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Blogging Driving Geography Music Nature Photography Travel

My American Splendor Cruise – Part 3

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. My journey continues in Decatur Alabama on the south bank of the Tennessee River in the north-central part of the state a little over 30 miles south of the Tennessee state line.

We arrived just after 12 Noon on Thursday October 01ST 2026. What a great way to kickoff the first day of October – by arriving at my first port-of-call on my first river cruise. (The embarkation port of Chattanooga doesn’t technically count as a port-of-call since all of my fellow cruise passengers either flew there or drove there from all around the country.)

I signed-up for the shore excursion to the Huntsville Botanical Garden. This was a self-guided excursion, so everyone was on their own to see and do what they wanted to at their own pace. (We got free transportation to and from there as well as free admission.) I think I saw much of the botanical garden walking around, and I was not particularly impressed with it. I’ve been to some very nice botanical gardens in Florida. This was not as nice as any of them. There were a lot of workers there preparing for some type of special social event coming up. There were many tables set up along walkways with lots of party supplies on them. It looks like they were also preparing for the upcoming holiday season. Overall – the place didn’t really look too inviting to me as a first-time visitor.

The trek back to the cruise ship from Huntsville was actually more fascinating than the botanical garden. Due to extremely slow and congested afternoon rush hour traffic headed westbound out of Huntsville, and actually headed towards Decatur – our #ACL luxury coach driver decided to take a detour around much of the mess on I-565. He took the backroads (which is what I would’ve done as well, since I no longer drive any Interstates). He unknowingly took the luxury coach and all of us passengers on a couple of miles of dirty dusty unpaved public roadway. (Our driver apologized to all of us stating that he had no idea his Google Maps detour would eventually take us “off-road”, and he couldn’t back-up once the road suddenly went unpaved.)

It was quite the rocky ride before we made it back onto modern U.S. 31 into Decatur – where we connected with the heavy traffic again (going southbound). As it turns out – it was the opening night of “Rock The South” – a popular 4-day country music festival that was making its debut 7 miles away on the other side of Decatur. (That’s where all of the traffic was headed.)

Fun Facts: American Cruise Lines maintains its own large fleet of distinctive high-end luxury coach buses – at least one per ship, and in some cases 2 or 3. (My American Splendor cruise ship had 3 assigned, as we are one of their largest ships of nearly 180 passengers.) The buses follow or shadow their assigned ships, and they are utilized to transport the passengers to the ship on embarkation day, from the ship on debarkation day, and to and from shore excursions in-between. That makes #ACL unique in that they don’t rely on unpredictable locally-chartered buses. Their own employees drive their own buses around to each port. In some cases – for premium shore excursions – the operator of a local tour company will utilize their own private vans to transport cruise passengers. (I took such a tour the next day.)

Tomorrow on Facebook (#FollowUpFriday) I’ll write about the Irish entertainer that sung for us on that 2ND night on the ship. Oh – and I’ll tell you all about one of the greatest shore excursions I’ve ever been on. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 506

Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from the previous week. It’s the continuation of a weekly hobby that goes back almost 50 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday October 25TH 2026 – the 506TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 17 Gonna Be Alright
[5TH week @ # 1]		 Matt Maher
2 3 10 Living Water Cain
3 2 10 If It Was Up To Me Ben Fuller Ft. Carrie Underwood
4 4 9 Lord It Feels Good TobyMac
5 5 12 It Really Is Amazing Grace Phil Wickham Ft. Crowder
6 8 3 Beautiful Life Switchfoot
7 6 6 Holding On (Praise God) Jon Reddick
8 7 5 Hard Place Jaye King
9 – 1 So Long Peter Burton
10 – 1 What If I Told You ? for King + Country

2025 – “Can’t Steal My Joy” – Josiah Queen X Brandon Lake
2024 – “Worship Through It” – Tasha Layton Ft. Chris Brown
2023 – “Praise The Lord” – Micah Tyler
2022 – “Good Morning Mercy” – Jason Crabb
2021 – “What If” – Matthew West
2020 – “Rise Up (Lazarus)” – Cain
2019 – “Fear No More” – Building 429
2018 – “Only Jesus” – Casting Crowns
2017 – “Word Of Life” – Jeremy Camp

BEN, CARRIE, TAYLOR, MADISON, & LOGAN – We have two songs vying for the # 2 spot behind Matt Maher. Last week Ben Fuller and Carrie Underwood rose to # 2 with “If It Was Up To Me”. They recorded it together about 21 months ago in a Nashville studio. This week – and the week before last week – the Cain siblings rose to # 2 with “Living Water”. It’s their 7TH hit on my chart. Their 1ST hit was # 1 exactly 6 years ago.

We’re up to my # 22 hit from my Salvation Era, and as I teased last week it’s from a band that brought me to church for the first time as an adult almost 20 years ago. The date – Saturday January 20TH 2007. I was exactly 5 months into my salvation, and I was looking to be a part of a church family because I knew that I could no longer get closer to God as an orphan on my own.

I started hearing promos on Call FM (91.7) – an over-the-air radio station at the time in Miami-Dade County Florida playing Christian rock, pop, hip hop, and dance. It was the radio station’s birthday, and they would be celebrating at Life Pointe Church in Homestead Florida – 3 miles from my longtime home. Manic Drive was the headlining act of their birthday concert. I knew Manic Drive from their radio hit at the time – “Middle Of It All”. I went to that concert solo. As I recall – it was a show-up and pay-cash-at-the-door concert. As I also recall – I was probably the oldest person at that concert – at the age of 39.

