Our short sample of Southern Kentucky proved to be both sweet and simple.  Nothing at all like my preconceived ideas of thoroughbreds, basketball, bourbon and bluegrass.  Those are the images of my uninitiated mind when I think about Kentucky, but my experience in these parts was full of the unexpected.  On my road trip west, I determined to look in some of the nooks and crannies to see what  I could find.  After spending a night camping at Koomer’s Ridge in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Lexi the Golden and I headed first south and then west to Paducah.  Perched on the banks of the Ohio River, Paducah is nestled in one of those western little crooked crannies across the river from the tip of Illinois. It’s one of those towns that would come up in something I’d read or as part of a conversation.  I really didn’t know much of anything about it, but the little research I did piqued my curiosity.  As a long-time fan of singer/songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman (we even named our first dog after him – ridiculous but lovable mutt that he was), I’d always remembered that he was from this funny-sounding Kentucky town.  And so I endeavored to check it out for myself, not really knowing much of what I’d find.  Sometimes those are the best adventures, because everything is unexpected! Initially, Lexi the Golden and I had planned to camp that night in The Land Between the Lakes in southwestern Kentucky.  A place I’d never heard of, but the name pulled me in as part romantic and just super literal.  Sure enough, it’s a huge north/south stretch of land designated as a National Recreation Area, poised between lakes that are created from waters of the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. A few weeks earlier I’d found a great campground and we were all set.  As we began heading in that direction, two problems arose. One, it was 95 degrees and humid.  (Sounds lovely for camping with a dog – not.)  Two, I discovered a voicemail on my phone from the campground manager, letting me know that he was very sorry to tell me that a tornado had gone through and made camping impossible. Yikes.  So plan B.  I didn’t currently have one, but this did seem like a good opportunity to seek out air-conditioned accommodations for the night. In the end we stopped at the Land Between the Lakes main visitor center, and found a good place to stretch our legs and hike a bit.  As the park covers such a huge area of land, much of it was unaffected by the tornado, and our hike was uneventful as all the trees and buildings remained in their proper places. But back to the earlier portion of the day – yes, this is the same day as from the earlier post “Fear…less”, where Lexi and I escaped Koomer’s Ridge and her near-death experience.  Once we were on the road,  I was happy to make an unexpected discovery.  First off, I love barns.  Especially old ones and even falling-down ones.  Brown, green, white, red, even blue – there’s so much character and you just know they all tell a long story of the land on which they reside.  Kentucky is full of this kind of barn.  I think that my most frequent reason for pulling off the side of the road for a photo is for the sheer joy of encountering a photogenic barn. In parts of Kentucky though, they are made all the richer and more charming with the addition of a painted quilt block.  The first one I saw caused me to turn the car around to check it out more closely.  I thought it was a novelty, a cool splash of color that some farmer added to the barn as a gift to his quilting wife, or that she may have painted as a nod to the rich quilting history of the area.  It was like finding a four-leaf clover when you weren’t even looking.  As we continued on, I began to see them more frequently.  Amazing!  All these country roads, dotted with small farms with livestock and healthy fields and gardens, boasted of at least a few of these “quilt barns”. I wanted to photograph them all, but the roads just weren’t conducive to it, so I have but a few to share.  It was actually a full day later, in the far western reaches of Missouri, that I would my final and favorite one – a beautiful wedgewood blue barn boasting not one but two squares.  The farm, outside Joplin not far from the sweet town of Carthage, was adorned with a more traditional patchwork square and also a beautiful and unique version of our American flag, as it was 4^th of July week. A little Googling provided some background for the quilting artwork.  Kentucky has several “Quilt Barn Trails” that travelers can explore, all off the beaten path.  The first quilt barn block was actually created by a woman in Ohio, who had a panel made to honor her quilter mother.  Upon further digging I discovered that many states in the midwest and south, including Texas, Tennessee, Indiana and North Carolina have organized quilt barn trails.  Hmmm.  The idea has expanded and been embraced in several areas.  I loved it, and I loved that I just stumbled upon them, completely clueless that such a marvel existed.  What a fun theme for a future road trip! I was also oblivious to the fact that Paducah is referred to as “Quilt City USA”, but it seemed fitting with the theme of the day that we were headed right into the heart of it.  As a side note, we opted for our one hotel stay of the journey, well worth the expense.  Lexi learned about elevators, and decided that for the most part they are not for her.  As our room was on the 6^th floor, we compromised.  Down the stairs, but up the elevator.  Tricky stuff! In any case, I was charmed by Paducah.  Maybe it was thanks in part to a great night’s sleep and escape from the humid and sticky heat, but our tour of the town the following morning taught me a thing of two of its history, and I was thoroughly taken in by the shops and restaurants of the art district.  There’s also just something about a city on a river, and this was no exception.  The wide expanse of the Ohio ran just beyond the northernmost cobblestoned street.  While there is a river wall to protect from flooding, a pleasant walkway and park area is hidden just on the other side, and Lexi took her time getting her feet wet and shrinking back as the little waves lapped at the shore. My favorite tidbit of our time in Paducah was learning that in 1827, William Clark, half of the notable duo Lewis and Clark, purchased 37,000 acres of land, including the area that would become Paducah, for the sum of $5.  Quite a good deal. All in all, it was a pleasant stay in a friendly town.  I found this colorful quote on a historical marker in the middle of the city, written over a hundred years ago.  The author is Irvin S. Cobb, a Paducah-born American author, who would go on to write for Joseph Pulitzer’s newspaper in New York and rival Mark Twain in popularity during his lifetime.  I love the images he creates as he makes his case for his hometown.

Here in Paducah one encounters, I claim, an agreeable blend of Western kindliness, and Northern enterprises, superimposed upon a Southern background.  Here, I claim, more chickens are fried, more hot biscuits are eaten, more corn pone is consumed, and more genuine hospitality is offered than in any town of like size in the commonwealth.  Irvin S. Cobb

Though I wished I had encountered Steven Curtis Chapman in my wanderings, I can well imagine him here in this kindly, enterprising, semi-Southern quilters town.  For us, though, it was time to move on to the next.  Missouri here we come!