Day Trip to Paducah

I had a wonderful time!!!! First let me tell you how it all happened. Earlier this year a friend called and said, “do you want to go to the Quilt Museum in Paducah? We could go up one day and come back the next.” I jumped at the idea and then put it on the back burner. I almost forgot about it. Fast forward past several months, she called again and said, “Aisha let’s set a time right now. How about October 1?”

So the air is fresh in Paducah this morning. The first stop yesterday was the Hancock’s of Paducah. I failed to take a picture when I walked in. I should have but I was so overwhelmed and euphoric that all I could think of was where do we start. So we went to the farthest end and walked up and down each aisle. Ou uuuu uu… Fabric Heaven. Seriously fabric heaven. We filled the shopping cart with as many bolts of fabric as it could hold and that we thought we could afford. Next we went to the cutting table. After we got all that fabric cut, the workers told us of another room in the back with pre-cut packages. Off we went. More wonder was waiting in that room but I decided to pass and order later online. The last stop for me was the remnant table. Found about five more pieces. Since I forgot to take a picture at the store, I decided to take a picture of the fabric I bought.

After walking around the store for a couple of hours and not to mention the 6 hour drive, we were ready to eat something. I brought some salad from home because I was so sure there would not be anything I could eat at the restaurant. That is usually the case, so I ate the salad I brought in the car on the way to the restaurant. Boy was I wrong. We went to JP’s Bar and Grill.

The atmosphere was nice and the food was wonderful. The waiter was very knowledgeable and seemed to know that we were people who wanted some healthy food. To my surprise the food was fresh cut, fresh cooked with olive oil as opposed to butter. Just what I needed. I passed on the asparagus and went for hummus and waffle fries. The portion was so large that I had to stuff it in past the salad I had already eaten.

Some how I managed to get all of the fries down by dipping them in the hummus. I had to pack the pita bread to go. I have to give my friend all the credit for doing a fantastic job of finding us a wonderful place to eat. I do have to say that the asparagus looked really good on the other ladies plates but I had no more room in my stomach. One more thing- I have a thing for sweet tea, especially if it is good. This one was good (not as good as the sweet tea in Charleston, SC or at my house) and the waiter kept my glass refilled. I drank way too much tea.

We passed by several shops on our walk back up the street. One lady ducked into a boutique and ended up buying some jewelry. I waited on the sidewalk while the other ladies disappeared into a shop ahead. The next store was a Trump supporters store. They seemed to be selling t-shirts, bumper stickers and other Trump paraphernalia. They looked at us as we passed as if they were not welcome there. I could be wrong- I was wrong once back in 1929. ha ha ha. Then we passed one more shop that was going out of business. Passed it by. The other ladies emerged from the chocolate shop with goodies in bags. I missed that. A two hour walk around the Quilt Museum would be just what the doctor ordered. I had to walk that food down.

The anticipation swelled as we approached the building. We just knew we would see something exquisite. 

   

Once inside we found that no photographing was allowed. We took pictures in the lobby and memorized the rest. The quilts were awesome but we were sorely aware that there were no quilts that reflected us. I wondered if I were an alien from outer space, would I think that African American people failed to participate in this craft. The Gift Shop did not have even one (1) book by an African American person. I guess that thought was in my mind since the Smithsonian National African American Museum just opened. I could see those people in the Trump store probably asking why would you need another Quilt museum for African American people. Everybody wants their achievements and accomplishments to be acknowledged. We are no different.

The docent met us at the door and welcomed us in. We went right away to a reversible quilt hanging to the right. We could see a beautiful landscape quilt in the distance. She explained the layout of the place and told us how a few of the quilts were created. I rushed ahead since we only had two hours to see everything in the exhibit. I saw some beautiful log cabins, some horses and other art quilts. We saw abstract and traditional. Once I had seen them all, I realized that I had time to go back through and study some techniques. Some quilts had reverse applique’ while others were painted on, one was thread painted and many had exquisite quilting designs. (Quilting is the stitching that is done to hold all three pieces of the quilt together). Another docent asked me had I settled on a favorite. I don’t know if I found a favorite but I couldn’t get the landscape  quilt and the scallops on the bright colored log cabin quilt out of my head.