February 12th – 14th
I drove a long rainy day from Memphis to Paducah, KY to visit Michael and Victoria Terra. We have known each other for over 30 years. They lived on Lopez for a number of years. Kelley and their daughter Artie were the same age and good friends so we got to know them well. They relocated to NY when Michael’s parents were still alive and stayed there for several years before deciding to move to Paducah. Paducah is one of the best known art communities in the country and that appealed to them. Michael is a ceramicist, a poet, a painter, and generally creative person. Victoria handles the business side of things and is a great organizer. They seem to be a perfectly balanced couple!
I was there for one whole day, so Victoria showed me a lot of interesting places in Paducah. We stopped at the National Quilt Museum (Karen Alexander – I’m sure you’ve been there!), then drove down by the Ohio River, thru the floodwall, and parked. The floodwall was built from 1939 – 1949 to prevent another flood after a devastating event in 1937. From there we walked around downtown visiting artist shops, Michael joined us for lunch, and we wandered around some more. That evening they had a large birthday gathering for Victoria (whose birthday was Jan. 30th). It was fun to hang out and meet many of their friends. We played a game “Heads Up” – an app on phones. Great evening!
I left Paducah on Valentine’s Day and headed to Nashville. I only had about a half day to explore Nashville, so I did what I could! The first thing I did was to explore the area around the Grand Old Opry. There is a huge event center, Gaylord Opryland Events Center, and tons of parking. It was too late to try to go inside, but at least I can say I saw it! Then I parked near the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and walked around downtown until it got dark. There’s a park across from the Hall of Fame Museum called Walk of Fame Park with lots of plaques for country music stars over many decades. The dates on the plaques are probably when they were entered into the Hall of Fame. I recognized most of the names, but only took pics of my favorites. I walked back to my truck as the sun was setting and got a glimpse of the State Capitol Building. I went back to a place called the Nashville Palace which was near my RV park for dinner and live music. It’s another large venue, but only a smaller room was being used. Several different musical groups played. I forgot to take photos, but picture a large pub with a small stage… I would love to go back to Nashville with more time to see the sights.
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