The mountains of Appalachia wrap around Big Stone Gap like a warm embrace, creating a community where outdoor adventure, history, and culture converge.
Town Manager, Steve Lawson, describes how the community has transformed from its coal mining roots into a vibrant outdoor recreation destination.
The town's crown jewel is the Greenbelt Trail, a scenic paved path following the Powell River through the heart of town. Just minutes away, the Powell River Trail offers a rail-to-trail experience featuring historic tunnels and visible coal seams that tell the story of the region's mining past.
Adventure seekers will fall in love with scenic Big Cherry Lake, which offers fishing, hiking, paddling, and wildlife watching.
Round out your Big Stone Gap experience with museums, outdoor theater, music festivals, and a culinary scene that tops off this adventure town’s charm. Let’s Go!
In Part 2, Steve and I dive into Big Stone Gap’s local attractions, including museums, outdoor theater, music festivals and dining. You won’t want to miss an exciting giveaway for a pair of tickets to Blue Highway Fest, one of the largest Bluegrass festivals that celebrates Appalachia’s rich music heritage.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jessica Bowser (00:00):
From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the
Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is amecca for outdoor travel and
adventure. Virginia outdooradventures Podcast is your local
guide for hiking, camping,kayaking, travel and so much
more. Get the information andthe inspiration to plan your own
adventure right here inVirginia, I'm your host. Jessica
(00:23):
Bowser, the mountains ofAppalachia wrap around Big Stone
Gap like a warm embrace,creating a community where
outdoor adventure, history andculture converge. Town manager
Steve Lawson describes how thecommunity has transformed from
its coal mining routes into avibrant outdoor recreation
destination. The town's crownjewel is the Green Belt trail, a
(00:47):
scenic, paved path following thePowell river through the heart
of town. Just minutes away. ThePowell river trail offers a rail
to trail experience featuringhistoric tunnels and visible
coal seams that tell the storyof the region's mining past.
Adventure seekers will fall inlove with Scenic big Cherry
Lake, which offers fishing,hiking, paddling and wildlife
(01:09):
watching round out your BigStone Gap experience with
museums, outdoor theater, musicfestivals and a culinary scene
that tops off this adventuretown's charm. Let's go. This is
part two of a two part episode.
Virginia Outdoor Adventures issponsored by breaks Interstate
Park brakes. Park is a hikingdestination in the heart of
(01:34):
Appalachia. Every trail featuressomething that will awe you,
including geologic formations,scenic views of the canyon,
stream crossings and wildlifeviewing. Trails range from easy
to difficult. The convenience oflodges, campgrounds and luxury
cabins inside the park meansyou'll never need to wander far
from the trail. Come see foryourself why breaks is known as
(01:57):
the Grand Canyon of the South.
Download the digital trail guideat breaks park.com, or click on
breaks Interstate Park in theshow notes of your listening
app. Okay, Steve, before we jumpinto lodging, dining and
attractions, there's one otherreally cool activity that Big
(02:19):
Stone Gap hosts, and that's discgolf. And I have to admit, I'm
not as familiar with disc golf,but when you were showing me the
course and telling me thatpeople come from other states
for your disc golf course, I waslike, Okay, we have to mention
this.
Unknown (02:32):
You know, it's another thing that, you know, we're wide
open to try anything. And we hadsome younger people that, after
they got involved with some ofthe activities that the town was
doing. They were, they weredriving about an hour to play,
you know, disc golf. And so wehad a small park that we call
the duck Park, because a lot ofducks come off the river, and
then there's been some somedomesticated ducks that have
(02:55):
made their own families alongthe river and stuff too. So
people would go to the duck Parkand feed the ducks with kids and
stuff. So to the side of theduck Park, we had a lot of
unused land, so we made nineholes of disc golf, and had just
exploded. And so these youngergentlemen helped us build a 18
hole course through a 78 acrepatch of woods that we have that
(03:19):
surrounded our swimming pool,and not a lot of localities have
disc golf courses that go, youknow, deep into the woods. Some
Some of it's challenging enough.
Some of the holes arechallenging enough. They're not
really much wider than a path,you know, for a hiking trail. So
imagine throwing a disc, youknow, down through there. And so
it's a challenging, you know,course. And so, bi weekly in the
(03:40):
summertime, we'll havetournaments there, and it'll
bring anywhere from 60 to 70people from, you know,
neighboring states andneighboring towns and cities,
just to play that course,because it's unique. And, you
know, it goes through the woodsand and again, you might, you
know, run a fox out from under atree, or, see a I mean, you
could see anything, you know,while you're out there doing it.
Jessica Bowser (04:03):
Very cool.
Steve, even before I got to BigStone Gap, I had heard that
there was quite an impressivefood scene in the town. And I
found it hard to believe until Igot there. And I have to say,
there really is, do you want totalk about it a little bit?
