Tom and I recently stopped by to visit Middle Creek National Battlefield in Prestonburg, Kentucky. We were heading to Ohio via US 23 and looking for interesting things to explore. Pikeville, Kentucky was our first stop. Pikeville is the county seat of Pike County. Despite only having 8,000 residents, it is the biggest city around …
Whistle Pig Country Store
I recently had a chance to try the newest local restaurant in Ewing, Virginia. Whistle Pig Country Store opened in July after several years of preparation and renovation. The two sisters, Jan Brown and Melissa Brown Hubbard, who own it used to volunteer as Campground Hosts at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. A lot of …
Davy Crockett Birthday at Crockett Tavern
Tom and I recently had the opportunity to celebrate Davy Crockett’s birthday. This was a special celebration held by the Crockett Tavern Museum in Morristown, Tennessee. We visited the museum two years ago when we were here. The people at the Crockett Tavern Museum invited Cumberland Gap National Historical Park to come down and be …
Appalachian Arts Craft Center
After our lunch at Littons, Tom and I drove north to the Appalachian Arts Craft Center. in Clinton, Tennessee Tuesday is usually our day to do laundry and grocery shopping, but a visitor told me that Tuesday was weaving day at the Appalachian Arts Craft Center. I had seen an article about the Tuesday Weavers …
Littons Market and Restaurant
Upon the recommendation of friends, Tom and I recently ate at Littons Market and Restaurant in the Fountain City neighborhood of Knoxville. Until it was annexed by Knoxville, Fountain City was the largest unincorporated area in Tennessee. It looks and acts like its own community, with a downtown and a large park with a fountain. …
Blacksmiths Depot in Candler, NC
On our way to Asheville, Tom and I swung by Candler, North Carolina to visit Blacksmiths Depot. Tom has been a blacksmith at different national park sites since 2017 when we worked at San Juan Island English Camp. Most of the time, he has to build a bellows and furnish his own equipment. Over time …
Asheville, North Carolina
Last week Tom and I went to Asheville, North Carolina. We had not been there in a very long time and certainly not since the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Asheville is only 2.5 hours from Cumberland Gap, so we decided to drive down and check it out. Hurricane Helene was really hard on the …
Hanging Out in the Tri-State Area
One of the things that Tom and I really enjoy about the Tri-State Area is all the opportunities we have for hanging out. We recently had a ranger who left because of “Appalachian Isolation.” He had some reasons to feel that way, but it isn’t something that Tom and I have experienced. We are more …
Lils Coin Laundry in New Tazewell
Tom and I have been doing our laundry at Lils Coin Laundry in New Tazewell, Tennessee. A couple of weeks ago, I was working at the desk when a call came through on the radio, “Maintenance, this is campground. Maintenance, this is campground emergency.” Maintenance responded they were on their way, and that was the …
Haymaker Barbeque in Harrogate, Tennessee
In our constant search for great BBQ, Tom and I recently ate at Haymaker Barbeque in Harrogate, Tennessee. We drive by it all the time, but the rangers have never had anything good to say about it. Hearing that it was under new management, Tom and I decided to try it. I couldn’t find any …