relationship is when other people are involved. Not that we’re embarrassed or trying to hide our sweet, satisfying love-affair with such a devoted partner, but because our groups traditionally travel in the same fashion you’d expect to see gypsies, a traveling circus, or maybe Mike Tyson’s entourage (We’re all adults here. We’ve all seen the Hangover. Don’t pretend to be confused.).

We love our friends more than life itself, so piling into cars like a clown gang, driving south to NOLA and sleeping 12 deep in a 3 bedroom condo is well worth the cold showers for sake of the experience. In the situation mentioned above, we were on our Bachelor/bachelorette weekend and literally regret nothing, but might do things a bit differently now that we’re older and are more established. The Guesthouse in NOLA was good to us, but cold showers are way harder on my 27.5-year-old-body than they were on my barely-24-year-old-body. Adulting is hard.

As for booking AirBnB.com… I love booking through their site (or app) for groups (more than 4 people traveling together). My personal experience has always veered towards AirBnB being the most economical choice for a larger group (that can stand being under 1 roof). With options ranging from a single room rentals to a full-fledged mansion, most cities offer accommodations plenty big for almost all sized groups.

 

The simplicity of the searching, the price filtering, the interactive map, and the instant calendar of availability make it so easy.

Nothing makes me more angry than looking on FlipKey or VRBO. It never fails.. I find a condo in my price range with the appropriate dates “available”, only to receive an email 2 days later stating the rental is $65980 more than advertised, and still unavailable for your dates because the calendar isn’t maintained.

The only downside I’ve run into with AirBnB has been the limited availability in less saturated markets. If you’re in Chicago with a group of friends for a cubs game, the sky is the limit for rental options. If you’re visiting a friend in Auburn, GA for the weekend, you might have less luck finding something close enough to your destination.  Expedia would likely deliver a better result in this instance.

Basically, beggars can’t be choosers.

In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with Expedia or AirBnB. Any service that guarantees their results should be a safe bet, but I always recommend checking reviews to confirm they back their promises.

In my limited experiences (I’ve had only issues with my own booking choices, nothing has been wrong on the websites’ side), the customer service has been stand up with both Expedia and AirBnB. From adding a destination and moving a flight out, to canceling a reservation, both services have been professional and helpful in making sure I receive the best deals or most of my refund.

I will continue to add information on my personal experiences with detailed pricing information on future posts. Please remember, we are nowhere near rich or Well-to-do, but I was fortunate enough to marry someone who values travel and adventures as much as I do. We both work full-time and live within our means on a day-to-day basis so that we can use expendable income for exploring all the places we love. 

remember that sites like Expedia also offer reward programs that help you earn points (discounts) towards your future travels so there are definite benefits to being consistent. Nobody likes a player so stay loyal and reap the benefits, honey. 

All opinions are my own. I was not provided any incentive to make these recommendations. All images are the property of DriftingMagnolia.com.

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Who We Are

Drifting Magnolia is based on the idea that anyone can see the world.

DM was started by a full-time Technical Apparel Designer, her Entrepreneur husband (and their wild-child toddler) with a dream of seeing the world. Founded on the belief that working families can still travel budget-friendly without missing the beauty of the world, we hope to challenge the idea that travel has to consume all of your time and money.

We will break down our adventures by trip duration, cost and quality of our experiences. While there may be recommendations from hotels/restaurants/activities, All reviews are based on our own opinions and experiences.

Thank you for stopping by. We hope you enjoy the journey.

-Stephanie