When Life Gives You Lemons

The correct action is to make lemonade according to an idiom credited to Dale Carnegie. This is just what the town of Paducah Kentucky has done.

Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers and a few miles downstream of the Cumberland River, Paducah is often subjected to flooding despite being on a high promontory. The record flood is 60′ 2″ above normal.

The town is one of the few in the US surrounded by a flood wall. Not the most attractive thing to see when arriving by water. However, a far seeing council and community commissioned a set of murals depicting the town’s history.

Along Water Street, from Broadway south to Kentucky Avenue, Paducah’s rich and vibrant river history is portrayed in a full block of colorful images, displayed chronologically beginning with the early native Indian heritage to present-day river activities. The location of this particular section was ideally chosen as the River Discovery Center (in the oldest standing building in downtown Paducah) and the Seamen’s Church Institute, Center for Maritime Education are right across the street.

This “lemonade” is drawing tourists from all over. It is a Unesco Creative City site and has kick started the downtown economy. Craft shops, galleries, brew pubs, restaurants (one run by an American Top Chef runner up) and the best bourbon bar in Kentucky.

The same community members who organized the “Wall” initiated the National Quilt Museum. Bill and Meredith Schroeder, both quilting enthusiasts, aimed to start a museum that would celebrate the work of today’s quilters and advance the art of quilting by bringing it to audiences that had previously not experienced the art form.

They have done that in spades.

Paducah is a lovely place to visit whether by land or water. The town has built an incredible facility for pleasure craft adjacent to a dock for tour boats.

By water it is a truly welcome sight. This is the first dock in 200 miles for loopers. It provides power and water, fuel and pump-out facilities. Such a relief after conserving resources for nearly a week.