Knowing that I was within range of Paducah, KY, I left my hotel in Effingham at about 6:30 a.m. The drive to Paducah was approximately 130 miles. My next stop would be the quilter’s mecca
known as Hancock’s of Paducah. The store opens at 9 a.m. and I made it a point to arrive in
time for the store opening.
The last time I was IN Paducah was over 20 years ago. All previous visits have been with tour groups visiting the annual AQS quilt show there. Paducah was overrun with quilters during those April trips! My stop at Hancock’s in late May was a very different story. I practically had the place to myself! There were one or two other shoppers looking around. There WERE lots of employees gathering specific bolts of fabric to fill internet orders.
This landed in my car! With gusty winds on the interstate, it was imperative that I add some weight to my car.
As you can see, the sky looked ominous. I encountered periods of heavy rain
as I drove southeast across Kentucky after leaving Hancock's.
I continued onward, via Interstate 24. I worked my way to Nashville, TN. I24 runs
along the east edge of Nashville. Nashville has a pretty skyline. The traffic was
bumper to bumper and it took a long time to get beyond Nashville. I made it to
Murfreesboro for the night on this, my second day of the trip. Murfreesboro has
connections to the Civil War. The photo below shows a wall in my hotel room.
On day 3 of my trip, I left Murfreesboro and headed to the Chattanooga, TN area.
Again, Interstate 24 was busy, especially near Chattanooga. I switched from I24, to
I75, just east of Chattanooga. With another quilt shop address preloaded into my
GPS, I headed to Ooltewah, home of “Chattanooga Quilts”. Ooltewah is about 20 miles
east of Chattanooga.
Chattanooga Quilts is a shop filled with character! And, lots of nice fabric!
With another day of driving complete, I arrived in Murphy, NC on Thursday afternoon.
My Friday drive to the John Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, would be less
than ten miles!
I’ve been to Murphy before. I am familiar with both the quilt shop (Bless My Stitches)
and one of the antiques shops in town.
I found this large basket at Marketplace Antiques in Murphy. The big basket is
16” in diameter. It caught my eye just minutes after I walked into the antiques
store. This photo was taken after the basket traveled with me back to my home.
Thank-you for following along as I drove to North Carolina! My next post will feature
photos of the John C. Campbell Folk School!
