The Village of Chief Paduke

I decided to spend the first day of my vacation by going to the next major town to the East, Paducah, Kentucky.
Getting there is half the fun, they say. Actually going from Cape to Paducah can be more than that. You see, Missouri and Kentucky are are the only Two states that I know of that border each other (Via the Mississippi ) that you cannot go directly between using land transport . You have to spend some Time in Southern Illinois. My mom went went with me and we decided to go down via Cairo, Illinois.
Caro is rather unique, too, in that it is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and the Ohio. Cairo used to be quite a bustling town, but times have passed it by. It now looks either a northeastern slum, a time machine stuck in 1959, or a post-apocalyptic Hollywood set(the first three similes that came to my mind). A very depressing place given the drizzle.
I stopped at Ft Defiance St Park, which is located at the confluence. Mom was wise enough to Stay in the Car

I found the old viewing point


And there was new sculpture by a Southern Illinois Professor at the point


And the the Coast Guard Navigation symbol:

I then went back in town to the Customs house museum. They don't allow photography there, but it still worth your time and $2. As it names implies, the building was the old US Customs point and Federal Courthouse
We then proceeded across the Ohio and on to Paducah. We had lunch before proceeding downtown.
Paducah is at the confluence of the Oho and Tennessee. It is the site of a Chickasaw Indian Village whose chief was named Paduke.
Chief Paduke had quite a unique set up, as the one of the few points on the American Frontier that Settlers and Natives managed to live in peace and harmony.
Part of his success is the geography of Paducah. Paduke and his Chickasaws lived on an island at the confluence, while the settlers lived on the mainland.

His rule was the none of the white man's vices(like liquor) were allowed on the island, which would interest my characters immensely. It's also where Tecumseh Broke his hip in 1788 while migrating to Cape (No Historical Marker, but my research leads me to believe that he was at where Kentucky Oaks mall is now.
The Big Attraction in Paducah is the museum of the National Quilter's Society.

Another place where no Camera are allowed, but it's still worth the Admission. I was a bit worried, as I read some negative reviews on the Internet,(“they used machines”) ,which is true in that does focus more on contemporary quilt making, but it's still an impressive display of talent.
We then stopped a the riverfront, which is where I wanted to go, to get some physical impressions. This George Rogers Clark dude keeps following me around:

I also stopped at one museum, and took this photo of an Illinois Central locomotive .

My Father and Grandfather both worked for the IC,
I wanted to go to another museum, but, apparently, I had wrote down the address wrong and didn't have an easy way to find it (I did not bring my Asus EEE, and web browsing on my phone can be clunky), Plus it was getting late, so we headed back.
We did make another stop across the Ohio at Fort Massac in Metropolis, Illinois. for the record I did not see a man flying around in Blue tights and a Red Cape (Metropolis is the only city by that name in the United States, and bills itself as the “home of Superman”.)
Fort Massac was an old military post that was used by both the French and the Americans. It was abandoned at the time of my story and it was Raining. so I only made an Impressions stop before heading home
I tried to keep as close to the route I Imagined my characters would have taken. The only issues were that Illinois does a poor job of marking their secondary roads and IDOT avoids routing hills over the bluff at the foot of the Mississippi flood plains, preferring the lowland routes. Back at the time of my Story, The lowlands would have been a swamp, so my characters would have probably hiked over the hills. If My mom was not along, I would have wandered around and found a route that was a better approximation. And found that other museum. Sounds like another trip. For the Record, Paducah is an EAS airport, but served by Skywest and United from Chicago O'Hare with Embraer Regional Jets . Not to my AAdvantage. :(