New Glarus WI - Metropolis IL - Paducah KY

We have visited NEW GLARUS in Wisconsin yesterday afternoon and an impressive Swiss flag was greeting all the tourists - for moments I thought, I'm "home" again :)

The Swiss church in the back looks almost like the one in Glarus Switzerland and all the pretty Swiss Chalet houses too

There were many amazing painted Swiss cows as decorations in front of the stores. This one is dressed in "clothes" of a farmer in Appenzell, Switzerland

America's "Little Switzerland" New Glarus
is located in the heart of Green County in Southern Wisconsin. Its rolling hills dotted with small towns, farms, and woodland pastures are much like the alpine farmlands of Glarus, Switzerland. When you arrive at the village entrance, you will quickly understand its popularity as a destination. New Glarus is America's "Little Switzerland."

Every year, thousands of visitors, including hundreds of Swiss tourists, are drawn to New Glarus to enjoy the atmosphere that thrives here and nowhere else outside of Switzerland. With small town friendliness and enthusiasm, New Glarus is proud to share its Swiss heritage, its chalet-style architecture, its two fine museums, its famous ethnic festivals, and a wealth of specialty shops and restaurants serving savory Swiss food.

Today we have seen the "Giant Superman" in Metropolis, IL

Metropolis is the the self-proclaimed "Hometown of Superman," celebrating its local hero every possible way it can. The local bank is "home of super financial services." The town newspaper calls itself The Planet. A sign in the grocery store informs customers: "Just as Superman stands for truth, justice and the American Way, Food World stands for quality, convenience and friendly service."

In Metropilis is also the Harrah's Casino located
of course went there to play and WE WON, yeah! :)

We made it to Paducah in Kentucky! A pretty and very arty town at the Ohio River.

Paducah, originally called Pekin, began around 1815 as a mixed community of Native Americans and white settlers who were attracted by its location at the confluence of many waterways.

According to legend, Chief Paduke, most likely a Chickasaw, welcomed the people traveling down the Ohio and Tennessee on flatboats. His wigwam, located on a low bluff at the mouth of Island Creek, served as the counsel lodge for his village. The settlers, appreciative of his hospitality, and respectful of his ways, settled across the creek.

The two communities lived in harmony trading goods and services enjoying the novelty of each other's culture. The settlers had brought horses and mules which they used to pull the flatboats upstream to farms, logging camps, trading posts and other settlements along the waterways, establishing a primitive, but thriving economy.

This cultural interaction continued until William Clark, famed leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, arrived in 1827 with a title deed to the land upon which Pekin sat. Clark was the superintendent of Native American affairs for the Mississippi-Missouri River region. He asked the Chief and the settlers to move along, which they did, offering little resistance probably because the deed was issued by the United States Supreme Court. Though the deed cost only $5.00 to process, it carried with it the full authority of the U. S. Government backed by the United States Army.

Clark surveyed his new property and laid out the grid for a new town which remains evident to this day. The Chief and his villagers moved to Mississippi allowing Clark to continue with the building of the new city which he named Paducah in honor of the Chief. Upon completion of the platt, Clark sent envoys to Mississippi to invite Chief Paduke back to a ribbon-cutting ceremony, but he died of malaria in the boat while making the return trip. The settlers had been allowed to purchase tracts within the new grid but most of them moved on to less developed areas.

Read more please here

Hi my friends,

Yesterday and today it was rainig dogs and cats.... We hope for better weather for tomorrow because we want discover Paducah a little bit more, we want to see some galleries, houses and museums and we want to take a walk at the beautiful Ohio river front and I want to have some better lights in my photos than I had it today....

Thanks for all the comments, critics and compliments - very much appreciated!

See you tomorrow....
Susanne and David