Friday morning, after I brought muffins from the epic local bakery to the boatyard folks, Mike and I unloaded our little cargo van.  Got the Mo Box (and its contents) and the solar panel on the boat.  Attached our anchor, and put the mast on top of the deck.  It was super hot outside.  It was silly to shower beforehand.  I didn’t need the reminder, but I don’t like manual labor.  Afterward, we went to the Thirsty Turtle, had a couple cold beers and a really good pizza.  Went back to the boatyard.  We were hoping they would have begun the preparation for our bottom job.  Alas, they had not.  By the end of Friday (which was a good weather day with no thunderstorms), our boat went from the sling, to blocks, back to the sling.  That’s it.  Things move much more slowly in Kentucky than we are used to.  We keep reminding ourselves we need to get on Kentucky time.  I think it will be easier to do when our girl is back in the water.

Saturday, we ventured into Paducah.  Prior to the planning of this trip, neither of us had ever heard of Paducah.  When we found out it is in McCracken County, we couldn’t stop saying it.  My parents have actually been to Paducah and told me some of its history.  Paducah is at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers.  There’s too much history to list here, but it’s a pretty storied little town.  It also houses the National Quilt Museum.  This sounds like the most lame thing in the world to someone who doesn’t know anything about quilting.  That said, when in Rome…  Begrudgingly, Mike went with me.  It was actually very cool, and more like an art museum.

Hit Paducah Beer Works where the beer was good.  Went to Purple Toad Winery (name comes from purple toes from crushing grapes) which was in a gorgeous area, but the wine was swill.  While out on the road, we crossed over the Tennessee, the Ohio, and the Cumberland Rivers.  Crossing over the Tennessee on a 25 mph all steel bridge (the Irvin S. Cobb Bridge), we had a quick foray into Illinois (Brookport) that kinda set us back a few years in time.  Lots of churches, tiny diners, and a bit less “affluent” than the other side of the river.  For those of you “Justified” fans, we were expecting to see Boyd Crowder or maybe Dewey Crowe coming around the corner.  Raylan Givens, where are you?

Upon our return, we dined at the Commonwealth Yacht Club at Green Turtle Bay.  I called and asked what the dress code was (since we have nothing even remotely fancy) and was told not to wear cut off shorts or wife beaters.  This is my kind of yacht club!  It’s a beautiful place overlooking the marina and Lake Barkley.  After dinner, our golf cart chauffeur took us to the Thirsty Turtle where we had a nightcap and listened to live music under a full moon and the stars on the Lake.  Pretty bitchin.

Today, we departed our little cabin at Lighthouse Landing on Kentucky Lake.  We took a drive down through part of the Land Between the Lakes, a huge spit of land between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake.  Beautiful area with a kazillion campgrounds.  We saw some areas that looked to be great anchorages.  We went through the Elk and Bison Prairie which was pretty cool.  Did not see any elk, but saw plenty of bison.  They are smaller than the ones we often see on Catalina Island, and seemed unfazed by people.

We’ve seen a lot of things out here that would not be allowed in California because they might offend some people.  God bless America!  We are so blessed to be seeing more of our country.

This week, we are going to have to learn how to relax.  Our boat will be in the yard, with very little for us to do, hopefully to splash by Friday.  Fingers crossed!

Checked into our condo at Green Turtle Bay this afternoon.  It overlooks Lake Barkley through the trees.  Digging the area very much.