Day 2: December 21, 2024 Museums and More Comment via blog

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This pair of building comprise the 1895 Washington Hotel. It is where I slept last night and where I will sleep tonight. The 1895 and the name Washington come from the fact that the blue house was built in 1895 for a descendant of George Washington's half-brother Augustine. My room is in the brick pillared guest house.

Paducah has plenty of history-on-a-stick installations. I try to read the titles on most of these but that's usually impossible at highway speeds. In town, I succeed much more often. Today, on the way to something else, I read a title that took me by surprise. What was a "SCOPES MONKEY TRIAL" sign doing in Paducah, KY? John T. Scopes, the man at the center of the trial, was born and buried here.

I knew of this Peter Toth carving and was on my way to see it when I spotted the Scopes marker. This thing is huge and just might be the most impressive of the several Toth carvings I have seen. There is a plaque nearby.

On the riverfront, the River Discovery Center is housed in the oldest building in Paducah. There is plenty of history here and plus exhibits on Paducah's modern day involvement with the river. There are quite a few scale models of boats in the museum but the biggest and best is the miniature Delta Queen. Built as a floating radio-controlled model, the interior is furnished with details that can be seen only when the boat is disassembled.

Across the street is a floodwall covered with Robert Dafford Murals and a locomotive parked at one end. Every mural has a descriptive plague in front of it. The one for the painting with the Delta Queen in the center is here.

Santa has set up shop in the biggest opening in the wall and on the other side the riverside's popularity with locals is quite evident.

William Clark played a significant role in Paducah's founding which the city honors with this sculpture. There is a description here.

The National Quilt Museum is just beyond the Lewis and Clark sculpture. The museum was very enjoyable although it was not what I expected. I anticipated a quilt museum to tell the history of quilting and to be filled with examples made decades ago by someone's aunt or grandmother. No quilt in the museum predates 1984 and few, if any, were produced to keep someone warm at night. The museum owns about 750 quilts of which 80 or so are currently on display. Quilts on loan include collections from Joe Mallard and Susan Carlson. There are some truly impressive works of art displayed here. The last quilt pictured is, in keeping with the season, "Christmas Trees" by Adrien Rothchild.

Of course, I couldn't get this close to Apple Valley Toyland without stopping by to say hi to Keith and see what was new. There has been both fire and wind damage since I was here so there are a few thing I can be certain are new but beyond that it's pretty much a wild guess. I almost missed seeing the homage to Keith's mother who spent a lot of time frying chicken in the building that is now a museum. Diane was in and out of the house while I was there but rejoined us as I was leaving so I could get a group selfie.

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