October 12, 2021 Paducah!
We left Angelo’s Towhead anchorage at around 8:00 a.m. We are done with the Mississippi River – with no increase RPM’s on our engines, we cruised down that big river at 13 – 14 MPH. Compared to our usual 8-10 MPH, we were flying! We turned into the Ohio River, going upstream, and suddenly, our speed dropped to around 6-7 MPH. We arrived at the Olmstead Lock at around 10:40 to find three other Looper boats there already – they had been waiting for an hour and had dropped anchor. They let us know that the lockmaster had told them to pull over to the side and wait. There were multiple tows to get through before any Pleasure Craft were accommodated. We dropped our hook also, and FINALLY got through the lock at around 3:00 p.m. Our destination for that day was the Paducah, Kentucky city docks, about a 4 hour cruise from the lock. We would never choose to cruise in the dark, but there didn’t seem to be many choices for anchoring. We decided to continue to Paducah, making our arrival time around 7:30 p.m.
We were both tired and anxious as we approached the mile marker where the docks were. We had no idea what the docks were like, how we would identify the location. Turns out, we could have relaxed – as we neared the mile marker, we could see a well-lighted dock with a few boats our size. Then, as we neared them, we saw someone with a flashlight signaling that this is your spot! There was a welcoming crew of about 8 people, mostly folks we had met before, to help us get in and tied up safely. What a blessing to be part of this group! We took part in the same ‘ceremony’ on the following days we were there.
The city of Paducah installed these docks a few years ago, because the city leaders realized what a boon it would be to boaters, especially those doing the Loop, who have had to anchor out from one to three nights before arriving there. The dock space is free. The docks are very good quality. The power is free. The water is free. The city has employees who take care of the boaters, picking up their trash, doing pump outs (free also), and just generally being good city ambassadors. And, of course, the boaters go into town and spend lots of money in restaurants, bars, and shops. It’s a win/win! There were often city residents who would come down to the dock, just to talk to the boaters, to welcome us. It was totally a pleasant experience!
Another decision by those city leaders (and approved by the residents) was to offer large grants to artists and other businesses who would come to the city, rehabilitate an old building, and establish their business or gallery there. Because of that decision (I believe), there are almost no vacant storefronts downtown. The buildings are lovely, brought back to their original states (or better). There are new restaurants, a wonderful variety of shops and galleries. We only had 3 nights, 2 full days, in Paducah, and I wish we could have stayed longer. But, we had a schedule to meet, something we normally try not to have!
Some things we enjoyed visiting:
The National Quilt Museum – amazing works of art in the form of quilts. Such a variety of composition, colors, subjects. One gallery was all quilts commemorating 9/11 – very touching. One quilt in particular struck me – it was an artist’s representation of the Manhattan skyline which was missing the twin towers. The skyline was shown as being reflected in the water, but the reflection did include the twin towers. I found that to be very affecting.
The Wall-to-Wall paintings. The town’s riverfront is protected by a continuous wall, about 16 feet high. There are openings, but in times when the water is rising those openings are filled with cement pieces to stop the water. This wall’s panels were each a work of art – murals depicting the history of the town. The artist who did most of the work was the same artist who painted the murals on the river wall of Portsmouth, Ohio.
The downtown area – as I mentioned, has some lovely old buildings, nicely renovated. Most of the storefronts are full, including shops, restaurants, bars…a nice variety. We enjoyed “Barrel and Bond”, which is a bourbon and whiskey bar. It was started by two guys who had a club, the purpose of which was to get together to enjoy various bourbons and whiskeys. There is one room with large tables which, we believe, are for their club meetings. The bar itself was a quiet, comfortable place, with literally hundreds of different liquors to try. We also had a nice meal at a Cajun place. There was an axe throwing place (?), that also had an outdoor restaurant with surprisingly good food!
The river was very much below the town level at this point. The river wall was at the top of a very high hill. The access to the docks was a long, jointed ramp that goes up from the docks to the street/parking area. The docks are floating on very very long poles (about as big in diameter as a telephone pole). It was explained to us that, if water gets high enough to float the docks off the poles, then that would be the LEAST of their worries – the whole town would be deep under water. There are light poles in the parking lot at street level that, we were told, were under water during the last big flood. It’s hard for us to imagine that much water.
There were parts of town that we didn’t have time to see – there is a whole artist’s area, plus there are streets with many restored Victorian (and earlier) houses.
Next stop after Paducah is Green Turtle Bay, which is on Kentucky Lake. This marina is resort, with condominiums, three restaurants, and a spa. We will leave the boat there, while we travel to the AGLCA’s Fall Rendezvous in a rental car. We realized early on that we did not have time to travel to the rendezvous in the boat, so we made arrangements to rent a car. We have reconnected to other Looper people that we encountered in other marinas in the past few weeks. We are having a terrific time!
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