We
stayed in Green Turtle Bay for 10 days. We had intended to only stay about
a week but the water pump on our boat selected this time to start to leak - so
we spent a few days removing the old one and installing our spare. Paducah, Grand Rivers and Metropolis - October 2006
We
stayed in Green Turtle Bay for 10 days. We had intended to only stay about
a week but the water pump on our boat selected this time to start to leak - so
we spent a few days removing the old one and installing our spare.
While we were there, I was able to visit the Museum of the American Quilters Society in Paducah, Kentucky which was about 20 miles away. Unfortunately, they did not allow photos to be taken of any of the quilts in the museum, but I was able to see first hand many of the beautiful quilts that I had admired in many of my magazines over the years. It was wonderful to be able to get 'up close and personal' with so many wonderful pieces of art. Needless to say, I took away many new ideas to keep me happily quilting for many years to come.
I always wondered how the headquarters for the American Quilters Society came to be in Paducah, Kentucky. It seems that Bill and Meredith Schroeder, opened Schroeder Publishing in 1970 as the publisher of the annual Schroeder's Antiques Price Guide as well as many other price guides. They started to publish a quarterly quilting magazine, American Quilter, in 1985 and founded the American Quilter's Society in Paducah. In 1987, they decided to build a museum to house and honor the work of the society's members. The museum was completed and opened in April 1991.
Paducah is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers and is not far from both the Mississippi and the Cumberland rivers. So it should not come as any surprise that the major industry in town is maintaining the fleet of tow boats that ply these waters.
Being located on the Ohio near so many other large rivers also has its drawbacks. The town has suffered more than its share of flooding, with the result that they constructed a flood wall along the banks of the Ohio river for protection. Paducah has attracted many artists in addition to the quilters, one of which was Robert Dafford from Lafayette, Louisiana, who over the years has covered the flood wall with murals depicting the rich history of the area.
One of our favorites is a picture showing the view from the pilothouse of a towboat coming down the river. Another shows a yard worker working on one of the massive propellers under a tow.
The railroad has also played a major role in this area - and Paducah has an old steam engine in town to pay tribute to that heritage. We also spotted this lovely giraffe nibbling on some leaves in front of one of the buildings downtown.
Green Turtle Bay is in the town of Grand Rivers and they were getting set for fall and Halloween while we were there. We met this interesting couple when walking into town one day. Charming, but not terribly communicative.
Jeremy and I were a bit tired after our long walk into town, so we sat down on a bench for a bit of a rest. Someone came along and painted a mural of us while we were sitting there. Do you like it??
The town of Grand Rivers has a huge Hunters Moon Festival every year. There is a parade through town as well as food vendors selling the local cuisine.
I absolutely LOVE a small town parade. We were sad that we didn't get to see one this past Fourth of July, but they had a wonderful parade for this festival. It started off with an honor guard followed by every fire truck from miles around. Good thing there weren't any fires that morning!!
Of course there was a band - including lots of cool saxophone players like my nephew, Bryan.
And beauty queens - lots and lots of beauty queens. Miss Hunter's Moon, Little Miss Hunters Moon, Littler Miss Hunter's Moon, Little Mister Hunter's Moon. There was even Baby Hunter's Moon - in both the 7-12 month and 0-6 month categories. The latter was called 'Wee Mr. Hunter's Moon'. I could not make this up. Just a guess, but I'm thinking 'Everyone's a winner here!'
There was a collection of decorated golf carts. The one covered in straw won first place, although I kind of liked the pumpkin myself.
We had pirates as well as the Old Woman who lived in a shoe together with all of her kids.
Even the Shriners were there all the way from Paducah.
There was even a balloon and Santa bringing up the rear to let us know that Christmas is not far away. It was just like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Well sort of - you just have to use your imagination.
After the parade, we wandered over to the food area to sample the culinary delights. I bought a couple of really good pulled pork sandwiches while Jeremy went off in search of desert. He found Deep Fried Twinkies and Deep Fried Oreo Cookies. It seems that in the south, if you're not sure what do do with something or how to cook it, you fry it. I was good with the fried chicken and catfish. I was even good with the fried green tomatoes (love these) and the fried pickles (an acquired taste, but pretty good). But I think I hit my limit with taking perfectly innocent oreo cookies and twinkies, dipping them in batter and frying them. If that's not bad enough, they top it off with powdered sugar. We're talking major heart attack on a plate. We each took one bite - just to try it. It was a bad as you can imagine. The rest ended up in the trash.
Grand Rivers is across the Ohio River from the town of Metropolis - which is, as everyone should know, the home town of Superman. We decided to pay him and his home town a visit. We found a huge Superman statue standing in front of the Metropolis courthouse emblazoned with the caption 'Truth, Justice and the American Way'.
A couple of Super Heroes and Superman about to leap another tall building.
We also found this Kryptonite stone in town a few blocks away. The sign says 'This glowing green meteorite is the largest specimen of it's kind known to exist. It fell to earth shortly after the planet Krypton exploded into a million, billion fragments. It landed on the Cannamore family farm. After landing, Scientists rendered it powerless and totally harmless to even 'Superman'. The Cannamore family brought the green rodk to Metropolis and placed it here to represent friendship and good luck to all who touch it. And so, we the citizens of Metropolis, Illinois "Home of Superman", bid fair welcome to all from planet Earth... and beyond.' Signed C. Kent.
I think they grow them all tall in Metropolis. We had this rather tall bagboy help us carry out our groceries when shopping in town.
Fort Massac is next door to the town of Metropolis. This fort was designated the first state park in Illinois in 1908. George Rogers Clark (depicted by the statue shown below) arrived at the fort on June 30, 1778 and used it as a staging point in his campaign to capture the British outposts in Illinois during the Revolutionary War. The failure of the British to garrison the fort allowed Clark and his company of 175 men to stop here and use it as a base to stage an attack on the British at Kaskaskia . The British expecting an attack from the Mississippi river, had garrisoned all of their forces at Kaskaskia. Clark surprised the British by marching over land from Fort Massac to Kaskaskia. He arrived at the British encampment on the night of July 4, 1778 and quickly secured Kaskaskia without resistance.
Fort Massac had a long history even before Clark arrived. There is evidence of Spanish occupation on the site during the 1500's. In the early 1700's under French ownership, it housed a trading post and mission. In 1757, the French built a fortified fort on the site to block British Expansion into the Mississippi river basin. It was at that time that it was named Fort Massac. The French abandoned the fort to the British in 1764.
Interestingly, George Rogers Clark was given a huge parcel of land along the Ohio river as part of a Revolutionary War land grant after the war. In 1827, George's younger brother, General William Clark, purchased 37,000 acres of land for $5 from his late brother's estate. This 37,000 acres included the site where the city of Paducah now stands. General William Clark had returned to Kentucky after accompanying Captain Meriwether Lewis on their famous voyage of discovery up the Missouri in 1803.
Updated November 16, 2006