What We Did in Paducah
Meeting a celebrity chef, catching “throwed rolls” and seeing Superman are some of what we did in Paducah!
Day 1: Throwed Rolls
We decided to have lunch at Lambert’s Cafe in Sikeston, Mo., on the way out after dropping the dog off at friends in South County.
Only some trees have started to change, which might have made the drive north more scenic, but at least going south we could still wear shorts and sandals.
Arriving before noon at Lambert’s was a good choice since after we sat down the crowds starting to come in and the line became longer and longer as we ate.
The restaurant has “pass-arounds” or appetizers which include throw’ed rolls and fried okra along with sorghum and honey for your rolls. You place these on paper towels. Once you have a plate you can have fried potatoes, macaroni, tomatoes, and black-eyed peas.
David and I and even Andrew caught a few and we all managed not to drop them even though they came flying at you.
Andrew really enjoyed the model train that ran around on top. He kept looking for it as it made its way from one side of the restaurant to the other.
I had catfish, Andrew had chicken fingers and David had fried chicken. It was a decent meal. Lambert’s also has good cinnamon rolls, but the Drury Inn in Paducah has a full breakfast, so there was no need to get those this time.
After a big meal, we headed through Cairo, Il. We didn’t actually drive into the town but went around it near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers crossing two bridges in quick succession. You look out to see metal supports flash by and barges crawling underneath.
The next stop was Wickliffe Mounds. This was a quick one since we were heading to the hotel in the early afternoon so Andrew could swim in the pool before heading out.
I checked out the gift shop and saw the mounds nearby. I read the literature and checked out the dig site they had on display. These mound builders were the same ones that built Angel Mounds near Evansville, Ind., which we’ve also been to.
We drove through rural Kentucky to the Drury Inn & Suites in Paducah, not to be confused with the Drury Inn across the freeway, which didn’t have the suites. In the room, Andrew could have the whole fold-out bed to himself while we had some privacy in our bedroom. His area was separated by a hallway area with a kitchenette.
It had a nice pool, breakfast and afternoon snacks and drinks. Usually, adult drinks are free, but in Kentucky, you have to pay a nominal fee of 75 cents, each state its own, I guess.
After some swimming in the pool, we headed down for the snacks. It was busy since the hotel was hosting two college football teams. They were big guys who can eat and they definitely took advantage of the free food.
We checked out Whitehaven, the Paducah Kentucky Visitor Center. It is in a historic antebellum house. Getting there is a bit tricky because you can only enter by the interstate. The sign for it was missing so I missed the turn-off and had to circle back to get to it, oh well.
Here I gathered some tourist information on museums in the area and a Kentucky state map. From there I headed to the old Coca-cola factory building now used for restaurants. I was going to stop at the coffee shop here but the parking lot was full. I could have parked on the street but decided against troubling with it.
I found the main road connecting to the Bob Noble Park, my next destination, under construction. I took a street down from the main round and found my way to the park that the Wacinton Totem can be found. Chief Paduke, sculpted by Peter “Wolf” Toth in 1985 from local red oak. I took a few photos before heading back to the hotel. Paducah is the only town in Kentucky with a Native American name.
That evening we ate dinner at Flamingo Row near the hotel. It is a Caribbean themed restaurant. I ordered a yummy pina colada and had one of their specialty bread done in the style of Monte Cristo with jam. It was tasty. David had fish tacos. This was a different style restaurant than I was expecting in a small Kentucky city. This was a nice change and best of all close to the hotel.
Day 2: Exploring Paducah
The next morning we headed downtown. We checked out the painted river wall. The murals told the story of the town and surrounding area. I read the information on the plaques just below the paintings. Andrew listened as I told him about what was painted. He searched one of the plaques for the letters that made his name.
I like that he has an interest in figuring out the letters of the alphabet before kindergarten. The wall has over 50 paintings so it is quite the sight and worth checking out if you are in Paducah. At the end near the convention center, there is a train locomotive. You can’t go up on it, but Andrew enjoyed walking around it and checking it out.
The downtown had a surprising number of art galleries and shops. This took a large part of the morning. A few of the art shops were collectives so there were quite a few different artists displaying their works.
Here you can also go to quite a few breweries including a moonshine museum and distillery. I sampled some of the moonshines at The Moonshine Company. I learned today that moonshine is really strong. I couldn’t decide which one to buy. David had been at the nearby antique mall and I headed back to see if he was interested in buying some as a gift. Andrew was wanting to have a snack so we decided to instead head to the farmers market that was near the riverfront.
We stopped briefly in the microbrewery, Paducah Beer Werks, but it was a restaurant and didn’t have a shop. I might have bought some bottles or even a souvenir but they didn’t have this available.
The farmer’s market had vegetables, baked goods, and some crafts. I came across some sorghum cookies being sold by some Amish. I purchased them. They were still warm and soft. Very good purchase for a snack.
The downtown was having an Octoberfest. We didn’t participate, but along with the festival, they were doing some activities for the kid. So they had a booth where he could draw with markers. It was a bright and sunny day so hanging out for a bit was fine. They did have a meal, a German theme, but included a hard pretzel stick and a brownie. After being in Germany where I never saw stick pretzels or a brownie, this seemed way too Americanized for us.
Andrew was hungry so we headed out. I had read about Starnes Barbecue that was on the way back to the hotel. Here you can get a toasted sandwich with meat, including ham, pork, bologna, turkey, and brisket. It was $2.75 per sandwich. We got all five types of meat. The pork-based meats were the best. We might stop here again if we’re heading this direction. It was not far off the freeway and they were fast. I liked their sauce which had a bit of a kick to it. I bought some on the way out.
