Our neighbors at the Myakka River Motorcoach Resort, Jeanine and Mike Serrino, invited us to spend some time with them on their houseboat on Norris Lake, TN. We were able to work the stop into our travels. We kept the Busse Bus plugged in at the Clinton/Knoxville KOA while the three of us (including Bear) packed up some bags and headed over to stay on the houseboat.
Houseboat, my ass! It was 18 foot wide and 86 feet long – that’s four of the Busse Bus’s plus upper and lower decks! We affectionately nickname it the “Serrino Floating Manor”. They named it “We Be Jam’n Too” after trading in their first, smaller houseboat 18 years ago. Check out these pictures:
Look at the interior living area:
Absolutely beautiful!
We got there in time to get settled and have Bear check out the digs for the next few nights. We immediately found out that we would need to keep the gates closed as Bear jumped off the deck to chase a few ducks:
After getting Bear dry, Mike captained us down river (lake) around the bend so that we could enjoy the sunset and have a wonderful meal that Jeanine created.
What a wonderful evening! It was particularly interesting watching Mike and Jeanine dock the boat at twilight! Obviously they had done this before many times.
The next day, June 1st and my actual birthday (Ed’s), the five of us loaded up their run about (ski boat to us northerners) and headed up river (lake) stopping at various places for food and drinks. What a wonderful way to spend my birthday, although I think that Bear enjoyed it the most:
Their marina is called Stardusk, where we started and went all the way up the Clinch river branch of the dammed waterway that created the Norris Lake. We ended past what this map shows on the lower right at a marina called Waterside. If I recall correctly, it was about 14 miles. Norris lake was created as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the 1930’s.
During the ride there, we got a really treat when we spotted this:
An American Bald Eagle! Very cool and a great birthday present!
At our farthest point we stopped for lunch at Waterside:
The food was pretty good! On the way back we stopped at Norris Landing for a drink.
A little farther downstream we stopped for another drink at Bubba Brews:
I (Ed) had a great birthday day!
The following morning I was able to walk Bear up to the top of the hill and got this picture of the Stardusk Marina:
Since rain was predicted all day, we decided to head into Knoxville. Mike took us through one of his favorite places:
Yep, a car wash!
After seeing their beautiful house (same style and vintage as the one we sold three years ago) we stopped for lunch at Corner 16:
It was a great spot with great food!
After eating, they showed us a bit of their city including the World’s Fair site of 1982:
We then stopped, unannounced, at another Myakka owner’s house, Dave and Luanne Wallace. They were gracious and had us come in and showed us their recently finished home.
A beautiful place! Thank you Wallace’s for being so hospitable on a moments notice!
Since it rained the entire next day, Katrina and I decided to head back to the Busse Bus to get some laundry done. We did however communicate with another Myakka couple, Tracy and Dave Hawk regarding getting together for dinner at the Lakeside Tavern. A great steakhouse with awesome views of the water.
We had a fabulous meal and it was great catching up with the Hawks! They both started playing pickleball this year at Myakka and the fever really hit them. They play at least once or twice a day now and converted their tennis court into one pickleball court with plans to add another one! Watch out next year!
Thank you Mike and Jeanine for inviting us to join you on your houseboat for a few days! We really enjoyed the experience and spending time with y’all!
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