Reason #3,459 to come visit

Meet Speedy. One of Paducah's most famous citizens.

Speedy was a poor African-American laborer in Paducah during the 1920s. In 1928, Speedy went fishing and never returned. His body was turned over to the Hammock's Funeral Home for a pauper's burial. Instead, the owner A.Z. Hammock used an experimental super-preservative to turn Speedy into a type of statue.

Speedy spent the next several decades in a closet of the funeral home (except for a quick swim during the great flood of 1937) from which he would be pulled out occasionally for the entertainment of tourists and school children. He eventually became a bit of a celebrity appearing in Jet Magazine and Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Eventually, someone took mercy on old Speedy and finally buried him in Maplelawn Cemetery in downtown Paducah.

Now, if that's not a reason to come visit, I don't know what is. I'm going to get y'all here one way or another!

~ Sarah Stewart Holland

Kentucky is for Lovers

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I would honor some of the most romantic spots in the state. 

1. Paducah! Last year, Paducah's downtown was named one of the five Most Romantic Main Streets by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. You can stroll down cobblestone streets, have a romantic dinner, or take a horse drawn carriage with your significant other all the with the beautiful moonlit Ohio River a few blocks away. 

2. The Moonbow Nothing could be more romantic than rainbow created by the reflection of the moon and there are only a few places in the world you can see one. One is at Cumberland Falls in Corbin, Kentucky.

3. Stay at Castle Post It's a CASTLE. Enough said. 

4. Spend the night in one of Wildwood Inns themed suites. Wildwood Inn Tropical Dome and Themed Suites has it all. You can sleep in a treehouse, a cave, a pirate ship. However, as far as romance, nothing compares to the Champagne Suite with a two-story champagne glass-shaped spa! 

5. Mammoth Cave Recently named by HotelClub as the number 2 most romantic destination, I can see how being in the dark, breathtaking cave could make you feel love appreciation for your nearest and dearest. 

Did I miss any? What do y'all think are the most romantic spots around the Bluegrass State?

~ Sarah Stewart Holland

Sarah's 20 Things

1. Patti's Boat Sinker Pie 
2. The Judds
3. Wide open Western Kentucky sky
4. The Kentucky Derby
5. Kentucky Lake
6. Leigh's Barbecue
7. Old Morrison
8. bell hooks
9. Bluegrass music
10. Abraham Lincoln
11. Transylvania University
12. Kern's Kitchen Derby Pie...and the fact that they serve it in the cafeteria at Transy.
13. Loretta Lynn 
14. Blue Moon of Kentucky...as sung by just about anyone.
15. Barbara Kingsolver
16. The Appalachian Mountains
17. Wendell Berry
18. Paducah
19. Grater's ice cream
20. Kentuckians

~ Sarah Stewart Holland

HerKentucky Charities: Charity League of Paducah

The Charity League of Paducah is a vital, active and integral part of our community. It was organized in March 1932 with 16 members for the purpose of starting a lending library. The Charity League now has 48 active members and more than 280 associate members.

The ladies of The League presenting a $1,500 Donation to the Community Kitchen.

The volunteer organization’s mission is to raise funds for Easter Seals West Kentucky and assist other local non-profits for the health, welfare and general care of children, women and others in need. Its foremost purpose is in financially assisting ESWK and other charities, while secondarily creating a legacy of friendship and community between members and those we serve.

Countless volunteer hours are poured into annual projects such as Snowball, Follies, Bargain Fair, Golf and Giving Classic, “Get Set to Serve” Tennis Classic, and Thyme to Entertain cookbook sales. Through the success of these events The Charity League has been able to donate in excess of $327,000 over the past six years to ESWK, directly impacting those benefiting from its services. Monies raised from such events have also enabled the League to provide funds to additional community charities that support the children of our area including; the Noble Park All-Inclusive Playground ($25,000), Child Watch Children’s Advocacy Center, Inc. ($12,000), Lourdes Hospital Nursing Scholarship ($6,000), City of Paducah Special Camp Donation ($4,000), Star Fish Orphan Ministry ($2,600), and Community Ministries ($1,500).

The Charity League is located at 1921 Broadway in a home generously donated by League member Mrs. Gus T. Smith. This home holds precious memories of years past, including popular weekly luncheons open to the public. According to League records, this home became one of Paducah’s most popular entertainment places. Current League members work diligently to preserve this special home and create memories for future League members.

  ~ Sarah Stewart Holland

In Photos: Trees and Western Kentucky sky

Hometown Pride?

We spend a lot of time on her Kentucky professing our love for the Bluegrass state and our respective hometowns/adopted homes/regions. I thought I'd mix things up and republish a post from my blog Salt + Nectar that deals with the other end of the emotional spectrum.

YOU'RE FROM WHERE?

I love Paducah. I was born here. I grew up here. I got married here. I love seeing familiar faces on my daily errands and driving the same tree-lined streets every day. I love it so much I uprooted my entire existence to move back here and start a family.

So, imagine my surprise when I recently realized a shocking truth.

I'm also a little bit insecure about living here.

There was a certain cache to living in DC. People's eyes would light up when I told them where I lived. It was a total ego stroke to be asked questions about the best restaurants or how to get around on the metro. It was a beautiful city so full of excitement. Even if my life there wasn't always exciting, it sure seemed that way to other people.

No one gets excited when you tell them you live in Paducah, KY. If they know where it is, there are no questions about upcoming visits. In fact, we have a difficult time getting anyone to visit at all. To those who do come, I feel like I'm always in the midst of a sales pitch. "See, we have good food!" "Isn't downtown charming?!?" "We're the quilt capital of the world!"

I'm not sure why I care. What does it matter what anyone else thinks? I guess there's a little part of me—a little part of all of us—that wants to belong to something exclusive. And there's definitely something exclusive about living in a big city, even if it's with hundreds of thousands of other people.

But the truth is it shouldn't matter. My family and I are happy here. Paducah gave me a safe, loving community in which to grow and now it is providing the same space for my two boys.

Plus, we do have great food and charming streets and a shit ton of quilts.

~ Sarah Stewart Holland 

Kentucky Places: Noble Park Christmas Lights Display

Every year Paducah Power puts on a spectacular lights display at Noble Park in Paducah. 

My favorite part is watching some of the displays reflect off the pond.