Ahhh … how did we live before the Internet? I write this from Benham, Kentucky, in Harlan County, middle-of-nowhere. There are access numbers for the city of Harlan, but that apparently is a long-distance call from here. And at 50 cents a minute, it’s not worth the long distance fees to post from here.
So this entry is being composed off-line and will be posted when the opportunity presents itself.
Our first full day of vacationing was Thursday of this week, and wasn’t much like a vacation. We took the boys (and ourselves) to what we consider the best bookstore ever, Joseph-Beth in Lexington. They’re still in the same general area, but in a new specific location from when we lived in the vicinity a dozen or so years ago. The boys were pretty impressed, being connoisseurs of booksellers themselves.
We backed that up by heading to Barnes and Noble for comparison. There was none.
After several other stops, the highlight of the day (for me, at least) finally came to fruition. Mary, who I worked with at the newspaper in Corbin, and her daughter, Brianna, met us for dinner at Damon’s. Mark came down from Cincinnati and we all had a terrific time. It was amazing seeing the interaction between Tyler and Bri, as if they’d been raised together and had been friends for life. I’m glad that they’re forging a friendship.
As we were preparing to check out of the Sheraton, I found myself questioning the basis for awarding stars to hotels. While the Sheraton was very nice, it lacked in many areas. Perhaps we’re just not high-society travelers, but things like complimentary continental breakfasts and in-house snack machines for guests would be a nice addition. Maybe it would bump them from three-and-a-half stars to four if they added those amenities?
Yesterday, Friday, we drove to Letcher County where we took the “scenic” route through Blackey and Roxana en route to Whitesburg. Linda took tons of photos along the way, building inspiration needed to finish her book. After dinner at the Pine Mountain Grill on the edge of town, we headed over the mountain (no exaggeration) and wound up here, in Benham, home of the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum – our destination in a few minutes.
All in all, it’s been a fun trip. Despite the insistence of others in our family, I’ve been pretty relaxed through it all. You just can’t believe everything they say. Also on tap for today is a trip to Portal 31, a renovated deep mine near Lynch, just up the road. It’s also part of the museum, and should give us an opportunity to go in and see what it was like in the mines. I think Tyler could take it or leave it, but Zach is quite excited about it.
After that, I think we’re heading toward Corbin for the night, though we might just head for home. We’re sort of winging a lot of this trip, which is kind of cool. Either way, I should get this posted by tonight sometime and be able to log another entry.
Until then …