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Published: April 30th 2008
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Well, after some persuasion I've decided to post an entry on Pikeville, KY. I guess if an entry from the remote parts of the world outside the U.S. are worthy of blog entries, why not note remote parts of the U.S.?
Pikeville, KY is nestled in the Cumberland Mountains (part of the larger Appalachian Mountain range); it is a good two hour drive from the closest city -- Charleston, WV, and about two and half hours from Lexington, KY. Its main business is coal mining, and with a short drive around you can find coal mines in operation.
It was an interesting trip... Pikeville, KY is a small town of 6,500 and in the South near the borders of Virginia and West Virginia.
I lived in the south until I was 16 years-old -- Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. I felt some nostalgia from being in the South again and a sense of connection to the land and the people; although I've only been to Kentucky a few times before, I used to live only a few hours away southwest in Tennessee.
What is there to do in Pikeville? Well, my co-worker and I kept asking ourselves
that question.
When we asked people in Pikeville, they thought about it briefly and then said that, mainly, they go to other cities -- that is what there is to do in Pikeville... travel to somewhere else. However, it isn't completely true. In the summer they have great hiking and whitewater rafting. Even in winter, the mountains are tree-covered beauties (sans leaves)... so I'm sure it is all the more beautiful in the summer.
Here are a few interesting things about Pikeville:
It is home to one of the largest land-moving projects in history (third behind the Big Dig and the Panama Canal). The Army Corps of Engineers moved 12 million cubic yards of rock and dirt, called the Pikeville Cut-Through, to re-route the Big Sandy River in order to put a highway and train route straight through the area where there was, well, a mountain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pikeville_Cut-Through
Pikeville also had a part in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, which occurred in the area between 1878 and 1891. Below is a link well worth the read -- to get you started, imagine two large moonshining hillbilly families fighting it out for years... a fight that was initially begun
over a disputed pig (a pig!), which quickly spiraled out of control into crazy acts of rage and violence, and eventually required intervention by the Kentucky and West Virginia state governments, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield-McCoy
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On Friday night, I was invited to go to ArenaCross at the Expo Center (seating capacity - 7,000... Pikeville population - 6,500, though, it is the seat of Pike County 😊. I had asked someone if I should wear earplugs and he thought for a second and said "yeah", so I brought 'em along.
http://www.arenacross.com/
At the arena that evening, after buying a hot dog, nachos, and bottled water and settling in, they made some announcements and got ready to go; the announcements and music were very loud, which had me speculating that it was to adjust us to a very high noise level. Whether their intention or not, when the motorcycles started up and set off the starting-line, it was blisteringly loud.
I originally left out my ear plugs just to hear how loud it would be and I had trouble THINKING. It was like my mind was filled with television static.
I put my earplugs in.
Also, when they started I made the mistake of not following the leader. After a few laps the motorcycles are everywhere along the track, looping around, and it is nearly impossible to discern who is in the lead.
After the ear plugs and following the leader, Arena Cross was alright -- for about an hour. And then it got boring. And more boring. But it was a fun experience and, I think, worth seeing once. For an hour.
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What else? Pikeville has Pikeville College, founded by Presbyterians in 1889. It has a nice overlook of Pikeville.
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On the weekend, my co-worker and set out to discover all that is Pikeville. And all that is Pikeville isn't open on the weekend. We checked out the Cut-Though overlook... cool. Great weather.
We went downtown, where almost everything was closed, even the pizza parlor.
We walked around the college.
We visited the art gallery; well, we looked in the windows of the CLOSED art gallery.
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Pikeville does have a pretty good Mexican restaurant... El Azul Grande ("Big Blue", which is the nickname of the
Road Cut
Part of the Pikeville Cut-Through Kentucky Wildcats). If you visit and forget the name, just ask anyone on the street how to find the Mexican restaurant. They are open on the weekend and it is packed out (ostensibly, because so much else is closed and, well, the food and service are good).
There is also an Applebee's. And a Hardees. And a Subway. Oh, yeah, and a Wendy's. 😉
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The trip to Pikeville was relaxing. Though, I wish it could have been during the summer so I could have taken advantage of whitewater rafting. And the people in Pikeville are wonderful and still have that well-known, and often highly-regarded, Southern hospitality.
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Celeste in Missouri
non-member comment
Hahaha!
You're thoughts on going to the track are hilarious and so true! I used to go watch Jamas ride and it was BORING (unless someone wrecked).