Day 21: At Paducah

Rosie and I Uber out of town to the closest supermarket to do some grocery shopping (and to replace the fly swatter I broke when I hit an exceptionally tough fly). By the time we've taxied back to the boat and stored the groceries and provisions, it's time to go back into the old part of town--happily close to the dock--and visit the River Discovery Centre and Museum. This is compact but very well set up, includes a simulator of sorts that you can use to test your ability to drive various types of vessels--including a towboat--on the Ohio River. I was totally successful at not destroying the highway bridge. The staff were intrigued to have Australian visitors and insisted on taking a photo with us.

After that, Rosie went off to explore Main Street for boutiques and antiques while I checked out the local railroad museum. Of most interest in there were the many historical photographs. In the steam era, the Illinois Central Gulf (later the Illinois Central) Railroad had a huge workshop and locomotive manufacturing plant in Paducah. This still operates as a manufacturing plant for National Railway Equipment, but like so many 'once-were-railway-towns', the rail industry is nowadays a bit-player in Paducah.

Rosie and I had dinner at a great Cajun restaurant in the old town. An early start is planned for tomorrow, as we want to stay with a group of bloopers who are leaving at 0630 to get a good chance of a lock-through at the the Barkley Lock on the Cumberland River.

Normally, we'd have headed directly up the Tennessee River from Paducah but the Kentucky Lock is currently closed for maintenance. Therefore we (and all the barge tows heading south) motor up the Ohio for 13 miles and turn instead into the Cumberland River which will take us first to Barkley Lake and then, via a short canal, into Kentucky Lake from where we can continue south. So what should have been a 24-mile journey to Kentucky Lake becomes a 50-mile one, with an extra stop added (see tomorrow's Nebo map).Läs mer