A little trip - part 2

Friday (July 30) we felt like taking a walk before breakfast. Of course we always have the early cup of tea which we don't count as breakfast. It was a good thing we had not had breakfast yet because we ended up in the "Gold Rush". It was a fun place to look at all the decorations. When we were waiting to be seated I tried three times to take a photo of the "tipping, not just for cows". Heard about tipping cows for the first time when Helen was at univercity in Nashville. Seems to be a big thing in some areas.

A country breakfast. Yes, biscuits and gravy. 

We had a good long walk. On our way back to the airbnb we passed First Presbyterian Church on 7th Street. I worked there for a few years before working at Grace Episcopal. I asked James whether he minded to go in. I was nosy who might still know me. It was fun. The new office person didn't have much info but she took me to the custodian (of about 30 years! there). Sandra recognized me even with my mask on and was so surprised to see me. We had a great chat and it was a lot of fun. We hugged before I left. 

We passed "a little free pantry", which seemed to have been a refrigerator at one time. It was almost empty.

I took a picture of this house for Helen because it was surrounded with sunflowers. They don't really show up in the photo. When we stood and admired all the things growing the owner came to the fence and we had a really nice chat too. She had moved from Maryland because when she visited she had fallen in love with this house for sale and the town. Her name is Patience.

All the things on the outside of the fence were for neighbors to pick. James and I had to taste the yellow cherry tomatoes. Excellent.

I had told you in the previous blog that we had invited our friends Barbara, Sara and David to the airbnb for dinner at 6:30 pm. When they arrived we had a tour of the house. We laughed about this bump in the carpet in front of my bed.

I think the lock for the trapdoor could have been a little smaller. It's not so pleasent to step on it. And who wants to crawl underneath the house. Well ... except ... you wonder a little what is so important down there.

We started with appetizers and a game of left-center-right. We had run all over the town to find one to buy because we didn't bring ours from home. This was a last minute thought. They are all grandparents. Oh, what fun it was. Sara won!

Sara and David had volunteered right away to bring "steak sous vide". It was perfect and very very nice.

I had made corn dip (our Sarah's recipe), Spinach salad and potato salad. It was a nice feast. 

Barbara had brought dessert. It was really the wonderful company though. It was like we had never left. Some friendships are like that. See you in Virginia?

Saturday

I knew that there was a farmers' market from 7:30 am to 1 pm every Saturday on the big plaza at the river. At 8 James and I were already on our walk. I just couldn't help admiring this tree. 

Does it remind you of the face of a giraffe? 

Yup, the farmers' market. Didn't take any more pictures. But it was quite interesting. The young guy with the homemade sausages chatted with us and told us his life story. He used to live in Germany for a while and loved it.

We continued and (surprise, surprise) ended up at Kirchhoff's, famous for their baked goods. I had made up my mind what I wanted and the guy in front of us in the line bought the last of that. But there were other things to choose from.

While we were sitting there another couple we knew from our time here passed by and we had a lovely long chat with Juliette and Paul. They had heard from somebody that we were in town and had been sorry to miss us since they could not be in church on Sunday. Ha-ha, Paducah is a small town.

We continued our walk. Gosh, that flood wall is never boring. You can't take it all in on one visit.

VIDEO   (1:03 minutes)

When you walk along, don't miss the things on the other side of the road. The Center of Maritime Education. River captains and pilots are trained here. Once I had a tour there. Very interesting and enlightening. Manouvering those tugs with lots of barges is no easy thing.

When we were on 'overload' we walked back. A quick stop at the farmers' market again to buy some flowers for tonight's host. And then we decided to try to find "our plaque" on the crossroads at the confluence of the Ohio River and the Mississippi River in Wickliffe, KY.

It was a nice drive and we found the cross. 

It took us some time to find the plaque. It was a donation for the cross to be errected several years ago. Actually, I had overlooked it and James found it.

We walked around a little. Had the place to ourselves. Unfortunately the confluence can't be seen because of the many trees. 

