Five Friday Favorites: Paducah Edition

My hometown isn't for those who are absolutely obsessed with big city life.  While downtown Paducah is eventful year round and the fine arts there are truly incredible, it's still quaint in a lot of ways.  That is reason enough for me to love being there though!

ONE: Starnes BBQ.  Starnes is older than dirt.  This is pulled pork bbq at it's finest.  When we moved to Houston when I was 4, we just couldn't adjust to the whole brisket bbq thing.  We've learned to like it, but nothing, and I mean nothing, beats a Starnes pulled pork sandwich on white bread loaded up with Starnes homemade sauce.  We've been known to drive it home in a cooler with dry ice and fly it home as a piece of checked luggage in a cooler bag with ice packs.  I did it this week, and we're still enjoying it!  So, Starnes is so old school that they don't even have a website.  I love it!  They were on GMA back in the summer, and it's worth a couple minutes of your time.

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Our Pre-UK game dinner!

TWO: Tot-N-Teen Kids Clothing Store This month is Tot-N-Teen's 54th anniversary in the same shop on Jackson Ave in Paducah.  My great-grandmother bought clothes for my mom there, Nanny kept David, our godsister Stephanie, and me fully outfitted in Tot-N-Teen clothes, and now Mom has begun Andrew's Tot-N-Teen collection.  I've yet to find a store with the quality and selection of unique clothing that Tot-N-Teen has.  The high end Houston shops have nothing on this store.  I remember growing up with friends jealous of my precious clothes because they couldn't go find something smiliar.  Ha.  :)  Mom and I were in there twice this past week.  Pam, the owner, remembers us well.  She's excited too that now a 3rd generation of our family will be clothed from her shop!  And the shop was so comforting to visit-not a single thing has changed other than the clothing selection since I outgrew them years ago!  Oh, for a gal who struggles with change, that was a blissful treat!  :)

THREE: Downtown Paducah.  I love going downtown.  The old farmer's market building has been turned into the Market House Theater.  I've enjoyed watching family friends perform there over the years.  They do a fabulous job.  The next show is Steel Magnolias, always a favorite!  I love Kirchhoff's Bakery that's been a Paducah staple since 1873.  We eat there every visit.   Numerous other restaurants and cute, unique shops have kept downtown bustling and alive over the years.  There are also museums that tell about Paducah's involvement in the Civil War, the atomic energy boom, and the river industry.  The Carson Center is huge performing arts center and frequently draws big name headliners.  

FOUR: The Flood Wall.  In 1936, the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers (where Paducah is located), completely overflowed their banks, drowning much of the city and surrounding area.  In 1939, the government built a long, grey, concrete wall to protect the city from future floods.  It's worked.  However, a long, grey wall is pretty unattractive in a thriving downtown.  In 1996, Robert Dafford took on about a 12 year project to transform each grey stretch of wall into beautiful murals depicting the history and importance of the town.  It was so fun to visit each summer to see what had been accomplished. 

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FIVE: Land Between the Lakes.  Between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley is a stretch of land that is perfect for hiking, an elk and bison preserve, a museum about the flooding of the area to make the lakes (and the moonshine bootleggers of the Prohibition Era), and a million places to put in the ski boat.  I love driving out of town to LBtL.  It's beautiful and always an adventure!

Hope you've enjoyed a little tour of my hometown!

Linking up with these lovelies today!