Unknown (04:18):
I'll use the word diverse again, because we have
everything from Chinese toMexican to Home Cooking to
steaks or sushi or all kinds ofplaces that is sweet tea and
unsweet tea and Colas to breweryto, you know, mixed drinks or
whatever that you would like,it's some of your listeners and
(04:38):
tourists and people coming inhas actually helped us
revitalize the downtown. We'veused the beauty of our
surrounding area, our historyand people coming into town to
revitalize buildings that wereused for different purposes.
That's where a lot of theserestaurants are. As things
started happening to peoplecoming to started coming to see
us and people seeing more peoplecoming into town. Um, they
(05:00):
started, locals startedinvesting their money, you know,
in small town America again, andthat's been one of the great
parts of using our great outdoorstuff to to revitalize a small
town. And that's exactly whatour our plan was to be the place
to live and the place toentertain. Now that all the
restaurants are open andthere's, there's 18 to 20 within
(05:22):
a mile of the visitor center. Imean, most of them within
walking distance, all diverse. Imean, you can get ice cream, you
can get coffees, you can gethomemade breads, desserts. I
mean, it's, it's all out there,you know, somewhere. And music
is just everywhere in thesummertime, you know, too,
(05:42):
especially, you know, over theweekends and stuff, almost every
venue has some kind of musicgoing, music on the streets.
We've really become adestination for we already had
Terrell Lonesome Pine, which isoutdoor dramas, Virginia's
official outdoor drama that runfor thanks, almost 70 years now
(06:03):
that, um, people come to see wehave the southwest Virginia
Museum, which we mentionedbefore, the John Fox Junior
house, the Henry metter ColeMuseum, things that you know, if
somebody wants to get educatedabout, you know what a miner's
lunch bucket looked like, andwhat they actually ate, or what
they paid for it with, oranything else that you might
(06:23):
would want to know about coalmining. You just have to step
foot in the in the Harry betterco Museum and just just plan on
having a lot of time, becauseour people are passionate when,
when we want to tell you astory, we'll take a while to
tell you the stories. So that'san adventure on it itself. But
Jessica Bowser (06:44):
hold on, hold on, Steve, you're just, you're
cracking me up right now. Ithink we're just, we're laughing
because this feels like aninside joke, but we have to make
it known that our friendFreddie, who will give you the
tour of the cove Museum, is likeyou said, so passionate and so
knowledgeable about the historyof Cole. And yes, he wants to
(07:08):
show you everything in themuseum. I was with him for just
an hour, and he was basicallybegging me to come back so that
he could show me all the rest ofit. But it is so interesting. He
will show you everything from,like, what kind of bucket, like
you said, the kind of bucketthey would carry in for lunch,
and what was inside of it, andeverything, to his own personal
photos from when he worked in acoal mine. And it's just, it's
(07:31):
really eye opening for somebodywho doesn't have knowledge about
that history.
Unknown (07:36):
Well, that's, that's another great thing about our
area, because most of ourattraction sites and things are
run by volunteers, and it'svolunteers that are just as
passionate, you know, as Freddieis about, you know, what's
what's going on. It's impressivethat you got away from him
within an hour, because I thinkI told you that morning when you
told me you had an appointmentthat he couldn't do, nothing,
you know, for just an hour. So,so that's pretty impressive
(07:58):
within itself. That tells what atight schedule you was on. So
for all your listeners, for withFreddie plan for more than an
hour, because yeah, but it'll bewell worth it. So Agreed,
agreed. But like the trail,Lonesome Pine is all volunteers
also runs, runs all summer long,you know, three days a week, and
it's all you know volunteers.
Jessica Bowser (08:19):
Sorry, Steve, what is that based on? Because I
was unfamiliar with this until Igot to town and started doing my
homework. And I'm sure there'sother people who aren't quite
familiar either.
Unknown (08:28):
Okay, well, the trail of Lonesome Pine it follows the
story. It's a it's a love story.
It follows the tollivers and thefailings that they wage a war
against the outside world, youknow, in industrialization, but
in the middle all that, youknow, there's a love story of a
prospector that comes to townand a mountain girl that falls
in love with him, and then justthe surrounding stories of what
(08:49):
all is going on during thattime.
Jessica Bowser (08:53):
And this was based on a book, right? It's
Unknown (08:55):
a on a book by Yeah, John Fox Jr. It's played at the
Barbara Polly theater, you know,here in town, within walking
distance again, of you know,everything in town, it's about a
400 seat, little over 400 seatsof an outdoor theater. It does
have all its amenities. It has,you know, nice restrooms and
concession stand and everything.
And it has audienceparticipation. They'll pick some
(09:16):
people to be jurors. You know,out of the audience. The
fundamental part of it all is,you know, some of the people
that are acting now, theirgrandmothers actually acted in
it, and their grandfathersactually, you know, acted in it.
