Update on Pikeville, KY A lot of growth has happened in our lil town since your visit, please come back. Jenny Wiley Theater has opened a location on Second Street. It's native home being in Prestonsburg, Ky, this is a second location for them and is a great lil theater for Pikeville. Several new restaurants/lounges have been added; Blue Raven, Bob's Smokehouse/a great Bar B Q, Pig in a Poke, another bar b q spot, and Penn Station Subs. Tudor's Biscuit World, Buffalo Wild Wings, Moe's, Jimmy Johns will all be in business in a few weeks. Bank 253 is a favorite sports bar in the downtown area equipped with an outdoor area similar to a Drake's. Two locations for a coffeehouse called "Roasted", trendy and hot! A new shopping complex, boasting Hobby Lobby, Marshall's, Ross, Ulta, Pet Smart, Kay's Jewelry, GNC, and much more!! Oh yeah, also under construction in the downtown area is a distillery that will be brewing some good ole mountain moonshine! You mentioned El Azul Mexican Restaurant, we also have two more, El Poncho's and El Mexicano, they are all very good. Y'all come back now, ya hear?
Climbing wall and drop test tower The main building has a zip line running over the water. The tower on the right is a drop test tower use for drop testing climbing/rappelling gear to test its effects on the rope used and it tests the strength of rope and its reaction to the drop.
There is a lot to do in Pikeville The author of the article is correct. Pikeville features a lot more things to do than what many people realize. Its just that people around here take it for granted. I work with Pike County Tourism, and our website details all of the things that is available to our visitors. The website is www.tourpikecounty.com.
Nicely done I had been researching life in the coal mines when a song about mining mentioned Pikeville and the experience of growing up there as a kid. The song writer thought it was the best place on earth to grow up and your piece along with the other comments on the blog helps explain why. Being from the Boston area means short trips to places like Pikesville aren't practical but it is nice to visit via the internet, thanks for sharing your experience with us and well done.
Pikeville! My grandfather, Abner Priest, grew up in Pikeville in the 20's and 30's. He and nearly all his siblings worked in the coal mines. The whole family lived in a tiny wood house and none of them had any shoes. I heard that great grandpa would often use a piece of old string as a belt. Once in his twenties, Grandpa Ab told his Dad he was leaving.
"What? Where you goin'?"
"California," Ab replied.
"Like hell you are," his father said.
"Yes sir, I am," Ab said.
That was seventy years ago. Grandpa Ab worked in the Naval Shipyards at Vallejo, erected powerlines for PG&E, and eventually built a reputable, profitable real estate company.... with a tobacco pipe hanging from his mouth the whole time. His lovely wife Gwen, three daughters and son (my Dad) had a great childhood in a quiet suburb of Sacramento, CA.
He played a mean banjo! Miss you Grandpa! You did your friends in Pikeville proud- a tremendous ambassador of Kentucky...
i love my home town coming for a small town in Ontario Canada, and moving to a NEW small town in Pikeville Kentucky.
well to tell the truth i think of Pikeville a one of the greatest places to live, the people are somewhat friendly and you do have an arrangement of food options if you do get that hungry. But the main thing about pikeville that i turly love its the mountains, NOT there beauty, but there way of advertising ATV's.
BYE
G.C.Ratliff My father-in -law,G.C Ratliff lived in Pikeville all his life, he wrote articles for the news paper there. He was well known, as my husband Elzie and his brother Paul, who also wrote articles for the same paper. Pikeville has come a long way in many ways, the highway improvements are just unbelievable, and the cut through the mt. was a major,major work and what a improvment. They know how to cut through the solid rock and make it beautiful, I was greatly impressed with the area. We moved to Arkansas some 40+ years ago.
Faye Ratliff
History of Ky I was very pleased and felt like a history buff
My husband will be 80 yrs in January, and I would love to present him with a hisorty
of his home state. He is very proud of his heritge. We have benn married only 2/1/2 yrs
please advise me how to get this info and the cost. He had tole me many stories about
the Bid Sandy River, and took me by there on our honeymoon.
Thanks you
Dora Greer
Love Pikeville! My daughter goes to Pikeville College and plays soccer for them. Travelling to Pikeville from Cincinnati, OH is a tranquil drive. Most beautiful driving through the Appallachian Mountains. In April every year, a fun event called Hillbilly Days starts on Thursday and runs through Saturday. Lots of food, crafts, different music venues, my favorite is the bluegrass in the city park. Bring your chairs, get some eats, and enjoy! Dance if you like! Alan Jackson was here at the ExpoCenter this year (2009). A Hillbilly parade goes through the main street, and outhouse races are held. Fun! Aside from Hillbilly Days, the ExpoCenter does have great concerts. Journey is coming soon! The Breaks International State Park is a short drive from Pikeville, located in Breaks, VA. It is known as the Grand Canyon of the South! Just breathtaking! All in all, Pikeville is worth the drive.
