Enjoyed one of our summertime "traditions!"

[Katie H]

Paducah is the nearest, um, big city to us. It's about 20K to 30K people and is an historic city. Lots to see and do if you are a history buff. The riverfront is a lovely place to visit and some foresighted people stepped in about 20 years ago to make a move to "save" the downtown area, filled with historic beauty. It was a wonderful success and the downtown area near the riverfront is thriving. Lots to do, see, enjoy! Even ultra-luxury apartments overlooking the river. Whoa!

Now, to our "tradition." One of the businesses in the downtown on Broadway is the Ice Cream Factory at Riverplace. Yum, yum, double yum. They make all their ice cream, which is why we visit every summer. They're only open a portion of the year and we make it a point to enjoy some of their creamy treats. Our favorite is something called the "Iron Horse." Just flat out GOOD!

One of our "treats" today, in addition to our delicious ice cream, was that the American Queen and the America, both huge paddle wheel boats were docked at the port at the end of Broadway.

This area was about a short block from our ice cream heaven.

Here are some pictures of our day. The first one is of the American Queen. I love her stacks. The second one is of America. She's lovely but not as ornate as the former one. The last photo is of a tug boat doing it's thing along the river, just away and between the two beautiful river boats.

 

[dragnlaw]

Are those Paddle Boats the ones that do River Cruises? Stop at Plantations along the way? Would really like to take one of those cruises.

Any one remember TV show "River Boat" (think that was the name) with a very young Burt Reynolds and the captain was... um - I can see his face but don't remember his name.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

Some years ago when Jr moved home from So Fla and I flew down to help him drive the U-haul with a tow bar for his car, we stopped in Paducah for a good afternoon / evening of local touring. Local restaurant, not a chain, for dinner. Can't remember its name now. I think I remember having chix and dumplings for dinner. Tired of driving all day and that's where we ended our day. We took no freeways unless we had to, like through Atlanta, so it was single road driving and no fast food restaurants. << Those were the "rules" we set out on and it was a slow and interesting sight seeing tour with side trips along the way with places like Paducah that we would not otherwise have gotten to visit.

 

[Katie H]

Are those Paddle Boats the ones that do River Cruises? Stop at Plantations along the way? Would really like to take one of those cruises.

Any one remember TV show "River Boat" (think that was the name) with a very young Burt Reynolds and the captain was... um - I can see his face but don't remember his name.

Yes, they are huge paddle wheelers. They are sooooo lovely and cruise the rivers. Check into some of their tours. What a way to travel!


Sort of the definition of "the road less traveled."

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Nice, Katie! Would love to cruise on a Paddle-wheel boat.

 

[medtran49]

When I was a little kid, my dad used to take me down to the river and we'd sit on the river side of the flood walls and watch the boats go by. It's one of my favorite memories of him. Long before Riverplace.

 

[Katie H]

Are those Paddle Boats the ones that do River Cruises? Stop at Plantations along the way? Would really like to take one of those cruises.

Any one remember TV show "River Boat" (think that was the name) with a very young Burt Reynolds and the captain was... um - I can see his face but don't remember his name.

If you are so disposed, you could check out the American Queen's website. Pretty tempting, yes?

 

[GotGarlic]

If you are so disposed, you could check out the American Queen's website. Pretty tempting, yes?

There's something wrong with your link, Katie. Here's the correct one: https://www.americanqueensteamboatcompany.com

And yes, it is pretty tempting [emoji2] DH and I will be celebrating our 35th anniversary next year and have been thinking about doing something special. This might be it. Thanks for posting.

 

[Katie H]

There's something wrong with your link, Katie. Here's the correct one: https://www.americanqueensteamboatcompany.com

And yes, it is pretty tempting [emoji2] DH and I will be celebrating our 35th anniversary next year and have been thinking about doing something special. This might be it. Thanks for posting.

That's interesting. Thanks GG. I corrected it.


And, yes, what a great way to celebrate that wonderful milestone! I say go for it!!

 

[Kayelle]

We did a western Columbia river cruise on a similar paddle wheel boat and really enjoyed it. The 2008 story is at our website for anyone interested. http://stevekathytravels.com/id6.html


Great pictures Katie.

 

[Katie H]

We did a western Columbia river cruise on a similar paddle wheel boat and really enjoyed it. The 2008 story is at our website for anyone interested. Our Trip Stories


Great pictures Katie.

Thanks Kayelle. I love those beautiful paddle-wheelers. One of my favoried bluegrass artists/musician/singers is John Hartford who loved the river and its boats and was, himself, a licensed paddle-wheel boat captain.


His music about the river often brings me to tears. I'm so sorry he's gone but I have tons of his recordings to keep him alive in my heart. Slumberlin' on the Cumberland is one of my favorite albums of his that, obviously, is about the river.


P.S. For what it's worth John wrote the beautiful song, Gentle on My Mind.

 

[Cheryl J]

Sounds wonderful Katie, and I really enjoyed the pics!