River City

 Field trip!  

The DHubby and I drove six hours to western Kentucky to visit this city, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers.  Paducah is a 'destination city' for quilters.  The National Quilt Museum is a source of inspiration and awe.  (Read about it at www.quiltmuseum.org.)
The murals decorate an otherwise unlovely flood wall.  One may learn more at the River Heritage Museum.

The riverfront presents an ever-changing scene.  

The City of Paducah is the home of The American Quilter's Society, which hosts an annual quilt show at the end of April.  Our visit was timed for The Calm before The Storm.  We were fortunate to enjoy nice weather for our weekend visit. 

 Paducah's historic downtown district features plenty of free parking--and even the parking lots are pretty!


Knockout roses, snapdragons, and dianthus are a cheerful greeting.

 Many of the old buildings are still occupied by long-time businesses.  The blue building is the Visitors' Center, a good source for maps, directions, or suggestions if one is a first-time visitor.  Other historic buildings house B&B's, restaurants, art galleries, gift shops. 

 The old Market building, with old brick streets on each side, is now an art gallery and gift shop.

The Art-Deco lettering gives you a hint that this bakery has been in business here for a long time.  The adjoining deli is open from 11 to 2 Monday through Saturday.  While we were on the bakery side, the postman stopped by to deliver the mail and received a cookie; nice perk!  

We make a point of stopping here every time we're in Paducah.....  we order a Reuben.  Here we have the DHubby guarding his half with a suspicious look on his face.  Possibly he thought the camera was a decoy meant to distract him while I made a grab for it.

 This was once a gallery--the walls of the entry are paved with tiles, as are many interior surfaces.  The last few times I visited, this was a restaurant; now it's a tasting and sales room for a winery.  The winemaker was there; we found him informative and congenial.  Best of all, he's plainly talented. 

The wall to the right of the couple who just happened to emerge as I took this shot.

There were too many stops...photos are not allowed in the quilt museum galleries; I did not carry my camera into Hancock's-of-Paducah (the best fabric store EVER); and we were too busy while we were enjoying meals at Cynthia's Ristorante and Max's Brick Oven Cafe (both of which we recommend; and we advise reservations.)

I hope it's not another two years before we visit again.  And this time it would be nice if we remembered the clothes on hangers that we had intended to wear when we went out to eat.