The very next morning I attended my first church service as an adult. Their church services were actually held at the new movie theatre on the other side of town – not at their actual church building.

At # 22 it’s Manic Drive’s “Eleven Regrets” – their biggest and longest-running hit during that era – peaking at # 3 and spending 24 weeks on my chart in 2007 and into 2008.

Let’s Go Back next week for my # 23 hit.

SPOTIFY – You can hear “My Top 10 Hits” anytime by accessing my CountUp playlist on Spotify. All 10 hits are there from top to bottom. You can hear them in order from # 1 to # 10, or you can shuffle them. My playlist will be updated every weekend (usually before the actual chart is presented here on Mondays). You can link to it here.

Your likes, follows, and comments are always appreciated. Thank You for being part of my online ministry to share God’s Good News and win souls for Christ through His music. God used loud music on the radio in South Florida to reach me in August of 2006. I’ve been testifying about Him ever since.

Be blessed my friends !  May our God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday October 25TH 2026, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate this great new day of believing, following, trusting, loving, and being more like our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. Let us love our neighbor as ourself.

Volume 9, Number 35, Edition 435
“Pride”

Pride is so deceptive. It comes in quietly and casually. It convinces us that we’re doing just fine on our own. We don’t need anyone’s help. “Lord – I’ve got this one. I’ve seen this play out before. I can handle it. This is too petty for you. I’ll call on You when I need You.”

For non-believers it’s simply a way-of-life, for they don’t rely on God for anything. For believers it’s a problem. It’s a sin. When pride takes root in our heart – it subtly takes our mind off God – and onto ourselves. It places a wall between us and God and His guidance, direction, and grace – which we constantly need from Him. We are nothing without Him.

God hates pride. It’s 1 of the 7 deadly sins – alongside envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust. They are all bad, but pride may be the worst of them all. Pride causes all other sins.

God loves humility. Humility cures pride. Humility crushes egos. Humility opens hearts. Humility invites God’s wisdom. God gives grace to the humble. He gives us peace.

In order to get closer to Him – we must lay down our cross and surrender to Him. We must lose our pride. It has no place in God’s promises for us.

  • All who fear the Lord will hate evil; therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption, and perverse speech. (Proverbs 8:13)
  • Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2)
  • Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

Pride creates a false sense of security. It is dishonest self-promotion. It makes us blind to the spiritual hazards ahead until we trip and stumble.

Let’s pray: “Thank You Lord for all of your abundant blessings that we desperately need from You. Protect our hearts from the subtle trap of pride. Forgive us for when we strayed and relied on our own experience rather than trusting completely in You. Replace our self-righteousness with Your gentle and humble spirit. Help us to walk daily in true humility – quick to listen and quick to serve. May all that we say and do bring honor to Your name and not our own. And it is in Your powerful name that we pray to You. Amen and Amen.”

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Food Geography Travel

My American Splendor Cruise – Part 2

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. My journey continues from the Hotel Indigo in downtown Chattanooga to the American Splendor cruise ship on the Tennessee River about a half-mile away. The American Cruise Lines (#ACL) owned and operated luxury coach buses picked us up in 3 groups to take us to Ross’s Landing (on the river). I was in the middle group (2).

I walked on the American Splendor cruise ship just after 12 Noon on Wednesday September 30TH 2026. I was 1 of 176 passengers on the ship. I thought about heading straight to my stateroom on Deck 3 port side, but instead I headed straight ahead to the restaurant right there on Deck 1. I wanted my first river cruise meal (lunch) immediately !

A lady eventually joined me for lunch who was on her 25TH #ACL cruise. We talked about many of them, and she gave me advice since it was my inaugural #ACL cruise. A couple from 30 miles southwest of Fort Worth Texas eventually joined us, and I chatted with them about my family who lives caddy-corner from them in the vast DFW Metroplex – 30 miles northeast of Dallas Texas. I’d encounter (and sit and chat with) that couple a few more times that same day.

After lunch I headed to my stateroom, and I was impressed. It met my expectations. My single balcony cabin was everything I expected it to be. I especially appreciated the modern digital Honeywell thermostat that controlled the temperature and fan. I’ve never had one of those in a cruise ship stateroom before. It’s the little things that matter.

We pulled away from the dock several minutes early, and we headed downstream on the Tennessee River towards the Central Time Zone and northern Alabama.

After dinner (which started at 5:30 PM) I headed back to my stateroom, went out on my balcony, and enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells of the Tennessee River. We went through our first of 6 locks at Nickajack Dam. I watched most of the operation as we slowed down, pulled-in, stopped, attached ourselves to the walls of the lock, and dropped down about 39 feet from the higher lake level to the lower lake level. It was quite impressive to watch how it all worked from three decks up. It was my first such experience ever. Gravity is amazing !

Fun Facts: Out of the 176 passengers I was – believe it or not – not the youngest of them all. I saw a few women who were definitely younger than me – perhaps in their 40s (maybe even 30s). But the other 170 or so were definitely in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s. That’s my type of crowd ! I live in a 55+ neighborhood where I’m one of the youngest residents. I serve with the Sebring Historical Society where I’m one of the youngest volunteers. I attend Highlands Community Church where I represent the youngest one-quarter of the congregation. I’m in my element onboard the American Splendor cruise ship !

Tomorrow on Facebook (#FollowUpFriday) I’ll write about our entertainer on that first night, and next #TravelThursday I’ll write about our first port-of-call in Decatur Alabama including my shore excursion to the Huntsville Botanical Garden. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp