We have been doing lots of wonderful things and I am a couple of installments behind. This is going to be a brain search for me to remember back to last week to chronicle our adventures. They say if you don't use it-you lose it. Wonder what the saying is if you haven't used it and you try?
We had a terrific time in Paducah, Kentucky. The best part for Jerry was getting the plumbing fixed. The rest of us enjoyed lounging at the pool.
After Jerry's chore was done, we went to the old down-town area. There is a flood wall that is amazing to see. The mural isn't finished yet, but it already goes for three city blocks. I tried to get a picture that would give an idea of how many frames of mural are there. The artist has one in production and can be watched...when he is at work. I guess you could watch him anytime if you knew where he was, we were too busy to track him down for that sort of nonsense. The mural has interpretations beneath each frame and it helps to understand the history of this area. The break in the wall is where the on-coming streets intersect. Cars can drive through to get to the waterfront just on the other side. In fact, on the other side is grassy areas and trees. It is used for outdoor concerts, has a boatramp, all that sort of thing.
On another day in another place we made friends with a family that gave us the inside skinny on the politics of Paducah. They told us there is talk of removing the wall as some think the river should be in view from the city. Discussion is happening to do that very thing, which we find amazing. I am sure the artists are as amazed as we are at such a thought. Not to mention the reason for the wall was flood control.
If you go to Paducah and it is summer-time, make sure you schedule yourself to be there on Saturday as they close the streets in the down-town core and have lots of musicians in different locations to keep you entertained. We sat on a bench when someone explained to us what was going on (it was around 5). We finally asked when the music would start and was told at 7. Hmmm... tired cranky children and still another hour til show time. We did the responsible thing and took our charges home for a good night's sleep. I tried to talk Jerry into going back but he didn't think it would be much fun by himself.
There is a lot to do that we didn't do. There is a wonderful quilt museum that I peeked into. It would be a wonderful place to visit...but not with a man and two children. We made plans that I could go on the next day and Jerry would stay with Rose and Chris and swim. BUT...the next morning while reading about the area we found something that we ALL would enjoy. We went to the Land Between the Lakes National Park. It was a beautiful day for a picnic.
A children's hummingbird activity was planned at the Nature Center, so that was our target (I include a picture of volunteer Rose dressed in the hummingbird costume for the children's activity). This Nature Center was remarkable. Inside, besides the classroom, there was a section that housed small critters. Lots of turtles, frogs and snakes. We had perfect timing as Sunday is snake feeding day and they allow the public to watch as the care-taker drops the cute fluffy little mice into the cage. Then the snake injects the mouse (think bite) and swallows the little guy whole. Pretty cool stuff. Personally I don't like mice and it seems like a slow way to get rid of them. Maybe if they fed the snakes more than one a week??
Outside is even better than inside. There is a natural trail that has exhibits more like a zoo would have. A lot of woodland creatures that I would imagine were injured and retrieved. We saw owls and a bald eagle. There were also wolves and deer and bobcats...other things that just aren't coming out of the depths of my memory. There were a lot and the trail was fun to walk. The meadow part was where they fed the hummingbirds and butterflies. Let me tell you that the hummingbirds were thick!! It looked like a swarm of very large bees. They were everywhere. The monarch butterflies use this center as a stopping place on their migration as well, but there weren't any there the day we stopped.
Leaving the nature center and going down the road several miles was a viewing area to see elk and bison. In Kentucky you get corrected if you call them buffalo. Same animal tho. We opted to pass since we had already traveled with a much larger herd while we were in South Dakota. Instead we went on several more miles to the Homestead.
The Homestead is a working 1850 farm. They do everything the same as would have been done way-back then. It impressed us how many buildings they needed in order to have a functioning farm. Every task seemed to need it's own residence. There were a couple of them that they don't use now, but still maintain: the smoke house and spring house. Everything else was being used. The house had an interesting construction. Each room was called a pen and stood seperately with a common roof over all. This made breeze-ways between each room. I would imagine it helped to keep the sleeping areas cool at night since nothing was connected to the cooking area.
A picture is included here of Jerry at the wood shop. The lathe is operated with a foot peddle. There is a rope that wraps around the work and a counter-weight that is almost the length of the building. Jerry spent some time talking with the woodsmith (surprise?), and this guy was nice enough to go chop down a tree to give Jerry a couple hunks of wood so he could turn them when we get home. There are the typical farm animals in abundance. We didn't allow enough time to really tour the farm well. The woman-in-charge. .was, and kicked us out at closing time (we had only been there an hour).
While driving through the forest there are lots of side roads. Each one has at least one cemetery sign. The story on this is one we heard in school, but now makes sense. One of the programs that was implemented to end the depression was the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). That was a huge water-control project that involved the government buying (willingly or not) land in the Tennessee Valley so a dam could be built and jobs generated. That was where we were. The agreement that was made included moving the cemeteries to higher ground and allowing access to them in perpetuity. As Paul Harvey would say: Now for the rest of the story. The government is now negotiating with developers to sell this same land. It is wonderful view property and in very high demand. Not a few families of those that were dislocated are miffed. They were forced to sell their land for a pittance and now developers will make a bundle. Carpet-bagging continues in the south. That is the story told to Jerry as he was doing what he does best.. talking with new friends.
More to come as we break camp and head to Northern Kentucky.
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