So it's just a tradition thatjust keeps on living. The
southwest Virginia Museum, youknow, it's a state park. It's
(09:36):
the only state park reallylocated inside of a town. It's a
mansion that was built by RufusAyers in the 1880s and he was a
Virginia Attorney General. Allthe exhibits go from the history
of big stone from 1870s whenthere was North businessmen that
I was talking about earlier. Youcome to big stone to make it the
(09:56):
Pittsburgh or the south. So. Itgoes all the way through that,
you know, from that timethrough, you know, history
today,
Jessica Bowser (10:05):
that is a beautiful building. It is a
stunning, like, architecturalbuilding that the outside and
the inside are gorgeous. Yeah,
Unknown (10:14):
we we have a lot of tools to work with. I mean, you
know, when you get here, our BigStone Gap Visitor Center, which
you should visit right off thebat to get all your information
about you know where to go andwhen everything's open, and this
and that, it's actually a flankFrank Lloyd Wright designed gas
station, and when, for thepeople that are into
architecture and design andstuff, when you step back and
(10:38):
look at it, you can see it. Imean, you know, you know exactly
who did it want you to, youknow, start looking at it and
stuff, just all kinds of uniquethings, you know, that are, that
are here the John Fox Juniorhouse, which pays homage to, you
know, him for, you know, notonly writing the trail Lonesome
Pine, he wrote several books,little shepherd of Kingdom Come
probably being his, You know,most popular That house was
(11:01):
built in 1888 and all theoriginal furnishings. And, you
know, things are still in there.
We do different dinners andthings from there. And that's
also all run by volunteers. Youknow, we got a school in
Heritage Center that's right infront of the barber poly theater
that gets all the history oftown. If you wanted to look up a
picture of what I look like.
Don't do this, but in highschool, in a yearbook in 1987
(11:25):
it'd scare you, but it's, it'sin there somewhere. So we're,
we're all about a lot ofhistory, and, you know, this or
that, and it's our volunteersthat, you know, keep that stuff
alive. Yeah, it really is. It's,it's, it's better than Mayberry.
We're bigger, and we got a lotmore stuff going on.
Jessica Bowser (11:40):
Well, you know what I will say? I was in the
visitor center more than onceduring my time in Big Stone Gap,
and every time I walked in,there were people who were
hanging out like it just feltlike a community gathering
place. And every time I walkedin the door, everybody welcomed
me and wanted to know how mystay was so far. And what did
you get to do yesterday, andwhat are you planning to do
(12:00):
today? And everybody had somesort of advice they wanted to
give me about where else Ishould go, or they were showing
me pictures in their phone ofthe eagle that they saw over the
river yesterday. Everybody wassuper friendly. And the other
thing about the visitor centerthat we haven't mentioned yet,
Steve, is that it was part of amovie set for the movie Big
Stone Gap.
Unknown (12:20):
Yeah, yeah, you can come into the visitor center and
sit at the two booths that wererepresentations of the diner
that was a mutual pharmacy inthe movie, you know, Big Stone
Gap, you know, one of therestaurants in town is actually
in the building that the mutualpharmacy was, that's right
beside of, you know, the visitorcenter, and is now a shared
workspace, Actually, where I sittoday. And then the street level
(12:43):
is a restaurant, and then theupper level is now turned into
apartments. Downtown apartment.
Have several Airbnbs and thingsdowntown to stay at and just
really some unique stuff. Yeah,
Jessica Bowser (12:54):
let's talk about lodgings. What are some of the
lodging options in town? Well,we
Unknown (12:58):
have the Jesse Lee RV part and campground, if you can
get a space, because it, itstays full almost year around,
there's, there's five or sixspaces a weekend or something
that's there. But certainly forour big events, any of this
lodging you'd want to, you know,want to get done, you know,
quickly and get it, get getbooked quickly, because you and
(13:19):
you'd want to stay, like yousaid, a week or more, there's
camping and cabins at naturaltunnel. You drove back and
forth, actually, from there. So,you know, that's a very short,
very beautiful drive quality.
Inn and Suites is our only chainmotel that's, you know, right
here, close to town. But within15 minutes there's another two
or three, you know, hotels withlodging and stuff in it. I think
(13:41):
we're up to about 40 Airbnbs inthe area now. Is it that many?
Yeah, we we have about 10 more,I think, coming on here in the
next, you know, couple of weeksand stuff so, but I think we
were up to about 30 that was onour list before. They range
anything from a tiny house, sortof opportunity to a huge house,
to some above street levelapartments that are been
(14:06):
converted into Airbnbs.
Jessica Bowser (14:09):
Yeah, I noticed like some of them were historic
properties. Some were like, on afarm. Some were like, above the
old is it the bus terminal ortrain terminal?
Unknown (14:19):
Yeah, old bus terminal?
Yes, great. Bus Station. Yeah,
Jessica Bowser (14:23):
like, unique, just really unique stuff. And I
thought that was kind of cool.
So, yeah, there's a lot oflodging options,
Unknown (14:30):
three actually being built right now. The Lonesome
Pine motor company actually cometo town to service Packards that
the northern businessmen havebrought along with them when
they come into the area. So thatbuilding is actually being
redone now, and there's going tobe three Airbnbs above it when
it gets finished. So wow, fall,that should be that should be
(14:53):
ready to go too.
