We ducked into the Market House Museum not knowing what to expect. For a $5 entrance fee, it was a great find. One of first big displays was a life-size statue of Henry Clay. Clay was born in Ashland, VA, in my home county and lived there for the first 20 years of his life before moving to Kentucky. My mom taught at Henry Clay Elementary School (which used to be one of the county's high schools). His home in Lexington, KY, was called "Ashland." Small world. Paducah's first fire engine is on display with a storyboard stating that it was purchased when the cost of shoeing and feeding the horses that pulled the fire wagon became too great.
The majority of the museum is the donated interior of the List Drugstore. The cabinets were filled with salves and elixers -- some funny and some scary. A whole corner was devoted to the death of Floyd Collins, a well-known local spelunker who became trapped 150 feet down in a cave in 1925. There was a rather famous song about the whole incident. In an early case of "Fake News," the display pointed out how reporters just made up parts of the story to sell papers.
We chatted with the two staff ladies for a long time and, as we left, they recommended the deli across the street for lunch. What a great find. Kirchhoff's is in its fifth generation of ownership having opened in 1873, and on the National Register of Historic Places. There is a deli on one side and a bakery on the other. The signature Big Boy Loaf (traditional white) is $4, and there are a dozen other varieties of bread to choose from, along with pastries. We may have to stop back by here before casting off. Paducah has a vibrant arts community with a local theater and a performing arts center which hosts traveling Broadway productions. Again, this reminded us of Richmond.
After lunch we crossed the street for the Paducah Railroad Museum. It was small, but we enjoyed a movie on railroad history. The exhibits were interesting, but the unique item was a very-detailed locomotive simulator. Barry climbed aboard and piloted a locomotive on a 15-minute excursion with very realistic controls for horn, brakes, and throttle. We started working back to the marina and saw another doorway decorated with colorful tile. I guess the one we saw in the morning wasn't so unique after all. We popped into the River Discovery Center on a whim and enjoyed our time there as well. There was intricate exhibit on Paducah's Great Flood of 1937 (much like the flooding on Richmond's James River). There was a riverboat calliope on display and a neat little area on river otters.
Here as well, the top attraction was a high-end simulator -- this one on river piloting. Barry took a turn behind the wheel of a tow/barge and a go-fast boat. The go-fast simulator was real-enough that we both got a bit queasy, and neither one of us are prone to sea sickness. The most interesting display of the day was the final one and free. The town is fronted by a massive concrete floodwall (again, like Richmond). Paducah's is about 100 times classier, though. The images are vibrant, realistic, and permanent. An artist from Robert Dafford's Murals was working on one panel this afternoon. Segments were dedicated to native son Alben Barkley (the 35th Vice President of the United States, under Truman), river scenes, river boats, tugs and barges, and the history of the Boy Scouts as shown through the evolution of their uniforms.
As we got closer to the marina, workers were out in force preparing vendor booths and tents for the annual BBQ on the River festival that begins tomorrow. We will spend one more day here to attend this highly recommended and hugely popular event. We made a quick Walmart run this evening to stock up on lettuce, milk, apples and grapes among other things. I finally feel that we are back in the South now that I spotted an entire refrigerator case full of pimento cheese varieties.
We'll return the rental car in the morning, then hang out at the festival for a few hours before preparing Crossroads for a Friday morning departure.
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