Cafe Desire Thanks for the photo's. I just spoke to my dad this morning and he informed me that my second cousin Jorg Geiger who owns the Cafe Desire was in Niagra Canada looking at some land he owned. Unfortunately we were not able to meet, however I will make sure I visit him next year during my family trip to Europe.
Good times! Reading your blog has brought back memories of the ski trip that I went on to Lake Tahoe back in Year 9 - so a few years ago. But it was absolutely beautiful, especially going up that initial chair lift where you could turn around and just see the amazing view of the entire lake. One of the best holidays ever!
NZ Day 4 Beautiful pictures again, as always. Now I am totally 100% sure I want to go to New Zealand. After I read about you getting the urge for some flip-flops, I expected the next paragraph to read, "Then I ended up staying in New Zealand to become an organic venison farmer" or something to that effect. Glad that you came back....but also glad your "free spirit" got to go our for a little walk.
A note on paper products: there were exorbitantly expensive in Bahrain, too. I have no idea why, but that sounds about the same price-wise for a paperback there. Greeting cards were about double what you would pay in the US, even though they were Halmark stores identical to the US. It was really weird.
Springfield I saw your photos that showed a building with "Springfield" on it, and I wanted to know a little more...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield,_New_Zealand
Too bad you missed out on their big attraction! And you were so close!
That train ride looked wonderful!
NZ Day 3 It looks so incredibly beautiful there! I definitely want to go now. It looks like you got to see such a variety of things (even in just the first few days--I can't wait to see the rest)--ocean, hills, seal colonies. Wow.
I agree with Cel--that is so neat that you guys each planned a leg of the trip. Awesome. Maybe one day in the future, we can all go to Europe or something and do the same thing, each taking a day or something.....in the DISTANT future probably.
Wow! I think this is my favorite post of yours ever! How cool! I didn't realize that you each planned a leg of the trip... that is awesome! I'm adding going to NZ to my bucket list. :)
Happy 30th Birthday! So much for resetting your clock! I see you're up late working on your travel blog. Beautiful photos as usual. How long timewise was the ferry ride?
More NZ Those waterfall pictures look so beautiful. Huka Falls looks gorgeous and dangerous all at the same time! It's amazing how nature can be so powerful, beautiful and dangerous!
NZ It looks so beautiful there. There have been many places you have visited that I am totally content to just hear your experiences--I have no desire to go to those places. However, New Zealand just looks amazing and beautiful. I would like to go there someday.
Those cows seem like they were pretty friendly! I can't believe how close they were standing to Robert and Vanessa. The glowworm thing was creepy, too, but I guess that is the Circle of Life. Eww.
Looks like fun! Hi Henry, I always wanted to go to New Zealand. Not only is it a beautiful country with lots of hiking and photo opportunities, I'd like to pay homage to the Ashford company that made my Traveller DD spinning wheel. (http://www.ashford.co.nz/spinning/spinning-frameset.htm). The glow worm cave sounds fascinating!
Sydney Wow! I really like your descriptions of the Sydney Opera House. I have never seen pictures of it that don't just show the famous view of it. I didn't know it had lots of windows, several venues, etc. That is really neat!
I like your thoughts on being stern with children out of necessity at times. It is true, Theodora made us nearly cry (or cry lots!), but she TRAINED me to know ballet in such a thorough way. I have really appreciated the fruits of that as I now venture back into ballet and see how well my body remembers!
I love the botanical gardens sign! So funny. It looks beautiful!
I also loved hearing your account of the Messiah. That must have been incredible with a symphony and everybody singing it. Wow! Mom and I did the Messiah once when we lived in B-town, but I imagine it wasn't quite the same.
I enjoy traveling... meeting new people, experiencing new cultures, seeing amazing architecture and landscapes, and trying new food. I also like to learn from observing and listening to the people I meet along the way and hopefully make a few new friends.... full info
Eldora Trimble
non-member comment
Update on Pikeville, KY
A lot of growth has happened in our lil town since your visit, please come back. Jenny Wiley Theater has opened a location on Second Street. It's native home being in Prestonsburg, Ky, this is a second location for them and is a great lil theater for Pikeville. Several new restaurants/lounges have been added; Blue Raven, Bob's Smokehouse/a great Bar B Q, Pig in a Poke, another bar b q spot, and Penn Station Subs. Tudor's Biscuit World, Buffalo Wild Wings, Moe's, Jimmy Johns will all be in business in a few weeks. Bank 253 is a favorite sports bar in the downtown area equipped with an outdoor area similar to a Drake's. Two locations for a coffeehouse called "Roasted", trendy and hot! A new shopping complex, boasting Hobby Lobby, Marshall's, Ross, Ulta, Pet Smart, Kay's Jewelry, GNC, and much more!! Oh yeah, also under construction in the downtown area is a distillery that will be brewing some good ole mountain moonshine! You mentioned El Azul Mexican Restaurant, we also have two more, El Poncho's and El Mexicano, they are all very good. Y'all come back now, ya hear?