Jessica Bowser (14:57):
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(15:41):
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Appalachia in your show notes.
Steve, we're getting prettyclose to the end of this
episode, but before we hop off,I wanted to ask you, are there
any upcoming events in Big StoneGap that listeners should know
(16:01):
about. Oh
Unknown (16:03):
yeah, I would like to name our top three this year.
Fourth July is on a Friday. Sowe always ramp it up for Fridays
and weekends. We always do thefourth July on the fourth but we
have a whole day of activitiesthat go all the way all day
through town. Really, it's allweek long. We have some stuff
going on that ends down atBullitt park with fans all
(16:25):
evening long, and a hugefirework show. Uh, we'll be
really ramping it up for thisyear's show down there on on
September 27 the last Saturdayin September, we have a state
cook off to where competingpeople come from all over the
South for a chance to win agolden ticket to the World
(16:45):
Championships in Texas forcooking steaks. So you can
actually buy a ticket to tasteall of those steaks. So every
competitor cooks a steak for thepatrons too. You can actually
buy a ticket and taste all ofthat, those great steaks that
people are cooking, they alsocook some auxiliary stuff and
(17:07):
make some drinks and things too,that people can buy a ticket to
to taste. And during that sameday, we start that off, while
they're cooking, with a grizzlyrun, which is a obstacle race
around our three mile greenbelt. So a lot of people come
and get dirty and muddy and, youknow, end up in a big tub of ice
water at the end of the race onin September. So that's a big
(17:30):
event. But our, our biggestevent that we'd like to invite
everybody to is the blue highwayfestival. The Blue highway
festival, we actually won thethe new Festival Award from the
International bluegrassAssociation, and it's on October
the eighth through the 12th. Andso it's some of the best
bluegrass music, heritagemountain music that you'll ever
(17:53):
hear. We we put together a greatlineup. This year's lineup,
we're getting ready to announceit probably around May 1, and
it's all put together. We'rejust kind of signing some more
contracts and stuff. That's oneof the can't miss things that
you do. The leaves are changingto that point in time. So for
all your listeners, the outdoorsis beautiful as pretty as it
(18:14):
gets here, and great, greatmusic. That's that's certainly a
time you don't want to miss. BigStone Gap.
Jessica Bowser (18:19):
I think that's a time I plan on coming back,
because the way you talked aboutit, it just felt like this was
the must do Festival. It's thattime of year when it's
absolutely gorgeous outside andand the hiking is superb, so I
think I might have to come backfor that and to entice our
listeners a little bit more,we're going to do a really
exciting giveaway. Do you wantto share the details?
Unknown (18:41):
Yes, I'd like to give your listeners the opportunity
to win two five day blue highwaytickets for for that whole week.
So
Jessica Bowser (18:51):
in order to be entered into the giveaway for
these two tickets, there'sseveral things you can do. First
of all, you can go to your shownotes and click on Send Jessica
a text message and let me knowwhat you loved about this
episode, and that willautomatically be an entry into
the giveaway. And then you'regoing to want to keep an eye on
(19:12):
social media, on the podcast,Instagram and Facebook pages,
because we will do anotherpromotion on there where you can
share the episode and tag yourfriends and earn more entries
that way too. But Steve, do youwant to mention like the retail
value of those two tickets
Unknown (19:29):
at the gate? That'll be over a $600 value for the five
day ticket. That's
Jessica Bowser (19:34):
fantastic. I'm super excited about this
giveaway. Steve, so good luck toeverybody. I start sending me
those messages right now,because we're going to do the
drawing. Probably. Do you thinkwe can do the drawing in a
couple of weeks? Steve, becauseI want to give people a chance
to, like, book their lodging andmake their plans. We certainly
can. Okay, that would be superb.
All right, thank you so much foryour generosity. Steve, that's
(19:57):
really exciting. I. We're gonnawrap this up here. Do you have
any parting advice for futurevisitors?
Unknown (20:05):
Well, just come and come and visit us and get your
own very, very own hug so thatyou'll know what I'm talking
about when I'm talking aboutthese mountains and how
beautiful it is here. We we havea lot of information. I mean,
visit Big Stone gap.com followus on Facebook and Instagram,
you know, for for the peoplethat are thinking about Blue
highway and trying to get inthat that drawing, go to Blue
(20:28):
highway fest com. You can seesome of the past lineups that
we've had and and some of thepictures and stuff from from
that. Just keep up with us. Ifwe can ever get you here, you're
going to be asking me how to buyproperty. So, you know that's
the that's the main thing,because once you get that hug,
you can't go away. I find
Jessica Bowser (20:46):
that really funny, Steve, because the first
time you and I met, you werealready trying to sell me a
house down there. And you're notwrong. It is a wonderful town,
and I cannot wait to get back toBig Stone Gap. Steve, thank you
so much for being a guest onVirginia outdoor adventures.
