Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Taking a Break in Paducah Kentucky…

On our trips to St. Louis to visit Laurie’s family, we always drive right past Paducah Kentucky.  However the last time we made the trip I decided that Paducah would be a good spot for us to get off the expressway and take a break… 

Being a bit of a railroad buff, I was rewarded for my decision as I rolled into the downtown area of Paducah.  This is the old Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway Office and Freight House, known locally as the Paducah Freight House.  It now houses the Paducah Chamber of Commerce and the Paducah Economic Development Agency.

This building was constructed in 1925 by the N. C. and St. L. Railroad in hopes of future connections with other railroads.  Consequently, a larger building was constructed than was needed…as those connections never happened.  The railroad was absorbed into the Louisville and Nashville line and that railroad moved their people to another Paducah location in 1974.  At one point, it was used as an antique mall… This building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.


OK…time for lunch!  The Whaler’s Catch looked promising and it was busy… The building is more than 125 years old!


This is the bar in the restaurant…


This is the dining area.  If you sit in the back of the restaurant, it’s pretty dark.  The restaurant is cut up with walls and partitions but the seafood ambience was evident wherever one was seated.


We started out with one of our favorites…fried calamari!  It was really tough and chewy and not particularly tasty…


Laurie gave the shrimp bisque a try… She didn’t care for it.



For her main course, Laurie had the seafood sandwich with a side of potato salad.  I think that she described the meal as adequate…or just fuel.


I ordered the fried clams with a side of coleslaw.  There was a lot of breading…but it was OK.  The coleslaw was pretty good. 

Our waitress wasn’t very efficient and we repeatedly asked for things that weren’t delivered the first time.  It seemed to take her a long time for her to deliver our requests.  Also, it took quite a while for the entrees to arrive at our table…  All in all, we were disappointed with our dining experience. 

As I said in the beginning, Whaler’s Catch was busy and it seemed popular… Maybe someone else can try it out and offer an opinion.  The Whaler’s Catch is located at 123 North 2nd Street in Paducah.  Phone: 270-444-7701.  Website: http://www.whalerscatch.net/homeabout.html.


Downtown Paducah does look pretty interesting and it warrants further exploration on another of our St. Louis trips!  To learn more about this historic downtown area, go to http://www.paducahalliance.org/downtown-paducah. Also, there is a Farmer’s Market downtown from sometime in April on through September of each year…


What really brought us to downtown Paducah was The National Quilt Museum. (The sun even came out for us!) I’m certainly not artistic but we own a few decent quilts, my mother quilted a bit and both Laurie and I appreciate the art and effort that goes into a beautiful quilt…

Located in a 27,000 square foot facility, the Museum's three galleries feature exhibits of some of the best quilt and fiber art in the world.  The Museum features three exhibit galleries. The Museum's exhibits are rotated 8 to 10 times per year.  The primary gallery features quilts from the Museum's collection which includes over 400 works of art.  The two other galleries feature unique and diverse traveling exhibits.


Unfortunately, no photos are allowed in the museum.  I captured a couple of pictures from the museum’s website just to give readers an idea of the variety that might be on display.

The National Quilt Museum welcomes visitors from all 50 US states and over 40 foreign countries from around the world.  The museum’s onsite and travelling exhibits are viewed by over 160,000 people per year.

This isn’t your Momma’s quilt, that’s for sure.  It’s not really my ‘thing’ as I’m really a traditionalist but I certainly can appreciate the work that went into this creation in cloth!

If you have any interest in quilts…or art for that matter…you should visit The National Quilt Museum!  We certainly enjoyed it.  It’s located at 215 Jefferson in Paducah Kentucky.  Phone: 270-442-8856.  Website: http://www.quiltmuseum.org/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!


Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

3 comments:

  1. With less than adequate service and mediocre food, I bet the Whaler's Catch won't be busy for long. Happy 4th of July to you both.
    Sam

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  2. Sorry to hear you found a bad one. If you grew up on McDonalds or always lived around Paducah and never had really good seafood, this place may seem pretty good. I fear the current generations who eat fast food or frozen or canned may not know what really good food is supposed to taste like.

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  3. Hi There, Just stopping by to say "Happy 4th of July".... Hope you have an incredible weekend whether you are traveling, with family or friends --or like us, just enjoying being home! We hope to grill a couple of steaks tomorrow. Our weather here is awesome right now...God Bless American --and God Bless YOU.

    I agree with Big Dude (Larry)... People in small towns love places like this --since there aren't many 'nice' restaurants in small towns... BUT--I understand where you all were coming from... Paducah looks like an interesting place for sure though!!!

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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