Padukah, KY to New Harmony, IN
A day sticking by the river somewhat, mostly on the Kentucky side – constantly crossing that river. A little more tourism, less commerce, and a day to kind of recover and reflect from the intensity of the previous evening. But it's always onto the next thing, which is probably an artifact (Nachholbedarf, which might as well be my middle name anymore) of spending a cumulative 8-10 years depressed or otherwise indisposed.
You've got one crack at this thing. Don't waste it on ghosts, a place, a career or a relationship you find unworthy of you. Words to the wise.
There are always too many things that must be cut so that I get through this damn thing in anything approaching a reasonable timeline. So, time to just bottom line it a little more and rely on photographs. This is Smithland, where the Cumberland River of TVA fame enters the Ohio – that's a whole other animal, more than likely more than worth tracing.
Too much history to recount here. The next town was Marion, KY, home to venerable architecture and an impressive mineral museum. After Arkansas, this region of north central Kentucky is a haven for semi-precious stones and the like.
Hung out there for a couple hours. Bought some essentials, like clothing, as I'd been wearing the same outfit going on a week. It was none worse for the wear, as it was some fancy Eddie Bauer wicking shirt that retails for $85, but I got for $7.50 at some overstock joint a few months ago. Again, God bless capitalist overproduction!
Had an enjoyable Mexican meal too, and practiced my pidgin Spanish by more or less correctly translating this slogan. $2 Margaritas special; sign me up for several at Cantina La Delicia! This fellow from Guatemala said so, although he speaks English and his native tongue better than Spanish. He said people were very nice to him in Nowheresville, KY. Well, what do you know about that?
Trip to the local antique store elicited an anti-Trump rant from the proprietress. She said her Trumper friend attended a No Kings rally recently and that 'everybody I know around here is done with him'. I notice Democratic Socialists are having success, nationwide now. Not winning everything, but putting a scare into the other right wing of what Gore Vidal called the overarching Property Party.
Time to devote a little more to the people I encountered, sometimes only briefly, but often enough, memorably. It's a struggle, sometimes, dealing with people. They can drain you and my natural inclination is introversion, but if I must, or feel it is important enough, I reach out.
Often I was pulling the car over for cat naps due to troubled sleep. Well, this guy stopped his pickup truck and checked on me because my right turn signal was still on, inadvertantly. Then invited me to the Kentucky variant of the Sturgis motorcycle festival. Didn't make it, but probably should have. Again, weird kindness that isn't as much a Yankee thing, to say nothing of a California thing.
Probably the best thing about travel is that it undermines your prejudices, such as they were, if you bother. Every East German told me Romania was God Awful. I don't think a single one was ever there. Well, it was my favorite country in all of Europe, just as the Ohio Valley has won my heart.
You may recall this name from history. Talked about it with the local librarian in Morganfield, KY. Smart lady who'd been to the Trump White House with Mitch McConnell. A sub rosa lefty, community leader and local educator, in her spare time. Got invited anyway and figured what the hell. I misread the sign as the founder of the Ku Klux Klan not having reconnoitered, but rather being 'reconsidered'. We see what we want to see, which is kind of trash.
Then came the highlight of the day, possiblity the trip. Old Shawneetown, IL. The previously featured Rae Rae and Pandora. The latter had the herstory down. Knew all about the Titans and their wars. Lots of stuff I'd never heard about Greek Mythology. Not that I'm any big expert, but we learned about it in lieu of Sunday School, thanks to my father. People are complicated, it turns out.
She came on a little strong. Attempting to solicit a lap dance, possibly in jest. More likely as a test. She was hawking churros also, drizzled with both a raspberry concoction and cream. Her boss offered a free sample. I told her 'I don't have a sweet tooth' and glared for an instant. That's when we got on to mythology. Last I heard of her was coherently ranting about politics. I told her: Pandora for Senate. That turtle must die some day.
I also met their titular boss. I believe his name was Brian. He'd quit his job in AI to buy a nearby farm. He patiently spent 45 minutes explaining me out of the conviction that it is a stock jobbing fraud. I didn't understand all of it, but the things he explained were daunting. He quit because he was convinced it was a bubble and that his bosses were 'too stupid to apply it properly'. I asked him if he was a genius. He matter of factly assented to it.
Now he kills time running this tounge-in-cheek food truck, offering Rae Rae and Pandora the opportunity to moonlight. This simulacrum of The Boar's Nest was great inside, too. There I polished off a passel of PBR's, gaining respite from the heat, to say nothing of direly needly refreshment. Here are some photos of that.
Quite the contrast were the staid environs where I would spend the night. New Harmony, Indiana was perhaps the most successful – and certainly best preserved – utopian community in the United States. Now, it's a mostly sleepy town of affluent retirees. Descendants of the founders got hooked up with the Rockefellers and the matriarch flys her private jet in from Dallas to check up on things every month or so. Some snaps of that. Actually, most of that was witnessed the following morning. So much for this day.