Adventure on Virginia OutdoorAdventures is inspired by and
(21:10):
supported by listeners like you,which is why your messages and
feedback means so much to me.
You can text me directly byclicking on Send Jessica a text
message in your show notes, Ianswer questions, respond to
comments and share your feedbackon the show. Never miss a new
episode. Sign up for my emailnewsletter and receive my
listener resource guide with thetop podcast episodes, a Virginia
(21:33):
outdoor bucket list andexclusive brand discounts for my
listeners. Click on newsletter,sign up in your show notes, or
visit Virginia outdooradventures.com thanks for
listening until next time.
Adventure on you.
From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the
Chesapeake Bay, Virginia is amecca for outdoor travel and
adventure. Virginia outdooradventures Podcast is your local
guide for hiking, camping,kayaking, travel and so much
more. Get the information andthe inspiration to plan your own
adventure right here inVirginia, I'm your host. Jessica
(00:23):
Bowser, the mountains ofAppalachia wrap around Big Stone
Gap like a warm embrace,creating a community where
outdoor adventure, history andculture converge. Town manager
Steve Lawson describes how thecommunity has transformed from
its coal mining routes into avibrant outdoor recreation
destination. The town's crownjewel is the Green Belt trail, a
(00:47):
scenic, paved path following thePowell river through the heart
of town. Just minutes away. ThePowell river trail offers a rail
to trail experience featuringhistoric tunnels and visible
coal seams that tell the storyof the region's mining past.
Adventure seekers will fall inlove with Scenic big Cherry
Lake, which offers fishing,hiking, paddling and wildlife
(01:09):
watching round out your BigStone Gap experience with
museums, outdoor theater, musicfestivals and a culinary scene
that tops off this adventuretown's charm. Let's go. This is
part two of a two part episode.
Virginia Outdoor Adventures issponsored by breaks Interstate
Park brakes. Park is a hikingdestination in the heart of
(01:34):
Appalachia. Every trail featuressomething that will awe you,
including geologic formations,scenic views of the canyon,
stream crossings and wildlifeviewing. Trails range from easy
to difficult. The convenience oflodges, campgrounds and luxury
cabins inside the park meansyou'll never need to wander far
from the trail. Come see foryourself why breaks is known as
(01:57):
the Grand Canyon of the South.
Download the digital trail guideat breaks park.com, or click on
breaks Interstate Park in theshow notes of your listening
app. Okay, Steve, before we jumpinto lodging, dining and
attractions, there's one otherreally cool activity that Big
(02:19):
Stone Gap hosts, and that's discgolf. And I have to admit, I'm
not as familiar with disc golf,but when you were showing me the
course and telling me thatpeople come from other states
for your disc golf course, I waslike, Okay, we have to mention
this.
Unknown (02:32):
You know, it's another thing that, you know, we're wide
open to try anything. And we hadsome younger people that, after
they got involved with some ofthe activities that the town was
doing. They were, they weredriving about an hour to play,
you know, disc golf. And so wehad a small park that we call
the duck Park, because a lot ofducks come off the river, and
then there's been some somedomesticated ducks that have
(02:55):
made their own families alongthe river and stuff too. So
people would go to the duck Parkand feed the ducks with kids and
stuff. So to the side of theduck Park, we had a lot of
unused land, so we made nineholes of disc golf, and had just
exploded. And so these youngergentlemen helped us build a 18
hole course through a 78 acrepatch of woods that we have that
(03:19):
surrounded our swimming pool,and not a lot of localities have
disc golf courses that go, youknow, deep into the woods. Some
Some of it's challenging enough.
Some of the holes arechallenging enough. They're not
really much wider than a path,you know, for a hiking trail. So
imagine throwing a disc, youknow, down through there. And so
it's a challenging, you know,course. And so, bi weekly in the
(03:40):
summertime, we'll havetournaments there, and it'll
bring anywhere from 60 to 70people from, you know,
neighboring states andneighboring towns and cities,
just to play that course,because it's unique. And, you
know, it goes through the woodsand and again, you might, you
know, run a fox out from under atree, or, see a I mean, you
could see anything, you know,while you're out there doing it.
Jessica Bowser (04:03):
Very cool.
Steve, even before I got to BigStone Gap, I had heard that
there was quite an impressivefood scene in the town. And I
found it hard to believe until Igot there. And I have to say,
there really is, do you want totalk about it a little bit?
Unknown (04:18):
I'll use the word diverse again, because we have
everything from Chinese toMexican to Home Cooking to
steaks or sushi or all kinds ofplaces that is sweet tea and
unsweet tea and Colas to breweryto, you know, mixed drinks or
whatever that you would like,it's some of your listeners and
(04:38):
tourists and people coming inhas actually helped us
revitalize the downtown. We'veused the beauty of our
surrounding area, our historyand people coming into town to
revitalize buildings that wereused for different purposes.