At the end of the drive back we got a little divertion because we needed to get gas and the GasBuddy app told us to go to Sams. No Costco here.

Back at the house I decided I still had time to go and see what there is to see at the National Quilt Museum. I have been several times over the years but of course the exhibitions are always different. Of course I took many photos but I might have to share those on my lace and quilt blog.

We had been invited by Sherry and John for dinner. Can't go to Paducah without seeing them. John is making the Grace Church Chrismons every year for many years. I design a new symbol every year and he makes ??? for all the children in the church there as it is tradition. John used to come to Nashville for a lesson when we visited there at the beginning of the new year. 

Yes, this years are finished. Of course the members of the church don't know what symbol it will be so I had to white out all the pretties. It was a great dinner, a great evening all around. Thank you!

Sunday

Our last day on this trip. We walked to church which we alway find very enjoyable. But since we didn't know how long it would take us we were too early. We wandered around and visited my dad again in the Memoral Garden. 

There is scary Jesus. Yes, that is his unofficial name. The statue was made for the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. It was gifted to the congregation by a former priest Timus Taylor. When I was staff at the church the statue was stolen for its metal value but the thieves were not able to sell it and it was found, unfortunately mutilated. I can't remember whether this is a repaired or recreated version. It is still scary though. 

It was a very uplifting service for us. The historic church with the stained glass windows makes a visit always special. And nice music even though the choir is on summer break. But the best for us was the reaction of the many people which know us from years ago. Who can not be happy when faces light up when you turn around for the peace and people recognized you? I hope it is not seen as pride. We were even asked whether we had moved back. When we said we were only visiting the reaction was clearly disappointment. 

More chatting in the portico after the service. Nancy and her (now late) husband were always dear to us. She was happy to join us for lunch. Her brother-in-law Chris recommended the Paducah Axe, of course in walking distance. That place was quite an adventure too. The brunch was nice. 

Nutella Crepes!

Benedictine bagel!

Oh the many memories we shared. No shortage of things to talk about. Of course we walked Nancy back to her car and then back to the airbnb. 

And that pretty much concludes our visit to Paducah. We have to take time and do some planning how we want to go home. We decided that since it is even further than Nashville we should spread it into 2 days. We finally decided to spend the night in Huntingdon, WV. James made a reservation. All set for tomorrow.

Enjoying a little trip - part 1

In hindsight our decision to bring William all the way home was a good one. First we were not totally sure about our idea to do it but we had not seen Helen in so long (except for an hour when she brought William to Bristol three weeks earlier). It was a great few days ... and not only because she offered us these treats baked by one of her friends. They were very unusual and very yummy. (she has great friends! not only because of the cookies)

There is no yard for Drifter to walk around and get some exercise. James tried his best but Drifter is getting old. At least James got a bit of exercise to pick up the 'you know what'.

We were very pleased that Helen asked us to accompany her to her property which we had not seen without the old house. She needed to meet the builder for a fence/tree issue. Helen had been very unfortunate that first a tornado hit Nashville which resulted in a lot of houses needing re-construction and then the pandemic caused everything to skyrocket and bring things to a haltl. It looks a bit more promising now. To all who know and love Helen: please pray that her luck changes and all goes well for a new house soon.

Helen always loved gardening. I had to laugh out loud because there was a volunteer cherry tomato plant in the middle of the property. The tree person drew a big red circle around it so it doesn't get trampled over. I wonder whether Helen could harvest something from it yet?

We tried to help with things we could do for her. The tornado had destroyed their church, Helen had helped with the initial clean-up and this big box of binders in the (little) living room ever since. We were able to bring it to a temporary church address. Everything seems to be an adventure. The GPS brought us to the wrong block on the street but we eventually found it.

We also had more William time Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Good thing I brought the playing cards. He asked to play "Five Crowns". And since Helen works from home and has a short lunch time I was also able to spoil her a little bit. Her wishes: Tomatenschnitten on German bread one day and tomato pie another. She thought it was the best one I had ever made. Fun times!

