Good Morning from Paducah, KY!! It's a gorgeous day and that is wonderful. Everything is fresh and clean after yesterday's rain and we're ready for adventure. We are across the street from Oak Grove Cemetery - established in 1847. The morning light is so pretty.
Ahhh - saying good-bye to our little house. We are moving pretty early today so that we can see a bit of Paducah while we are here.
Near the wall is the Iron Horse Memorial. This Mikado type steam locomotive is dedicated to Illinois Central men and women, past and present, and to the importance of the railroad to Paducah's history and commerce. No. 1518 is the last "Iron Horse" owned by the ICRR. Engines built or rebuilt in the Paducah shops many years until 1960, played a prominent role int he age of steam. The marker in front of the engine say, "To perpetuate memories of the days of the steam locomotive this engine was presented to the city of Paducah in 1963 by the Illinois Central Railroad Co."
I spot a step at the front and, naturally, climb on up. Sherri does the honors.
Nice, right?
We start walking down the length of the train and THEN we spot this. Too late, but I quit climbing.
Hanging in Paducah.
Look at the size of these wheels - OMG.
The wall beside the train has this giant map on it and, believe it or not, we are all three confused for a bit. Nothing makes sense until . . . we spot the compass. Ahhhh. We'd have figured it out without it soon, though, as the next panel showed the gulf.
Pretty soon, I notice that I'm all alone. Where are my girls? WAAAAY up ahead is Sherri - she's done and WAAAAY behind is Stephannie -- she isn't.
The old Finkel's building is pretty prominent down here. It is now a part of the theater campus but used to be a very large retail store.
Weaving our way back to the car, we make our way down the cutest street. Love the brick road and all the little alcoves. The center picture was full of beautiful songbirds. There is starting to be a need for breakfast and we come to Kirchoff's Bakery. We pop in, but they don't serve anything other than baked goods and coffee. All good, but some protein is needed. They DO give us a recommendation for a place a couple of blocks down that is supposed to have amazing bread pudding waffles. Well, we have a destination now.
The street next to us has this arch overhead. I have to look this up. It's a cinema. Okie dokie.
As we're driving to the cafe, some rooftops that we have notice come into view. Must stop. St. Francis de Sale Catholic Church - 1849
The Irvin Cobb Apartment building features 9-stories of history located at Broadway and S. 6th Streets. The complex was once the swanky Hotel Irvin Cobb that opened back in 1929. For decades the hotel held the rankings as one of the most finest hotels in the South. It is now listed on the National Register of Historical Places. Love the European look.
Ahhhh - food has been found.
It's obvious as we walk up that there will be a wait. We're okay with that and settle into chairs for the 25 minutes we are promised it will take to get a table. Looking around the room, we just start cracking up - these signed are gold and I didn't get even a portion of them.
We don't even make the 25 minutes and our table is ready. Woot woot. It's getting hungry in my belly.
From the minute our waitress, Marilee, walks up to the table we're in love with her. She gently reaches behind Sherri and tucks in her shirt tag. Sherri thanks her and then Marilee asks her to move forward a bit so she can check for toilet paper. Yep --- breakfast is going to be fun. When it's time to order, confusion happens and the comment is made by Marilee that she always get the high maintenance tables. Then, at another point, she even apologizes to the next table for our loud behavior. We have soooo much fun and she visits quite a bit with us as well. FABULOUS WAITRESS. Yes, we manage to get a pic together. Oh --- a couple more posters from the restroom. What a great place and the food was excellent as well. Make sure you check it out if you are in Paducah.
Right next Door is Tuscan Rose and they are open early for the beginning of Quilt Week.
The window is FULL of machines.
Look at all these beautiful hand-dyes. Oh my. Yarn -
Strings - all simply beautiful.
Walls of yarn (not hand-dyes)
And a most unique gumball machine set up. LOVE it.
