No, We're Not in Florida Anymore.

I know, I've been neglecting my documentation of our travels. My creative energies are being channeled into my interior design fantasies. Apologies offered. I'll do a quick update now. This Spring and Summer are all about friends, family, and future too I guess.

Our last stop in Florida was a very stimulating one in Jacksonville, where I dashed around madly trying to visit all the furniture stores to feed my fantasies and determine which ones will be most useful when we come back to Jekyll Island in the Fall.  Jekyll is about halfway between Jacksonville and Savannah, both of which have more furniture and interior decor stores than can be found closer. Furniture Mart will be my lead provider I think, with the local Jacksonville West Elm and Ballard Design stores in supporting roles. Brunswick also has Sweats, a nice but small furniture store, which will be a great local resource.

Then we parked at Coastal Georgia RV Resort in Brunswick and spent the week gazing longingly at the construction site where our townhouse will be. We also walked the beaches on Jekyll Island every day and explored the local territory, including St. Simons Island. From the Jekyll beaches we viewed porpoises and manatee in the shallow waters, enjoyed the deep green shade of the oaks, and basked in the relaxing atmosphere of the Island. What a beautiful place Jekyll is. Even more beautiful than we remembered. We're still feeling really good about our decision to live there.

After a too short and wonderful week with our family (Hi Bob, Caroline, Catherine, Will, Sarah, Cathy, Jess and Michael!) in Mount Pleasant, SC we started making some serious headway northward.  For us that still means moving only about 2 hours on travel days, and spending a couple of days at each stop.  

In our slow and steady style we actually made it through South Carolina and North Carolina, into Tennessee, and stopped for a week at the tidy Two Rivers Landing RV Resort in Sevierville and the Great Smoky Mountains. While there, we revisited our favorite spots in the National Park, perused the hugely comprehensive Smoky Mountain Knife Works, and had a lovely visit with Rick's old friends, Bob and Barb from Louisville.

On through Tennessee, Kentucky and into Ohio, we stopped for a great visit with our new friends Barb and Phil, in Mount Vernon, OH. They were kind and generous to let us stay in their home over the Memorial Day Weekend. What a blessing it was to get a break from the crowds and expense we would have encountered in an RV park on this holiday. And Phil and Barb are just so much fun to be with. We explored all around the beautiful Ohio countryside, including Granville, where I went to college and where Rick's great grandfather was a pastor and president of a local women's college (predating Denison University, my alma mater).  Granville is still such an idyllic little town, and I think Ohio is just about the most beautiful state in the country. Thanks Phil and Barb for showing us around your home state!

After a few of more quick stops in pastoral Ohio, the northwest corner of Pennsylvania and western NY, we've landed in apple country north of the Finger Lakes for a week to catch our breath from all this hard ramblin'.  : )  Right now we're at NorWin Campground and Fruit Farm, kind of an unusual stop for us. The large campground of primarily summer homes/trailers of local folks, is surrounded on all sides by a beautiful farm, with fruit orchards, corn fields and goat pastures. Our hosts couldn't have been nicer, and found us, on short notice, a pull-through spot with an open sky so we could use our satellite. We'll get both cars serviced, clean house, do a lot of laundry and let Honey run through the orchards.

We'll be in New England very soon for some long awaited visits with many dear people who we love and have missed. Our travels will peak at Acadia National Park, then we start the long trip back south, stopping in New Hampshire and Vermont for a couple of weddings and a visit with my son Mark. Lots to look forward to.

P.S. Sorry, no photos. There is something bad going on between Picasa (Google's photo program) and Blogger (Google's blogging program). I'm not feeling hopeful about where it's going, so the future of this blog is in question. I'm very tempted to bad mouth Google, which has basically abandoned Picasa users, and may be planning the same for Blogger.

A "10" Day in Paducah, Kentucky

While staying in the area of eastern Kentucky called the Land Between the Lakes, we took a day trip to the town of Paducah, where we found three places that deserve to be added to anyone's list of things to see. They all get big "10's" from me. 

Paducah is at the confluence of the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers.  Because of that location, it has a long history of settlement, commerce and industry, going back to the "paleo and archaic Indian cultures." Paducah has done something truly remarkable to commemorate that history: the Wall to Wall Murals by Robert Dafford.  This link to Dafford's website has better pictures of all the murals if you're interested. 

