PLAY-DOUGH: Paducah, KY and Marion, KY

We drove up to Paducah, KY where the TN River empties into the Ohio River. The town's existence and history revolve around the rivers. After the town had flooded several times, a flood wall was erected. Over a 10 year period, an artist painted murals depicting the town's history on this floodwall. While there we visited the town's museum housed in the old market place. We also visited the River Discovery Center as well as the National Quilt Museum. The quilting organization brings 35,000 people to Paducah one week each year.
We also crossed the Ohio on I-24 to the town of Metropolis, IL. What would you expect to find in a town named Metropolis??

"Notice the different history scenes on the Floodwall"

"Downtown Paducah"

"Driving through the floodwall leads directly to the water's edge"

"Tugboat simulator-hands on experience"

"Superman on the town square in Metropolis"

Traveling North to Marion, KY, we toured through the Amish community. It's hard to imagine living this simple lifestyle in this time period. Try to picture shopping in a store with no electricity. Light was provided by the sun through skylights. Through grates in the floor you could see wood furnaces in the basement below which heated the building. The only refrigeration was one residential size kerosene powered refrigerator. Their feed mill as well as their sawmill was powered by diesel engines. Each farm seemed to specialize in what they sold to the public. Stopping at the farm with the bakery could be habit forming!!! We respected the wishes of the Amish by not photographing the people themselves. They consider this an invasion of their privacy.

On this excursion, we rode the ferry across the Ohio River to Cave in Rock, IL. There we walked inside the large cave along the riverbank. This cave was once home to actual river pirates and appeared in several movies as such.

"All Amish farms look alike"