That's where a lot of theserestaurants are. As things
started happening to peoplecoming to started coming to see
us and people seeing more peoplecoming into town. Um, they
(05:00):
started, locals startedinvesting their money, you know,
in small town America again, andthat's been one of the great
parts of using our great outdoorstuff to to revitalize a small
town. And that's exactly whatour our plan was to be the place
to live and the place toentertain. Now that all the
restaurants are open andthere's, there's 18 to 20 within
(05:22):
a mile of the visitor center. Imean, most of them within
walking distance, all diverse. Imean, you can get ice cream, you
can get coffees, you can gethomemade breads, desserts. I
mean, it's, it's all out there,you know, somewhere. And music
is just everywhere in thesummertime, you know, too,
(05:42):
especially, you know, over theweekends and stuff, almost every
venue has some kind of musicgoing, music on the streets.
We've really become adestination for we already had
Terrell Lonesome Pine, which isoutdoor dramas, Virginia's
official outdoor drama that runfor thanks, almost 70 years now
(06:03):
that, um, people come to see wehave the southwest Virginia
Museum, which we mentionedbefore, the John Fox Junior
house, the Henry metter ColeMuseum, things that you know, if
somebody wants to get educatedabout, you know what a miner's
lunch bucket looked like, andwhat they actually ate, or what
they paid for it with, oranything else that you might
(06:23):
would want to know about coalmining. You just have to step
foot in the in the Harry betterco Museum and just just plan on
having a lot of time, becauseour people are passionate when,
when we want to tell you astory, we'll take a while to
tell you the stories. So that'san adventure on it itself. But
Jessica Bowser (06:44):
hold on, hold on, Steve, you're just, you're
cracking me up right now. Ithink we're just, we're laughing
because this feels like aninside joke, but we have to make
it known that our friendFreddie, who will give you the
tour of the cove Museum, is likeyou said, so passionate and so
knowledgeable about the historyof Cole. And yes, he wants to
(07:08):
show you everything in themuseum. I was with him for just
an hour, and he was basicallybegging me to come back so that
he could show me all the rest ofit. But it is so interesting. He
will show you everything from,like, what kind of bucket, like
you said, the kind of bucketthey would carry in for lunch,
and what was inside of it, andeverything, to his own personal
photos from when he worked in acoal mine. And it's just, it's
(07:31):
really eye opening for somebodywho doesn't have knowledge about
that history.
Unknown (07:36):
Well, that's, that's another great thing about our
area, because most of ourattraction sites and things are
run by volunteers, and it'svolunteers that are just as
passionate, you know, as Freddieis about, you know, what's
what's going on. It's impressivethat you got away from him
within an hour, because I thinkI told you that morning when you
told me you had an appointmentthat he couldn't do, nothing,
you know, for just an hour. So,so that's pretty impressive
(07:58):
within itself. That tells what atight schedule you was on. So
for all your listeners, for withFreddie plan for more than an
hour, because yeah, but it'll bewell worth it. So Agreed,
agreed. But like the trail,Lonesome Pine is all volunteers
also runs, runs all summer long,you know, three days a week, and
it's all you know volunteers.
Jessica Bowser (08:19):
Sorry, Steve, what is that based on? Because I
was unfamiliar with this until Igot to town and started doing my
homework. And I'm sure there'sother people who aren't quite
familiar either.
Unknown (08:28):
Okay, well, the trail of Lonesome Pine it follows the
story. It's a it's a love story.
It follows the tollivers and thefailings that they wage a war
against the outside world, youknow, in industrialization, but
in the middle all that, youknow, there's a love story of a
prospector that comes to townand a mountain girl that falls
in love with him, and then justthe surrounding stories of what
(08:49):
all is going on during thattime.
Jessica Bowser (08:53):
And this was based on a book, right? It's
Unknown (08:55):
a on a book by Yeah, John Fox Jr. It's played at the
Barbara Polly theater, you know,here in town, within walking
distance again, of you know,everything in town, it's about a
400 seat, little over 400 seatsof an outdoor theater. It does
have all its amenities. It has,you know, nice restrooms and
concession stand and everything.
And it has audienceparticipation. They'll pick some
(09:16):
people to be jurors. You know,out of the audience. The
fundamental part of it all is,you know, some of the people
that are acting now, theirgrandmothers actually acted in
it, and their grandfathersactually, you know, acted in it.
So it's just a tradition thatjust keeps on living. The
southwest Virginia Museum, youknow, it's a state park. It's
(09:36):
the only state park reallylocated inside of a town. It's a
mansion that was built by RufusAyers in the 1880s and he was a
Virginia Attorney General. Allthe exhibits go from the history
of big stone from 1870s whenthere was North businessmen that
I was talking about earlier. Youcome to big stone to make it the
(09:56):
Pittsburgh or the south. So. Itgoes all the way through that,
you know, from that timethrough, you know, history
today,
Jessica Bowser (10:05):
that is a beautiful building. It is a
stunning, like, architecturalbuilding that the outside and
the inside are gorgeous. Yeah,
Unknown (10:14):
we we have a lot of tools to work with. I mean, you
know, when you get here, our BigStone Gap Visitor Center, which
you should visit right off thebat to get all your information
about you know where to go andwhen everything's open, and this
and that, it's actually a flankFrank Lloyd Wright designed gas
station, and when, for thepeople that are into
architecture and design andstuff, when you step back and
(10:38):
look at it, you can see it. Imean, you know, you know exactly
who did it want you to, youknow, start looking at it and
stuff, just all kinds of uniquethings, you know, that are, that
are here the John Fox Juniorhouse, which pays homage to, you
know, him for, you know, notonly writing the trail Lonesome
Pine, he wrote several books,little shepherd of Kingdom Come
probably being his, You know,most popular That house was
(11:01):
built in 1888 and all theoriginal furnishings. And, you
know, things are still in there.