Well, it's time to say farewell to Paducah. I've loved the visit and am so glad we stopped in and checked it out.
One the way out of town - we passed this and did a quick turn around for a picture. Chief Paduke - Chief of the sub-tribe of Chickasaw Indians, who lived and hunted in this area until Jackson Purchase, 1818. Land here then owned by Gen. William Clark, who founded Paducah; named it in honor of the friendly chief.
Ooooo, looks like a state line up ahead.
entering Illinois. Okay, I'm a bit confused as my GPS didn't have us going to Illinois, but Stephannie is in charge today.
We're only in Illinois a short time then cross the Mighty Mississippi into -
Missouri. Okay, I think I've figured things out, but again, wouldn't have hit this state either.
At this point I am prepped for the next state and have my camera soooo ready. I'm in shock that it is Arkansas and even Sherri confused now. So many rivers and so many states. I send a message to my love and tell him where we've been. His question is, "What happened to Memphis." Valid question.
Ahhh - the Mississippi once again.
Hello Tennessee - finally. It's getting hungry again so we have decided to go down to Beale Street and grab some food and check out the sights. Well, there is a MASSIVE Corvette show going on and absolutely no parking and we're pretty sure that if we could find a place to part, there would be a huge wait at the restaurants. Sad, but moving on.
Next stop is Graceland. We had wanted a picture when here last week and it didn't work out. We drive out and there are gates all around the entire compound. We can see planes - the Lisa Marie, but that's it and we drive ALL around the entire place.
At this point, we pay $10.00 to park and see what happens. A restroom is a need as is food.
Both issues are resolved and the food really was good - best mac and cheese in awhile.
Now - to check on a way to take a picture of the house. Tours are crazy expensive and we're really not interested in them. I'm serious -- check out the website, you'll be shocked. Nothing works out for us and, soon, we are leaving the location, having paid $10.00 to park and buy lunch. Sherri is NOT happy and we will forever mimic her, I promise. Right Stephannie? See ya around Elvis.
Back to Arkansas and our third crossing of the Mississippi today.
The weather is starting to turn and it's getting a bit dark out so we contact my love and he gets us a nice hotel room in Arkadelphia, AR. Love that I can depend on him. He gets us booked while we are sitting in the parking lot. As I go to check us in, alarms are going off everywhere and it turned out that someone in a wedding party had lit candles. Firemen called. It's a great welcome.
Now for some food. We find Slim and Shorty's and settle in for a dinner. All is well, tummy's are filled and our night is coming to a close. A closer look at the top things to do in Arkadelphia finds that we hit one with this stop. Too funny.
Leaving the restaurant, we decide to drive around the town a wee bit. Stephannie spots something and sends us that direction. It is the Clark County Courthouse. Clark County was created by the legislature of Missouri Territory on December 18, 1836 and named for the territorial governor, William Clark.
Stopping to check out this Confederate monument, Stephannie gets out of the car and says, "Don't leave me." Well, that is just an invitation. I spot something a little further over and we move the car to it.
This time I'm out of the car but leave the door open so Sherri can't abandon me as well. This is a salt kettle used in the production of salt from the water of the saline bayou one mile east of Arkadelphia, circa 1814.
Still touring around, we find a few interesting murals.
AND, a pretty cool house. The Captain Henderson House from 1876 just makes me melt. This is my idea of a dream house.
Well, that brings our day to an end and we are comfy and relaxing in our room. Tomorrow takes us home. Notice that the room is happy to see Mister. (still read on)
Good Morning - we are packed up and ready to go. Some breakfast and we're soon on the road. All three of us are ready to be back home. It's been great, truly, but we are ready.
Oh, Hello there our sweet friend.
By noon ---- back at the homestead. Sherri still has to get to San Antonio and Stephannie is off to Irving, but we'll all sleep in our own beds tonight. What a fabulous trip. It ranks up there with one of my all time favorites. Love to all. See ya in the funny papers.
