Locks, Rocks, and Boats

Lydia is taking Alabama history this year. Her first chapter follow up asks the question: Have you ever seen a dam with a lock? Did you see a boat pass through the lock? So, we jumped in the van after school and rode to Guntersville Dam. I showed her the lock and explained how it all worked. This was from a distance of course since you can't actually get to the locks anymore since 911. They are fenced off. But we did get close enough to see the locks and we were fortunate enough to be there while a barge was going through. Not only that but we had the opportunity to watch how the barge hands switch out. We watched one guy be delivered to shore while another was picked up, each man carrying his duffle bags.