We thoroughly enjoyed our week in Kentucky. After leaving “the bourbon capital of the world”, we headed south to a campsite in Big South Fork National Recreation area.
The area’s claim to fame was coal, with an active mine operating in the early 1900’s. Now they’ve turned the coal camp into a park with displays about how the mine worked and how the workers lived - it was actually really interesting!
On Andrew’s Bday, October 20, we did an awesome 10-km loop hike through the area and saw many sections of rock with coal layered underneath the limestone. I wish I could have chipped some away for our fire! Coco brought home an unwelcome visitor in the form of a tick - luckily Andrew felt it and we were able to extract it before it got too much of a meal.
The region has been enjoying an usually late fall season so most of the trees were still green and temperatures warm. We left Kentucky to drive through parts of Tennessee and North Carolina on our diagonal southeast, enjoying the views of puffy hills over the Appalachian Mountains near the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway. I had originally intended to spend some time in these areas too, but am glad we didn’t bother as they looked the same as the mountains in southern Kentucky without all the crowds, costs and rules that go along with national park status.
Tennessee, at least what we saw of it driving through, is visibly much poorer than other states. Dilapidated buildings, faded signs, broken windows, and cars in all sorts of disrepair on front lawns. The number of Baptist churches are slightly outnumbered by the liquor stores and gun/ammo depots.
Quick stop to check out Greenville, North Carolina and on to a Walmart south of the city for a night’s rest before heading to the coast!
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