Paducah and Quilts

Narrow Mississippi River Bridge

Up early and on the road to Paducah, Kentucky, Bufffy led us across both the Mississippi and Ohio rivers before lunch. 

Carriage rides offer tours of Paducah

Flood Wall and open gate from the Ohio river

Downtown Paducah

Beth checks out the high water marks

Murals on the town side of the flood wall tell the history of Paducah

Wandered around this interesting river port waiting for the National Quilt Museum to open. There was a steam engine mfg plant that still makes diesels and a historic walk inside the flood wall with plaques on the grass and murals on the wall. They had a 64' flood in the 1930's that made a mess. Some buildings are still around from the 1800's so it is an interesting town. Unfortunately, most places are closed on Sunday. 

Mikado Steam Engine

Paducah Shops

We took a guided tour of the museum and  the docent did a great job telling the stories behind some of the quilts. The first one we saw turned out to be a sculpture of a quilt made of basswood! There were quilts for any subject from JRR Tolkein's Lord of the Rings to Space, or Hockey. Visiting quilts from Japan were exceptional. It was hard to believe the amount of detail in each work of art. There was even an accordion quilt that my dad would have liked. Viewed one way it was an elephant, from another angle it was a child's bed with a sign that read "The Elephant in the Room."  Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed in the galleries, though it would be hard to capture the detail anyway. 

Now we are at Mammoth Cave National Park campground. A little too much driving today, but we should be refreshed and ready for spelunking in the morning.