Friday, November 5, 2010

Paducah, KY

By Micah Jacobson

In studio, we just started a project in Paducah, KY. For part of our trip, we have made three trips to the city, to meet with planners, historic preservationists, contractors and even a tug boat pilot trainer. They have been interesting trips. Paducah is a nice, small and diverse town. The downtown area has been going through some restoration and revitalizations. They have plans to undergo a huge river front project that will change the majority of their river access in the town, eliminating the opportunity for the locals to “drag the gut.” This is what they call the drive down to the river and drive with two of their wheels in the water. I tried it and it was pretty fun.


Another fun thing to do in Paducah is to drive over the Brookport Bridge. It's a hug steel truss bridge leading to Paducah that crosses the Ohio River. The fun, and scary, thing about this bridge is that there is no concrete deck. The deck is a metal grating that you can see strait through. My wife almost had a stroke going over this bridge. The grates also shift's your car from side to side on the already very narrow bridge.

Another cool thing in Paducah to see is the tug boat training center. They have simulators with 270 degree screen so you can drive tug buts and do training simulations. It was fun being a captain for a few minutes. This center is one of only six in the world, and its in Paducah, who would of thought.

Overall, it was a fun an interesting experience. I would recommend the hour and a half drive for anyone looking for something fun to do. They have a great downtown with some fun shops and good restaurants.

References:
http://thistledewtoo.blogspot.com/
http://www.city-data.com/forum/kentucky/233322-rural-ky-photo-sticky-3.html

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