Paducah's location is also the cause of a long history of devastating floods...

...and is now protected from the rising rivers by a long concrete flood wall. 

Rather than leave it a blank gray eyesore, they hired this incredible muralist to paint the history of the town on it. 

In addition to the beautifully detailed and richly colored paintings, 

in front of each one is a thoughtfully written plaque explaining the scene. 

 There are 52 wonderful murals, each more interesting than the next. They tell a story of the waves of industry and development that have shaped Paducah.  I've picked just a few to show you.  The old firehouse:

A historical montage of the African American community of Paducah:

Making pearl buttons made from river oysters was big business for awhile.

Moving freight along the river.

(The present day view of moving freight. That's Illinois on the other side of the river.) 

The churches in town. I love the image of them all being a part of the same branching tree.

The riverboats:

The atomic age - Paducah was the only US uranium enrichment plant until it closed in May of this year. What brought a boom to Paducah has now contributed to its current loss of jobs. 

After our walk along the mural, we lunched at a local treasure: Kirchoff's Bakery and Deli. 

Here are the cooks who make the great sandwiches that Kirchoff's is known for.

Painted on the wall is the logo from Kirchoff's famous Big Boy bread - a soft eggy white bread.

Yes, we would probably be as big bellied and the Big Boy if we lived here in Paducah. 

Their bakery is unbelievably yummy. We took away quite a few cookies and breads.

Kirchoff's is in the restored (or maybe well maintained) part of downtown, along with lots of galleries and restaurants. A fun place to browse for a hour of so, but it wasn't our last stop in Paducah!

That was the National Quilt Museum. Another "10"!  It's not a historical museum, but a large contemporary collection of outstanding quilts, some of which use traditional hand sewing, and others use the most advanced computerized sewing technology available. The exhibits were breathtaking. There unfortunately was no photography allowed in the galleries, but this quilt was in the conference room, so I dared to snap it. It's a carved wooden quilt. Really. Rick didn't believe it either.

Next, a month in Nashville for some rest and recuperation from the long stretch of travel that 

we've been doing since June! Who goes to Nashville to rest? 

Quick Trip to Kentucky

A dear friend of mine was defending her dissertation at Spaulding University last week (Yeah Tina!). Serendipitously being so close to Lousiville (only a five hour drive) allowed me to go up and be a part of Tina's big day. She invited me to stay in her home in the pastoral rolling hills between Louisville and Lexington.

On the small farm surrounding her home live several burros who were cared for by Father Jones, the previous owner of the property. Tina now lives in the home that Father Jones' built and lived in. The burros are being cared for now by the landlords who live next door.

Tina, her friend Mary and I had a lovely, relaxing evening together on her porch, talking into the night, enjoying the soft night air and good conversation. The next morning we had breakfast and watched the birds on her pond from her other porch.  

After saying our goodbyes,  : (  I took the back roads down to Tennessee... 

passing through the lovely town on Shelbyville, then on southward through the Cumberland region of the Daniel Boone National Forest.  I made a stop at Cumberland Falls State Park to stretch my legs and get a feeling for this area made famous by so many old songs. (This is the home of bluegrass and old time music.) My first stop was at the lodge and I took a short hike along the cliffs above the Cumberland River and appreciated the early spring forest wildflowers. This one is a kind of stonecrop that was growing out of the cliff side.

This one is fire pink scarlet catchfly - Silene virginica:

These are star chickweed:

Pink wood sorrel:

False Solomon's seal:

The trail, lined with Philadelphia fleabane:

I drove on to the falls themselves and walked along the river, then down to the Lower Overlook area which offers this view of the falls.

Here's one of the more dramatic sections of the short Lower Overlook trail.

Spotted a new butterfly (for me) - a zebra swallowtail, with pale green stripes, on these bushes that may be snowball viburnum.

With all the sight seeing and back road explorations it took me all day to get back to Cove Mountain RV Park, and I was really tired, but it was the kind of driving I really enjoy.  Next I'll share some of our adventures in the Smoky Mountains.