As she is the master of trip itinerary, this post is courtesy of The Wife.
Let me give you an idea of a 2-night/3-day road trip for us. Last July/August, we headed to southern Illinois…and then over to Kentucky.
DAY ONE
Carbondale is about a 3-hour drive from where we live, so we got there in the late morning/early afternoon. In order to fulfill the husband’s distillery requirement, we visited
Katy Lynn Distillery. On a previous Carbondale trip (the husband is an SIU alumnus, so we visit frequently), we had seen a sign for this place, but we weren’t able to work it into our schedule. We are now regular visitors to this establishment. (Disclaimer: I don’t consider the cost of distilleries/alcohol purchases when figuring our vacation budget. The husband personally incurs all alcohol-related costs.)
Time spent: 1.5 hours
Cost: Don’t ask
After finishing up at the distillery, we planned to head to the Quetil Trail in Alto Pass. This was to fulfill the daughter’s hiking requirement. Before reaching our destination, however, we passed a sign for
Cliff View Park. We followed Rule #8 of the inexpensive vacation guidelines and stopped. There were some beautiful views overlooking the cliffs, and we could even see the
Bald Knob Cross of Peace which is mentioned in
Atlas Obscura! The child found an unusual mushroom (which is always exciting for her), and then we were on our way again.
Time spent: 20 minutes
Cost: $0
Quetil Trail is just off the main road in Alto Pass. We didn’t walk the whole trail. In fact, I don’t know how long the whole trail is. It didn’t matter, though. There were mushrooms for the daughter to photograph and rocks for us to climb. The trail is shaded, so even though the day was warm, it was a comfortable trek. When walking trails such as this, you might be lucky enough to see wildlife…but not when you’re traveling with my daughter. Her mouth is going a mile a minute at maximum volume.
Time spent: 1.5 hours
Cost: 0$
After the trail, we checked into our hotel in Metropolis. It is situated between Carbondale and Paducah, just on the edge of Illinois. It was just a hop, skip, and jump over the bridge to Kentucky in the morning.
DAY TWO
After an acceptable free breakfast (there was an automated pancake machine), we took the bridge over the Ohio River and into Paducah. The first item on my list was the
Paducah Floodwall Murals. The flood wall is along the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers. There is free parking directly across the street. Before we could even look at the murals, though, our daughter demanded to walk down to the river. She loves water in all shapes and sizes.
Once we could tear her away, we walked the entire flood wall. Each panel on the flood wall depicts an event in Paducah’s history. The event is briefly discussed on the plaque in front of the panel. I was especially interested in the panel that showed how Paducah became the county seat of McCracken County, as it was tied to the story of one of my ancestors (more on this later).
Time spent (between staring at the water and touring the flood wall): 1.5 hours
Cost: $0
Across the street from the flood murals is the
River Discovery Center. On the day we visited, their credit card machine wasn’t working, so they chose to waive the admission fee. Normally, the cost is $12 per adult and $10 per child. However, if you are a member of an institution that participates in the ASTC Travel Passport Program, admission is free. Our daughter is now an EAA member, and they participate in this program. If we visited this museum again, all our admissions would be free.
If you asked our daughter what the best part about the museum was, she would tell you it was the turtle from the River Habitats exhibit. Its name was Annabelle, and we got to feed her. Other, more notable, exhibits were the River Film and the Boat Simulator. If you get motion sickness, avoid the boat simulator at all costs! I made the mistake of sitting in the room while my daughter repeatedly beached her simulated boat.
Time spent: 1.5 hours
Cost: $0 (on any other day, it would have been $34)
Paducah is awash in historical plaques, so we explored the city for a while and read some of them. The city also has a host of super cute shops. We wandered into a few. If you have self-control (like me), wandering into a shop doesn’t necessarily mean you walk out with anything. If you don’t have self-control (like the husband), wandering into a shop can be dangerous. Know which type of person you are. We visited
Wildhair Studios' Rock Shop (the daughter loves rocks) and she picked out a necklace. We also stopped at the
Ice Cream Factory for a bit of sweet sustenance. We located another distillery, but it was Monday and they were closed, so we decided we would put them on the list for the next day.
Time spent: 1.5 hours
Cost: Approximately $25
Now it was time for a genealogical adventure. I know genealogy isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, so I won't bore you with the details. Long story short, my ancestor, John Field, purchased several lots of land in the city of Wilmington, Kentucky, in 1827. Wilmington was the first county seat. Unfortunately, in 1832, Wilmington experienced a severe flood. All records were removed from the courthouse and transported to Paducah by skiff. Paducah became the new county seat. Wilmington no longer exists, but in the middle of a cemetery, there is a monument to this lost town. I wanted to go see it and the area in which my gggg grandfather had considered settling. If you are interested in the brief history of Wilmington, read
my blog.
After that, we drove through some other genealogically significant areas like Ballard County, Kentucky, and back over the Ohio River into Alexander County, Illinois.
Time spent: 2 hours
Cost: $0
After 6 ½ hours in Kentucky, it was time to head back to Metropolis for some hotel pool time.
DAY THREE
After a final morning swim and checking out of our hotel, we crossed back over the Ohio and into Paducah once more. We weren’t really certain what we wanted to do, but we were pleasantly surprised to see a gigantic riverboat coming in to dock. It was beautiful, and until I checked out the pricing, I momentarily contemplated taking a riverboat cruise myself. We chatted with the crew and some of the Paducah ambassadors.
Time spent: 30 minutes
Cost: $0
We decided to walk more of the city and, of course, to stop at
Silent Brigade Distillery. What I liked about Paducah was that it was easily navigable on foot. We parked our car in the same place we had parked it to the view the floodwall murals and didn’t come back to it until we were ready to head home. We spent an hour or more admiring sidewalk sculptures and artwork on the sides of buildings before deciding we would get lunch and head home.
We had passed
Kirchoff’s Deli the day before (but as it was Monday, they were closed), and this is where we decided to eat. We got our orders to-go and picked up a few loaves of bread (for which the deli is known) on the way out.
Time spent: 2.5 hours
Cost for lunch and bread: $40
We took our lunches down to the riverside and watched the riverboat get ready to leave while we ate our sandwiches and chips. We probably hit the road for home around 1:30 p.m. We briefly contemplated going to the
National Quilt Museum, but no one but me was going to enjoy it! Below are some things we did on a previous visit to this general area:
The Superman Statue in Metropolis, IL – FREE
The Superman Museum in Metropolis, IL - $8/person
Dorothy Miller Park in Metropolis, IL - FREE
Fort Massac State Park in Metropolis, IL – FREE
You could very easily add them to your itinerary. :)
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