4 nights in the little place and time to move on. On Wednesday (7/28) we drove to Paducah, Kentucky, where we had lived so many years. We were a bit early for the airbnb so stopped at Grace Episcopal Church. So many memories there.

The pews had been prepared for Sunday. Once again every other row has been roped off. 

My father's ashes are in this Memorial Garden. This is the bench in his and James' dad's honor.

The church is beautiful inside and out. After the Memorial Garden we walked more around. These raised beds had started several years ago for the youth to generate food for the food pantry. The pandemic put a stop to that. Our friend John told us that he converted them to sow zinnias. He cuts them on Sundays to give to people or whenever a member needs to be cheered up.

Finally we made it to the airbnb 506 North 8th Street. After unpacking and settling we enjoyed the back patio and played our card game.

Time to go for a walk. We left by the back door.

Of course we know Paducah well and knew that this location was good. The old town had been rejuvenated years ago and many dilapidating houses were sold to artists from other states very cheaply and renovated. You find interesting things around every corner. Of course the pandemic was felt especially hard here since the annual quilt shows could not take place and tourists could not come.

Unexpectedly in many gardens 'naked ladies' poked our of the ground. 2 years ago I had bought several bulbs which had been quite expensive and nothing has happened so far in my garden. Jealous! 

Back at the front of the house.

On the day of our arrival we were right away invited to our friend Barbara. Ha-ha, for nibbles and wine only (she had said) but it was lovely with her and Sara and David too. Discussion is always lovely and at the end everybody was sad that it was already over. But of course it didn't need to be We would still here for a few more days and they had time on Friday night. A date it was at the airbnb!

Thursday morning.

Happy to go for a walk and explore. We moved away from Paducah in 2008 and of course there were changes since then. Great improvements at the river. Proper landings for the river boats and ... there was one.

Paducah had been plagued many times with floods. The floodwall already existed in our time and nice to walk along on this side.

But it is even nicer on this side. One murial was added after the other. Always interesting to see a new one. I really have to curb myself to not overdo the photos. But you get the idea. And so much history. Each one has a bronze plaque in front to explain it. 

Going up Broadway changes too. The traffic lights have disappeared and an interesting post with stop signs in the middle. I like it.

Back at the house a little camera tour. The entrance has interesting walls and the same pattern is painted around the ceiling light.

Painted around the ceiling light in the front bed room.

Painted around the ceiling light in 'our' bed room.

The living room. The ladder in the back actually can be hung on some hooks opposite where there was a loft without steps (?). Lots of antique furniture and knick knacks in every room. 

We had shopping to do. Guess who we saw in front of a Wal-Mart?

Helen might enjoy seeing this "little free library" in downtown. It came with a bench attached.

We had had an appointment with our financial adviser in the morning. He told us about the Freight House Restaurant. Of course I had seen the FaceBook postings about Top Chef Sara Bradley a couple of years ago by my Paducah friends. So we made a reservation and walked there. We sat under a roof outside. Lovely. We started by sharing the 'grilled ceaser'.

Oh what? We decided to order a bottle since we can take the rest with us. Gosh, was that good.

No printed menu. Use your smart phone to scan this and read it there.

We had heard all about the 

shrimp & grits

spicy pork shank, button mushrooms, new orleans bbq sauce, pimento cheese grits

... but could not make ourselves to order it. May be next time?

James:

fork & knife ribs

watermelon & napa cabbage kimchi, sesame, cilantro, fermented chili bbq

... no bones and the taste was outstanding.

ky silver carp

fried oyster, sweet corn & vidalia onion ragu, basiled peaches

... had hear all about this carp and I like fish. No disappointment here. It was outstanding good.

A pleasure to take the rest home.

I am usually not a celebraty admirer. After all I have stood as close as 6 feet to Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother even talked to Helen on James' shoulder once. But it was fun taking this photo with Sara Bradley because especially our Sarah knew all about the Top Chef competition and this chef from the town our Sarah was born. Sara was very friendly and natural. 

And the weather was perfect to walk back to the airbnb.