We do different dinners andthings from there. And that's
also all run by volunteers. Youknow, we got a school in
Heritage Center that's right infront of the barber poly theater
that gets all the history oftown. If you wanted to look up a
picture of what I look like.
Don't do this, but in highschool, in a yearbook in 1987
(11:25):
it'd scare you, but it's, it'sin there somewhere. So we're,
we're all about a lot ofhistory, and, you know, this or
that, and it's our volunteersthat, you know, keep that stuff
alive. Yeah, it really is. It's,it's, it's better than Mayberry.
We're bigger, and we got a lotmore stuff going on.
Jessica Bowser (11:40):
Well, you know what I will say? I was in the
visitor center more than onceduring my time in Big Stone Gap,
and every time I walked in,there were people who were
hanging out like it just feltlike a community gathering
place. And every time I walkedin the door, everybody welcomed
me and wanted to know how mystay was so far. And what did
you get to do yesterday, andwhat are you planning to do
(12:00):
today? And everybody had somesort of advice they wanted to
give me about where else Ishould go, or they were showing
me pictures in their phone ofthe eagle that they saw over the
river yesterday. Everybody wassuper friendly. And the other
thing about the visitor centerthat we haven't mentioned yet,
Steve, is that it was part of amovie set for the movie Big
Stone Gap.
Unknown (12:20):
Yeah, yeah, you can come into the visitor center and
sit at the two booths that wererepresentations of the diner
that was a mutual pharmacy inthe movie, you know, Big Stone
Gap, you know, one of therestaurants in town is actually
in the building that the mutualpharmacy was, that's right
beside of, you know, the visitorcenter, and is now a shared
workspace, Actually, where I sittoday. And then the street level
(12:43):
is a restaurant, and then theupper level is now turned into
apartments. Downtown apartment.
Have several Airbnbs and thingsdowntown to stay at and just
really some unique stuff. Yeah,
Jessica Bowser (12:54):
let's talk about lodgings. What are some of the
lodging options in town? Well,we
Unknown (12:58):
have the Jesse Lee RV part and campground, if you can
get a space, because it, itstays full almost year around,
there's, there's five or sixspaces a weekend or something
that's there. But certainly forour big events, any of this
lodging you'd want to, you know,want to get done, you know,
quickly and get it, get getbooked quickly, because you and
(13:19):
you'd want to stay, like yousaid, a week or more, there's
camping and cabins at naturaltunnel. You drove back and
forth, actually, from there. So,you know, that's a very short,
very beautiful drive quality.
Inn and Suites is our only chainmotel that's, you know, right
here, close to town. But within15 minutes there's another two
or three, you know, hotels withlodging and stuff in it. I think
(13:41):
we're up to about 40 Airbnbs inthe area now. Is it that many?
Yeah, we we have about 10 more,I think, coming on here in the
next, you know, couple of weeksand stuff so, but I think we
were up to about 30 that was onour list before. They range
anything from a tiny house, sortof opportunity to a huge house,
to some above street levelapartments that are been
(14:06):
converted into Airbnbs.
Jessica Bowser (14:09):
Yeah, I noticed like some of them were historic
properties. Some were like, on afarm. Some were like, above the
old is it the bus terminal ortrain terminal?
Unknown (14:19):
Yeah, old bus terminal?
Yes, great. Bus Station. Yeah,
Jessica Bowser (14:23):
like, unique, just really unique stuff. And I
thought that was kind of cool.
So, yeah, there's a lot oflodging options,
Unknown (14:30):
three actually being built right now. The Lonesome
Pine motor company actually cometo town to service Packards that
the northern businessmen havebrought along with them when
they come into the area. So thatbuilding is actually being
redone now, and there's going tobe three Airbnbs above it when
it gets finished. So wow, fall,that should be that should be
(14:53):
ready to go too.
Jessica Bowser (14:57):
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Steve, we're getting prettyclose to the end of this
episode, but before we hop off,I wanted to ask you, are there
any upcoming events in Big StoneGap that listeners should know
(16:01):
about. Oh
Unknown (16:03):
yeah, I would like to name our top three this year.
