Tag: Land Between the Lakes

Land Between the Lakes and Paducah

We got on the road about 10:00 on Friday and headed north. We were only going to somewhere just south of Birmingham, so we weren’t in any rush. We tried a number of campgrounds, but they were full. Between Spring Break, nice weather, and a weekend, we shouldn’t have been surprised. We ended up in a Walmart in Pasqua, AL. It was very nice! They had pull through sites marked and ready for semi overnight parking. We left that to the truckers and found a spot off to the side where we could put out our slides easily.  We did do some trash pickup and bought some things. The passenger seat of the coach had a couple of loose bolts and a broken cotter pin, so Kevin bought the pin to replace it. Good thing he found it!

We spent the next three nights at a KOA in Calvert, KY not far from Paducah and the Land Between the Lakes (LBL). It was a nice little campground in need of some modernization. The new owners just bought the place in January and have a lot of plans. It was very, very quiet.

The view from our site. Sorry for the electric box.

We spent Sunday wandering through the LBL. Those lakes are BIG! They even had shipping on the lakes.

This barge was headed from Kentucky Lake (Tennessee River) to Lake Barkley (Cumberland River)

We wandered around the LBL looking primarily at the historic sites. Turns out they mined iron in the area. There were a few ruins in the old town of Hematite (named after the iron ore). Here is the central furnace where the ore was smelted. The white rock was where the heat was applied and the bricks were insulation.

Our favorite spot by far was the Homeplace Historic Site. It is an interpretive  site with an 1850s farm with docents working on the farm using historic tools, seeds, and animals. Here is a bunch of pictures of great spots.

A “Two Pen” house (two main rooms each with a fireplace)
The Two Pen had an addition at the back too
Lots of historic buildings
A more macro view
The first house would have been a “One Pen”. You can see one of the costumed interpreters
Historic sheep
And, surprise, historic cattle

I picked up a great book that included history and recipes of the area: “The Homeplace History and Receipt Book” by Geraldine Ann Marshall. I loved reading about the history from a woman-centric view. It is organized by the activities that occurred seasonally.

Monday we went to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah. I was underimpressed. The quilting was absolutely stunning, but the vast majority of the pieces were appliqué. I expected a more historically-oriented display, but it was mostly drop dead gorgeous modern quilts. I actually preferred looking at the murals on the river wall. They had numerous historic scenes that were quite interesting. I also went to Hancocks of Paducah, a big fabric store. I picked up a bunch of fabrics for my granddaughters nursery, with the approval of her mom. I will show those as I finish them.

Today we left about 9:00 and arrived at Peoria, IL a little after 4:00. We are staying at Spender Marina Campground, a municipal campground right in town. I am sure it would be impossible to find a site during the summer, but it is on,y about half full tonight. $27 for full hookups is a good deal. Kevin is going to clean all the tanks really well, and I am going to finish the deep clean inside that I started yesterday. Tomorrow we get back to the “sticks and bricks” house.