I am very blessed to have good friends, such as Karen Graham.  Karen recently came to visit Tom and me at Cumberland Gap.  This is the second time she has visited us here.  It helps that her sister lives in Middlesboro, giving her an additional (and possibly better) reason to visit.  This time she traveled with her dad, Dr. Hugh Burtner, and they came down for a niece’s baby shower.

But, while they were here, Tom and I got to spend a day with Karen.  We started off by taking her to everyone’s favorite tourist destination, Home Depot.  What, you don’t take all your visitors to the closest Home Depot?  We don’t usually, either.  But Tom needed to go and the closest one is an hour away.  We wanted to take Karen that direction, anyway, and she was a good sport about stopping at Home Depot.  After all, the day was about being together, not necessarily where we went.

On the way to Home Depot, we stopped at the beautiful Cherokee Lake overlook.  It is a gorgeous spot with a great view over the valley.  We stop there often when we have to go south in Tennessee.  A little more scenic than Home Depot.

After picking up the items Tom needed at Home Depot, we went to Buddy’s BBQ in Morristown for lunch.  When we arrived, the restaurant did not appear very busy, but we had to wait at the counter for about 15 minutes before we could order.  It gave us a chance to study the menu.  Tom ordered his usual pulled pork sandwich with french fries.  I got the ribs, for something different with sides of hush puppies, coleslaw and potato salad.  Karen got a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw.

The hush puppies were the best part of my meal.  The coleslaw tasted off and the ribs didn’t have much meat on them.  Karen and Tom both said their pulled pork sandwiches were good but average.  I don’t think Buddy’s will be a new favorite restaurant.  The company was much better than the food.

After lunch we drove on to our real reason for heading south:  White Pine Books.  This was our third visit and I came prepared this time.  I had a list of books that I was looking for.  White Pine Books has so many books that it is easy to get distracted.  I found three of the books I was looking for and several others that looked good.  I bought one book that Karen recommended.  We both like British mysteries and often share recommendations.

After spending a while in White Pine books, we headed back to Middlesboro where we dropped Karen off.  Later in the day, we met up with her again at the Levitt AMP Concert in Middlesboro.  Tom and I haven’t been able to attend many of the concerts this year.  I think we hit 4 out of 10.  The one we went to with Karen, Dr. Burtner, and the Blank family was the best one this year.  It had a wonderful bluegrass gospel group as the opening act, The Gladson Family Band.  Even though it rained like crazy during a good portion of their set, they sang with enthusiasm.

The headliner was Jason Carter, a renowned fiddler.  We also enjoyed his portion of the concert, but not as much as the Gladson Family Band.  The headliner is usually so loud that Tom and I wear earplugs.  Jason was no exception.

It was fun to enjoy the concert with the extended Burtner family.  Karen had a hamburger from Adorno’s for her supper and said it might be the best burger she had ever had.  Tom and I agree on that one!  They are great burgers.  I got my ice cream and enjoyed sitting with Karen.

Karen spent the rest of her time in Kentucky with family.  She stopped by the Visitors Center on Sunday with Dr. Burtner and I had a few minutes before we closed for the day to show her around.  I am looking forward to being back in Ohio and getting to see Karen more often.