HarringtonTravels3: Letter 4 Land Between the Lakes

Sunday, April 11 we found a new home at the Canal Campground Corps of Engineers park at the north end of Land Between the Lakes with a

water front spot. As we came in we met a couple from the Houston area who have been living on a houseboat and now have added a motor home to see what they have missed from the water. We had a great visit with them.

Monday, April 12 we washed the awning and part of the trailer, so we could really enjoy this perfect “Jo Atkins spot.” We are on Lake Barkley, one of the two lakes surrounding the “Land Between the Lakes” in Kentucky and Tennessee. These are huge lakes.

Many people told us to be sure and go to

“Patti’s” in Grand Rivers just north of here to eat her specialty, the 2” pork chop. Patti’s isn’t just a place to eat, it is a show place with

nine dining rooms decorated with lots of stain glass, flowers,

dolls, you name it. She is also famous for her

pies. We believe she has Sam’s in Fairfield beat for the meringue.

Fred couldn’t resist the

pork chop and Olivia tried the chicken with shrimp and asparagus, topped with béarnaise sauce! Yum. We both had the spinach salad with warm bacon dressing. It was the BEST dish! We decided to forgo the pie for that day and come back for

a whole pie before we leave the area.

After eating we toured the rest of Patti’s place. We noticed the

“Dogwood Lady” by the entrance. Several years ago, the “Cotton Queens” in Waxahachie made a similar tree for the Education Parade of Trees. This one had more decorations and even a parasol.

Patti’s is set up for all occasions and crowds. You can even play

miniature golf among the landscaping.

Fred admired an

unusual chair (made in Dallas) on one of the patios. By a chapel there were dogwoods blooming under four huge trees with a

giant wind chime. These pictures are only a smidgin’ of what you can see at Patti’s. Don’t miss it if you are ever in this territory.

Since we didn’t eat pie we visited the local ice cream shop and while enjoying it we noticed a

tree across the street. It couldn’t be just one tree, but sure enough it is!

Tuesday, April 13 we headed back to Paducah to see what we missed as we drove through on the freeway. Downtown was a long river wall with murals.

This is a large city with lots of history

and we enjoyed reading historical markers all over the town.
The Methodist church was the

first church of many in the city.

Paducah is home of the National Quilt Museum of the US and did they have beautiful quilts. We thought we saw pretty ones in the Amish country and at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, but they don’t hold a candle to what we saw here. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of the quilts,

but there are lots of the quilts shown on their web site of www.quiltmuseum.org PLEASE GO THERE. Millions of stitches, tiny pieces, some were hand painted then stitched by machine. The threads giving the shading. Some used metallic treads. AMAZING

Gypsy Caravan

and Imagine Hope

were copied from the web site.

There were hundreds of quilts in this museum. All prize winners in their big show, which just happens to be next weekend.

After the quilt show we followed Paducah’s Dogwood Trail.

We were fortunate to hit it in full bloom.

Wednesday, April 14 we drove down the LBL’s road, called “The Trace” and prowled to see campgrounds, the planetarium and the education center. All were very interesting. Later we drove over to the Kentucky Dam Marina and met the new friends James and Rennie Taylor, originally from Houston. They have covered the east in a

56 foot houseboat and now have a motor home. We met them as we checked in to the Canal Campground. We enjoyed a glass of wine on their deck,

then drove to Los Amigos for Mexican food. It wasn’t Tex-Mex, but was okay. They are interested in going to Alaska with us next year.

Thursday April 15, Yahoo! Our taxes were done before we left home! As we packed up to move the

resident geese swam by to tell us good bye or are they following us?

We drove south down “The Trace” into Tennessee where we found Fred’s cousin Judy and Lynn Gorman to spend some time with them.

It was a challenge to park in their

easement above their home. They are on Kentucky Lake on a point into the lake in a 5700 square foot octagonal home. There are no rooms that are square or rectangular.

Lynn is an amazing man. He went to HS in Dallas, college at North Texas—NTSU. Lynn’s dad grew up on a farm in Iowa. He could fix almost anything. He let Lynn explore his mechanical abilities. He really took to it. For example, Lynn learned to weld at a very early age so he could make a racing soap box. He used his mechanical abilities and his college degree as a foundation for two very successful careers. By age 51, he retired as a VP of Ryder Corp. In fact, at one time both Lynn and his dad were VPs at Ryder. FedEx lured him from retirement to become VP in charge of their fleet. More than half of FedEx’s business is outside of of the USA, so he traveled the world extensively for FedEx before his final retirement. Upon retirement, he said he was tired of hotel and board rooms. He wanted to be outside, they bought this house on Kentucky Lake. He managed to defer all his health problems until retirement, but seems to be doing fine after a series major surgeries.
It is a beautiful home and Lynn has many projects in the works, including

a waterfall. We had dinner in their screened-in

patio and watched the

sunset through the trees.

Olivia became enamored with their short puffy grass. It is mondo, similar to monkey grass, and never grows over three inches tall and never has to be mowed! We never heard of such a thing! Too good to be true? It likes shade. Maybe it would work under our pecan tree in the front yard???

this picture doesn't do it justice as it is still freezer burned from the cold. It will soon be ALL green.

Friday, April 16 we enjoyed the Gorman’s company as Fred helped Lynn with their sprinkler system and Olivia & Judy enjoyed catching up and working on the computer. We enjoyed hearing all about their family and comparing notes on all the Harrington cousins. Judy and Olivia enjoyed working a little on the genealogy.

Saturday, April 16 Again Olivia attempted to take pictures of their home from the lake view

outside and the

big octagon room. The wall hides the kitchen to the left, but the roof line is octagon.

We prowled the area including the town of Paris, TN and tried to climb their

Eifel Tower. It is in Paris! We drove south to see the Tennessee River Pearl Museum and saw many beautiful fresh water pearls. Go to www.TennesseeRiverPearls.com to see more. We ended up eating at a neat place near Camden, south of Big Sandy.

Sunday, April 18 all four of us attended the First United Methodist Church of Big Sandy. We were welcomed

outside by their pastor and members. He was 78 and had a great message we all enjoyed. There were five children from 18 mo to 7 years of age. Three lit the candles and they all collected the offering. They did a good job and we bragged on them.

We prowled some more on this peninsula in Kentucky Lake, then came back to enjoy the