Back to the hotel, we spent sometime in the pool before enjoying the afternoon snacks and drinks.
That night we were heading to the Freight House restaurant run by Top Chef’s Sara Bradley. We had a 7:15 pm reservation, which was good since the place was packed.
David had steak and broccoli with cheese that included bacon which was well flavored. I had the shrimp and grits. It was tasty and had some plump sized shrimp.
Dessert included apples, a bat cookie along with caramel and sweet sauce. With the apples, at least I felt we had a serving of fruit.
The treat for the night was Sara Bradly, a former Top Chef participant. She came by the table and let David have a selfie with her. Then she promised Andrew a chance to see the kitchen. After we had the meal she came and led us to the back.
Sara showed him the different carrots that they used, which was quite a variety. She opened up one that had a different color on the inside. It was a sweet gesture and reminded me when I used to work at restaurants back in college. It had been a long while since I had been in a large cooler. I am glad he had a chance to learn a little about what it takes to make dinner.
Day 3: A Fort Encampment and Superman
Sunday morning we had our last breakfast at the hotel then headed to Fort Massac. They were doing an encampment that included a French and Indian military, the British along with the American military representing the different soldiers that had been stationed there in the past.
I didn’t realize how big this encampment was. We had to park outside the main parking area in the grass. They shuttled us in using trailers with benches driven by a tractor. Andrew, of course, thought this was fun.
The reenactors do a program with raising different flags representing the changing powers that manned the fort along with a parade of soldiers. There was a different patriotic song for each military garrison along with the one for the American military that I had never heard before. Since the fort was occupied by the early American military they sang a song called Chester, which was the national anthem before 1812.
Along with the songs, they shot cannons which were large booms. Andrew enjoyed that. Kids would also go running up and down the little hills that the fort used to provide a border and some even rolled down them. He enjoyed running up and down the little hills with the kids.
After the ceremonies, one of the reenactors was doing rope making so Andrew was able to help put together a rope and take it home. He also pointed out that explorers Lewis and Clark used ropes made of elk hide, which made them really strong. He had some on display, it was an interesting factoid that I didn’t know.
The encampment also had programs. A lady was doing a Nursery rhyme themed play. David was roped in to play a part. I had stepped away to get some drinks to come back to see him perform. Andrew thought it was funny.
There were a number of artisans with their wares available to purchase. We took some time exploring the leather goods, metallurgy, and other crafts.
After being there a few hours we headed back onto the wagon to go downtown Metropolis where the Superman Museum is located. In the comics, Superman lived in Metropolis so this town has been connected to Superman ever since then. Although the town is more like Smallville than the huge city of Metropolis.
In the downtown area, you can find a statue of Lois Lane as the roving reporter. A 16-ton statue of Superman with his cape and his blue tights stands tall in front of the courthouse.
The main thing to do here stands like Superman with the statue behind you. There is a constant trickle of people doing this.
We had leftovers from the dinners this week for a picnic with Superman standing above us. Andrew loved all the Superman memorabilia around us. There was a phone booth, Superman statue coming out of the building along with Superman body cut-outs that you could stand behind and pretend you were Superman.
After lunch, we headed into the museum. There is a large gift shop that you have many choices of Superman T-shirts along with toys. Along with Superman, they had other DC characters represented and comics.
Andrew picked a Superman figurine that included a firey comet the Superman is supposed to stop before it destroys the Earth I guess. It also came with a miniature comic.
The museum had a lot of memorabilia from the 1950’s Superman up until the present along with tony from the past. Andrew didn’t recognize much of this, but I did. The collection is interesting and it was only five dollars for me and Andrew was free since he was under five. David didn’t go through the museum but checked out the gift shop some more.
It is not a large museum, but it has a lot of items stuffed in there. David had talked to the museum person and she said the daughter had taken over and was working on expanding it. The place is a bit overfilled with stuff. It would be good to enlarge it so you can more easily see it all.
We called David’s friend who was watching the dog and we decided to head back through Chester home. This would have us drive through southern Illinois which is scenic with rolling hills and forests.
We also could stop in Chester, Ill., home of Popeye. The creator of Popeye was born in this town. They have statues of Popeye characters throughout the town. There is also a Popeye museum, but it was closed when we drove through. Although, there are more than enough Popeye sites besides the museum.
Andrew fell asleep as we drove through the hills. He awoke when we stopped in Chester at the visitor’s center. The area where you can get brochures and such was closed, but the bathrooms were available. There was also a stone Popeye statue here that we did the photo with Andrew. The center is also by the bridge going into the town on a cliff that you far-off views of the river and surrounding hills. The center had information on an interesting story that the original bridge had been destroyed by a tornado. Back then it was a toll bridge and the toll booth operator watched and heard it come through and radioed on the other side to shut down traffic so no lives were lost that day.
We crossed the bridge and thought about stopping at the Liberty Bell of West. This was a bell made in France for the US at the same time as the Liberty Bell. It was placed in Kaskaskia which had once been the capital of the French territory in North America. Sadly, the town’s heyday was long ago. There are only 13 people left in it. It was mostly destroyed when the Mississippi River changed course through the town. A remnant of the town can now be found with access only from Missouri and isolated.
A small building by the historic church houses the bell. Sadly, I found out that we would have to do this another time since it closed at 4 pm. Oh well, next time.
Our last stop was for gas at Costco and then to pick up the dog. It was a fun weekend trip with the kid in Kentucky!
