Alex Varga got married! Tom and I got home from Cumberland Gap on September 19. We had to come back that week because we had a very special event coming up: the wedding of Alex Varga and Jen Gartner. Alex Varga is a very special man to Tom and I. He and John grew up …
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Breaks Interstate Park: Grand Canyon of Virginia
What is the Grand Canyon of Virginia and Kentucky? Breaks Interstate Park. In fact, Breaks Interstate Park is so grand that they claim to be the Grand Canyon of the South. Tom and I headed to Breaks Interstate Park on one of our last days off at Cumberland Gap. We didn’t intentionally save it for …
JR Hoe and Sons Iron Foundry
While Tom and I were at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, we had the opportunity to tour JR Hoe and Sons Iron Foundry. Tom had been doing the Iron Furnace talk and was interested in finding out more about the iron heritage in Middlesboro. Middlesboro was founded as an iron town, “The Pittsburgh of the …
Henderson Settlement in Frakes, Kentucky
While Karen Graham was visiting, we decided to make a trip to Henderson Settlement in Frakes, Kentucky. Henderson Settlement is a United Methodist Mission and Work Camp located “up the mountain” from Middlesboro. Karen had been there before because her sister, Pam, had worked there and Pam and Chuck lived in Frakes for years. Henderson …
General Longstreet Museum in Russellville, TN
One day, when Tom and I were doing living history at Cumberland Gap, two men from the General Longstreet Museum in Russellville, Tennessee stopped by. We talked to both of them for quite a while. They were preparing for the fund-raising bus tour given by the museum once a year. The younger man, the sole …
Levitt AMP Middlesboro Music Series
One of the things we have really enjoyed about living here is attending the Levitt AMP Middlesboro Music Series. This is a series of free concerts held on Thursday nights in downtown Middlesboro. We attended six of the ten concerts this year. The Levitt AMP Middlesboro Music Series has been held every summer since 2015. …
Montgomery Grocery Store
Montgomery Grocery Store is the closest grocery store to where Tom and I are living while we work at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Ranger Lucas told us about it on our first day of work so we stopped by there shortly after. We have been back several times, but not usually for groceries. Montgomery …
Middlesboro, Kentucky: Crater City
Middlesboro, Kentucky, is the largest town within an hour of where Tom and I are living this summer. Fortunately, it has about 10,000 residents, so it has three grocery stores including a Walmart and a Kroger. Although I consider 10,000 people to be a good-sized small city, Middlesboro has more of a village or small-town …
Buc-ees: Gas Station on Steroids
We started hearing about Buc-ees a few years ago when we were on our way to Canaveral National Seashore in 2022. There were Buc-ees signs along the interstate for miles on either side of the new Buc-ees. We did not stop – we didn’t need gas – but I did look up what it was. …
Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee
On one of our recent days off, Tom and I traveled the hour to the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee. We stopped by there last year, but went too late in the day to make it worth paying the admission, so we just looked around at the wonderful gift shop. When we returned we …