Snug Harbor Bay

Thursday, June 3, 2021

Visiting Paducah Kentucky

My mom and I recently drove to Paducah, Kentucky to do a little geocaching/adventure labs and visiting the historic section of town. There's a lot of interesting things to see and do down at the river front and we spent a couple hours walking around and checking out the sights. They have a fabulous set of statues dedicated to Merriweather Lewis, William Clark and their Corp of Discovery.

Paducah was first settled as "Pekin" around 1821 by European Americans James and William Pore. The town was laid out by explorer and surveyor William Clark in 1827 and renamed Paducah. It was formally established as a town in 1830 and incorporated as a city by the state legislature in 1838. It became the site of dry dock facilities for steamboats, towboats and the headquarters for many barge companies. In 1924 the Illinois Central Railroad begin construction for their largest locomotive workshop in the nation. The eleven million dollar project was completed in 1927 and was the fourth largest industrial plant in the state of Kentucky. Twenty blocks of downtown has been designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As you walk through town you will notice the flood wall which was built after the Ohio River flood in 1937. Today the wall is covered with murals of the history of the town. Paducah is also home of the National Quilt Museum, built April 25, 1991. (Taken from Geocaching.com)

Love the sections with the cobblestone streets!

One of the most interesting things down by the river front is the wall of murals depicting the history of Paducah through beautiful hand painted murals lining the flood wall.

To get credit for the "Historic District Paducah" Adventure Lab we had to visit 5 different sites near the mural and gather information. You then enter the information into your phone app and once you answer all the questions correctly, you get credit for doing 5 caches on the geocaching site.

The train is beautiful and much larger than you'd think.

We had so much fun doing the Adventure Lab that we decided to do another one called "Paducah Jefferson Street Memorials." Taken from the geocaching site: Over the last 134 years, the Jefferson Street neighborhood has grown and changed with Paducah. But, its beautiful homes—with their elegant façades and neatly kept lawns—preserve pieces of Paducah’s past. Paducah incorporated Jefferson Street and its adjacent Fountain Avenue into the city limits in 1884. About this time, gravel covered the wide streets, but workers soon began laying tracks for an electric streetcar and Jefferson Street became one of Paducah’s first and most popular “streetcar suburbs.” Eventually, the automobile changed the face of the city. The streetcars grew less and less popular until the lines stopped running. Paducah take up the tracks later in the 20th century and plant trees and grass in their place. Now, small park areas cover the Jefferson neighborhood medians, marking the old streetcar line. It is here where you will find 5 hidden memorial of the past. This adventure needs to be found in sequential order.

All of the information we needed was taken from wording on the memorial statues that lined the center of Jefferson Street. Going geocaching or doing Adventure Labs are a great way to learn the history of different areas. I love history, so this is a natural fit for me!

No trip to Paducah is complete without a stop at Reds Donuts. Their donuts are fresh and delicious and I think we sometimes invent excuses to drive to Paducah just to stop at Reds. My favorites are the raspberry filled donuts or the heath bar donuts.

It was a fun morning but we weren't finished yet. It was such a nice day that we decided to slip over the border into Illinois and do some more geocaches and adventure labs in Metropolis which is the home of Superman. More to come in my next post.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases...

101 Devil Caches

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Chattanooga/Smoky Mountain Trip Day 8

DAY 8 SATURDAY

(Me at Grotto Falls)

Another early day for me. I’d so much rather get up early and beat the crowds if possible. I set my alarm for 6:00 am, made a quick thermos of coffee, got dressed and ate my donut in the car while driving to the trailhead for Grotto Falls.

Starting early paid off and there were only 2 other cars in the parking lot when I pulled in. I grabbed my backpack and hiking stick and took off. It was a beautiful clear, cool morning but I quickly worked up a sweat on the uphill trail. Everything was so green and the sun streaming through the trees was just beautiful. Grotto Falls is 25 ft high and about 3 miles round trip to hike. It wasn't a difficult hike at all.

I had the trail to myself the entire way up and 40 minutes later I rounded a bend and saw the falls in the distance!

The really cool thing about Grotto Falls is that you can actually walk behind the falls. What a thrill!!

This was another hike that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. After several pictures and a few gulps of water I headed back down. I passed dozens of hikers who were now on their way up but the ones that impressed me the most were bringing up a woman in a wheelchair. They had constructed a travois of sorts and attached it to her wheelchair. Her husband, who looked to be maybe 75-80 years old, lead the way with a harness strapped to his waist and shoulders. Pushing from behind was their daughter and her husband. They were all smiles and laughs and the elderly woman in the wheelchair was having the time of her life. I can only assume they made it to the top and I prayed they did because they certainly were putting forth a lot of effort and love. Way to go!! The parking lot was completely full when I got back down. Going early pays off!!

I took my time heading back towards Gatlinburg by taking Roaring Forks Road, stopping several times along the way to get out and explore old abandoned homesteads and enjoying the stunning scenery.

When I got back to Gatlinburg I decided to head back towards Rainbow Falls so I could stop at the Noah "Bud" Ogle Homestead and do the nature walk there, which also happened to be a geocache called "Bud's Tub." Bonus! The hike through the woods there was really pretty and I was glad I took the time to drive back and check it out.

All this and it wasn’t even 11:00 yet. I headed over to the Sugarland Visitor Center and found a parking space and got out to walk the Nature Trail and the Cascade Falls trail. I was so glad I did. It was just such a nice day, but Saturday was proving to be extremely crowded with people everywhere.

Ugh, just too many people for me so I decided to call it quits after hiking the 2 trails, and headed back to the Campgrounds. I stopped at the Hungry Bear and ordered a brisket sandwich with sides of potato salad and coleslaw.

I ate about ¾ of it all and took the rest back to the campgrounds with me to have for dinner later. I spent the next few hours cleaning and organizing my car and tent in anticipation of leaving in the morning. I was sad that my little trip was already coming to an end. Vacations always seem to go by so quickly, don’t they? But I’m really missing my dogs and I know they’ll be happy to see me.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip! I had a fantastic time in spite of the rain. I enjoyed camping in both my tent and the car. I got to scratch several items off my bucket list - Go to the top of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, experience the splendor of the Great Smoky Mountains, climb to the top of Clingmans Dome and hike to Grotto Falls. I also picked up 6 new patches for my jacket, bought 3 books to enjoy and collected tons of brochures and maps. It was an amazing adventure. I know I'll be back again some day to explore more of everything the Smoky Mountains have to offer.