General George Patton's Museum of Leadership is located on Fort Knox military base. In order to visit the museum, we had to stop at the Welcome Center and get clearance for a one day visit. Snapped from the window of the car, we noticed that the entrance to the base has a distinctly casual air about it.
Fort Knox has long been known as the repository of the nation's gold reserves. Whether that is still true, or even if we have any gold reserves left, remains to be seen, but we did snap a photo of the original storage vault. This huge building is visible for miles. We were told by staff that it is now used for "storage".....
OK, on to Thursday: Leaving Hopkinsville, KY, at about 10, we had a leisurely drive to Paducah, Kentucky, some 77 miles northwest. We've stopped at the Fern Lake RV Park for the night, just off I-24, within a couple of miles of the Ohio River. The park is small, with many permanent or semi-permanent residents. Only a dozen or so sites are reserved for transient guests. The utilities are satisfactory, with the exception of wifi, of course, and the sites are level and satellite friendly. The staff is helpful and friendly, and have made suggestions to us about roads to take to reach our next destination.
Just across the Ohio River lies the burg of Metropolis, Illinois. The towns hero is.....
And a statue of Lois Lane is just down the street! This is actually a bust of Noel Neill, who was the actress who played Lois Lane in the television program "The Adventures of Superman".
We had to do the tourist thing while we could!
Just as we were leaving Metropolis, we caught a glimpse of our here dashing off to fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
Returning to Paducah, we stopped at the rejuvenated Riverfront. This area was once a haven for low-life characters, but has been renewed and cleaned up. The most striking feature of the waterfront is the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River. In 1780, Col John Donelson brought 30 boats with 30 families ashore here, having floated down the Tennessee River. After replenishing their supplies, they went up the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers to found Nashville.
A fleet of three modernized paddle-wheelers plies the Ohio between New Orleans and St Louis. The American Queen was in port today, having stopped for a 1/2 day on the three week long journey.
The adjacent downtown area of Paducah has been completely changed as well. Old retail buildings have been converted to opera and dance studios.
The old Market, once an open air store has been closed in, remodeled, and turned into a museum, and offices.
Old town now contains specialty shops, restaurants, and night clubs. Nice job, Paducah!
Our stay last night at the Hopkinsville Walmart was not very satisfying. The overnight temperature was predicted to be in the 60's, a livable temp since we were without hookups (code for air conditioning). Unfortunately, the temp never dropped below 78 and the humidity remained at 93%. A couple of small fans helped, but sleep was hit and miss. We're looking forward to a good night's sleep before we head back south and west tomorrow. Stay with us!
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