Fourth July is on a Friday. Sowe always ramp it up for Fridays
and weekends. We always do thefourth July on the fourth but we
have a whole day of activitiesthat go all the way all day
through town. Really, it's allweek long. We have some stuff
going on that ends down atBullitt park with fans all
(16:25):
evening long, and a hugefirework show. Uh, we'll be
really ramping it up for thisyear's show down there on on
September 27 the last Saturdayin September, we have a state
cook off to where competingpeople come from all over the
South for a chance to win agolden ticket to the World
(16:45):
Championships in Texas forcooking steaks. So you can
actually buy a ticket to tasteall of those steaks. So every
competitor cooks a steak for thepatrons too. You can actually
buy a ticket and taste all ofthat, those great steaks that
people are cooking, they alsocook some auxiliary stuff and
(17:07):
make some drinks and things too,that people can buy a ticket to
to taste. And during that sameday, we start that off, while
they're cooking, with a grizzlyrun, which is a obstacle race
around our three mile greenbelt. So a lot of people come
and get dirty and muddy and, youknow, end up in a big tub of ice
water at the end of the race onin September. So that's a big
(17:30):
event. But our, our biggestevent that we'd like to invite
everybody to is the blue highwayfestival. The Blue highway
festival, we actually won thethe new Festival Award from the
International bluegrassAssociation, and it's on October
the eighth through the 12th. Andso it's some of the best
bluegrass music, heritagemountain music that you'll ever
(17:53):
hear. We we put together a greatlineup. This year's lineup,
we're getting ready to announceit probably around May 1, and
it's all put together. We'rejust kind of signing some more
contracts and stuff. That's oneof the can't miss things that
you do. The leaves are changingto that point in time. So for
all your listeners, the outdoorsis beautiful as pretty as it
(18:14):
gets here, and great, greatmusic. That's that's certainly a
time you don't want to miss. BigStone Gap.
Jessica Bowser (18:19):
I think that's a time I plan on coming back,
because the way you talked aboutit, it just felt like this was
the must do Festival. It's thattime of year when it's
absolutely gorgeous outside andand the hiking is superb, so I
think I might have to come backfor that and to entice our
listeners a little bit more,we're going to do a really
exciting giveaway. Do you wantto share the details?
Unknown (18:41):
Yes, I'd like to give your listeners the opportunity
to win two five day blue highwaytickets for for that whole week.
So
Jessica Bowser (18:51):
in order to be entered into the giveaway for
these two tickets, there'sseveral things you can do. First
of all, you can go to your shownotes and click on Send Jessica
a text message and let me knowwhat you loved about this
episode, and that willautomatically be an entry into
the giveaway. And then you'regoing to want to keep an eye on
(19:12):
social media, on the podcast,Instagram and Facebook pages,
because we will do anotherpromotion on there where you can
share the episode and tag yourfriends and earn more entries
that way too. But Steve, do youwant to mention like the retail
value of those two tickets
Unknown (19:29):
at the gate? That'll be over a $600 value for the five
day ticket. That's
Jessica Bowser (19:34):
fantastic. I'm super excited about this
giveaway. Steve, so good luck toeverybody. I start sending me
those messages right now,because we're going to do the
drawing. Probably. Do you thinkwe can do the drawing in a
couple of weeks? Steve, becauseI want to give people a chance
to, like, book their lodging andmake their plans. We certainly
can. Okay, that would be superb.
All right, thank you so much foryour generosity. Steve, that's
(19:57):
really exciting. I. We're gonnawrap this up here. Do you have
any parting advice for futurevisitors?
Unknown (20:05):
Well, just come and come and visit us and get your
own very, very own hug so thatyou'll know what I'm talking
about when I'm talking aboutthese mountains and how
beautiful it is here. We we havea lot of information. I mean,
visit Big Stone gap.com followus on Facebook and Instagram,
you know, for for the peoplethat are thinking about Blue
highway and trying to get inthat that drawing, go to Blue
(20:28):
highway fest com. You can seesome of the past lineups that
we've had and and some of thepictures and stuff from from
that. Just keep up with us. Ifwe can ever get you here, you're
going to be asking me how to buyproperty. So, you know that's
the that's the main thing,because once you get that hug,
you can't go away. I find
Jessica Bowser (20:46):
that really funny, Steve, because the first
time you and I met, you werealready trying to sell me a
house down there. And you're notwrong. It is a wonderful town,
and I cannot wait to get back toBig Stone Gap. Steve, thank you
so much for being a guest onVirginia outdoor adventures.
Adventure on Virginia OutdoorAdventures is inspired by and
(21:10):
supported by listeners like you,which is why your messages and
feedback means so much to me.
You can text me directly byclicking on Send Jessica a text
message in your show notes, Ianswer questions, respond to
comments and share your feedbackon the show. Never miss a new
episode. Sign up for my emailnewsletter and receive my
listener resource guide with thetop podcast episodes, a Virginia
(21:33):
outdoor bucket list andexclusive brand discounts for my
listeners. Click on newsletter,sign up in your show notes, or
visit Virginia outdooradventures.com thanks for
listening until next time.
Adventure on you.
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