The first week of July Tom and I had some very special visitors, Cheryl and Scott Giddens. They were our first out-of-town visitors and they came all the way from South Carolina. Well, actually, they live in South Carolina and they were sort of on the way from being in western Virginia for a show. Cheryl makes it a point to visit us, wherever we are, whenever she can. She often shows up as a surprise. This time she gave us a little bit of notice.
Cheryl and Scott stayed for a week at the campground and we did something with them every day while they were here. Except Monday, the day they arrived. Monday we were all exhausted in the evening. Tom and I from working for four days, and Cheryl and Scott from driving all the way across Virginia. Virginia can be a very long state if you hit it just right.
But Tuesday we hit the ground running and didn’t stop until Saturday evening. We started with lunch at the Dutch Treat, home of the world’s greatest grilled cheese sandwiches. Tom and I have been heading there about once a month to get a grilled cheese. They never disappoint. Cheryl and Scott got something besides grilled cheese, but we didn’t pay much attention because that is the best thing on the menu.
Our plan was to go to the Pinnacle Overlook Tuesday afternoon, and we did that. But it started raining on our way up. Then, at the Pinnacle, we could hear thunder. Being the highest place in the park wasn’t a good idea during a thunderstorm, so we got back in the car and headed down. When we got back to the campground, we walked down to the picnic shelter and played Farkle for a while.
On Wednesday, we picked Cheryl and Scott up early so we could do our hiking in the cool of the day. Even though we started the Tri-State Peak hike at 9, we were still sweating as we neared the summit. We haven’t had a day below 88 since the beginning of June. Although the Gap hike is one of the easier hikes in the park, it is still a climb to get to Tri-State Peak. The views aren’t much, but it is fun to stand in three states at once or have three people stand in a different state each.
The hike down was challenging for me with my hip. Downs can be shaky. But I had my hiking stick and Tom to lean on and I made it down. We had lunch at Gap Creek Cafe, sitting out by creek under the trees. It was a lovely place to rest after our hike and the food was good too. When we finished there, we walked around town a little bit. We checked out the Artists Coop and Hillfolk Herb Shop and Grocery. We had fun looking at the goods at the Coop and all the different herbs in HIllfolk.
Before we went back to the campground, we headed up to the Pinnacle to catch the views that we had missed the day before. The views were spectacular! Definitely worth coming back for. We also walked around some of the Civil War earthworks at the top. Then we went back to the campground and played another game of Farkle before Tom and I headed home.
Thursday was Scott’s choice. Cheryl was at Cumberland Gap two years ago with us and got to do a lot of things. We gave Scott a choice of three museums and he picked the Colonel Sanders Museum in Corbin. On the way we stopped at the Thomas Walker State Historic Site to show Cheryl and Scott the replica Walker cabin. Then all of us enjoyed looking through the Colonel Sanders Museum. Scott, being an avid collector, especially enjoyed all the KFC collectibles in the museum. We concluded our visit there by enjoying some yummy KFC chicken.
Because we still had plenty of beautiful day left, we headed to Cumberland Falls State Park. Neither Scott nor Cheryl had ever been there. The park was busy, but not as busy as I was afraid it would be. It was July 3, but only a Thursday. I imagine the park was really busy on July 4. We walked along the Cumberland River until we reached the falls. Then we walked some more to see the two overlooks that offer great views and photo opportunities.
When we got back to the Visitors Center, we checked out the shop and the small nature center, then we got some ice cream. The ice cream stand was the busiest place – because it was so hot. We all enjoyed our mid-afternoon ice cream which fueled us for our return home. Upon arriving at the campground, we played one game of Farkle and then Tom and I headed home.
Friday Cheryl and Scott went on the morning cave tour. After we got off work, we picked them up and headed back to the town of Cumberland Gap for the Farmer’s Market. The market had lots of vendors, which was nice considering it was July 4. There was a bluegrass trio playing and lots of goodies for sale. Fortunately I brought a bag with me so I could stash them.
We had planned on eating at the food truck, but it was just too hot on the street. Instead, we opted for dinner at Nineteen 19. Tom and I have eaten there before, and their food is very good. On this night, however, service was very slow. Maybe they were short staffed because of the holiday. It took over an hour for the food to arrive. It was very good when it did arrive, but that is really slow. We picked up some cookies on sale during the last minutes of the Farmer’s Market, then dropped Cheryl and Scott back at the campground.
Saturday Scott and Cheryl headed to Hensley Settlement for the tour up there. When they got back, they hung around until Tom and I got off work, then we took them home. All of us were worn out from our very busy week, so we hugged each other and said goodbye until the next time. They headed home on Sunday morning about the time that Tom and I headed to work.
We had so much fun with Cheryl and Scott while they were here. It is always good to see old friends and get to spend relaxed time with them – even if we didn’t relax very much. We appreciated them stopping by and making a visit with us a priority.