Wednesday & Thursday, September 20 & 21 - Paducah, Kentucky

What a beautiful morning!

The tow starts to move around 8:00 and we figure it's time for all of us to get underway as well.

 As soon as we see this bridge, we know that our next lock is here.

Of course they're working on the wicket dam!  Just because they're working on the dam, doesn't mean the lock isn't working; thank goodness!  So, we call the lockmaster to find out that there are three tows ahead of us!!!  Again, this isn't like back home.  So, once again, we wait.  While waiting, we hear a tow captain call the lockmaster.  He says, now I know that you take groups of six and I think I'm in the fifth group, but what number am I exactly?  The lockmaster replies, thirty-three!  To which the tow captain says, whoo-eeee!!!  Dave and I look at each other - THIRTY THREE?!?!  Are you kidding me?  No wonder there are towboats everywhere!  And now we understand the reasoning for bringing tows in single file in groups of six; otherwise the lock would be waiting just an hour for the tow to get from his resting spot to the lock!  Wow, what a busy area!  

After a FOUR HOUR wait, it's finally our turn.  We go into the lock with four other boats.  Once again, we have to throw a line to the lock master for him to wrap it around the top of the large ballards which are the lock wall.  Like Lock and Dam 53, we see that this lock is beyond repair, too.  

 The gates are so old and fragile, they open only one at a time and do it VERY slowly.

 Here's a closer picture of the wicket dam as we leave.

After leaving the lock, our friends from Ohio, Gary and Angie, leave us to continue up the Ohio River where they will visit family.  We were happy to have met this great couple!  Wishing you the very best; safe travels!

After we wave goodbye to our looper friends, we see the town of Paducah to our right.  Due to the delay at the lock, we had called Paducah to see if we could stay at their new city dock and we were denied, as they told us they were not scheduled to open until the following day.  So, we put our boats on plane and hoped that we would make Green Turtle Bay before sunset.  

As we eased up the Tennessee River, Dave received a voicemail from Paducah Parks Department granting us permission to stay on the city dock.  At that point we radioed our looper friends and we all excitedly turned our boats around and headed downstream to Paducah!

The Ohio River is to the left of the green point and the Tennessee River is to the right.

 We are THRILLED to be able to stay on this beautiful, new, state-of-the-art dock!  As we head to dinner in town (which is adorable; cobblestone streets and all - photo to come tomorrow 😊), we notice the massive hardware, which includes 50 foot above the water spud poles (around 30 inches in diameter😲), robust hardware railings and dock system, as well as fuel, water, and pump-out!  WOW, the city of Paducah sure knows how to build a dock!!!

As we approach the town there is a levee wall to protect the town from flooding.  The town is about 35 feet above the river and the wall is an additional 15 feet of protection.  Believe it or not, water has risen within two feet of the top of the wall in recent years!  WOW!!!😲

Levee wall

On our way to dinner we pass by the National Quilt Museum; thinking of you, 

Yvonne Zarnstorff and Karen Lundgaard!

Thursday morning we decide to explore more of this beautiful town by taking a long bike ride.

Beautiful overlook on our way back to the city dock.

On the town side, there are beautiful murals that decorate the levee wall.

Dave in front of a locomotive.  These locomotives were manufactured in Paducah.

After exploring the town, eating breakfast at Midtown Market's yummy deli, and taking "Lift" to the local Walmart to restock supplies, we are officially welcomed to Paducah's new city dock by Mark, the Director of Parks, City Manager Jeff Pederson, Mayor Gale Kaler, the City Engineer, as well as others.  Soon the WPSD 6 (international news agency of Paducah😂) sent reporter Blake and camerman Michael to interview us about the new docking facility, as we are the first to use it.  If you're interested, here's the link: 

 http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/2017/09/21/boat-dock-gives-green-light-tourists/

Who knew we'd become famous on this trip?!😉

Well, that's all for now, as we need to get back into this great town and do some more exploring!