Time Spent In The State Pen

 

I spent the next few days putzing around western Virginia. Again I was surprised by the topography. Lots of mountains all dressed in their Fall colors. Gee, I'm almost poetic there. I drove up to the little town of Clintwood, in the heart of Appalachia, to the Ralph Stanley Museum. For those of you who don't know, Ralph Stanley was one of the pioneers of bluegrass/mountain music. Pioneer is rather a strong word though because mountain music has been around for centuries. Perhaps I should say that Ralph was instrumental in popularizing and bringing it to the general public. He has a special place in my heart because Tony and Dave opened for him in Saint Paul during his Saints and Sinners tour. He played Saturday night in a bar and Sunday he was playing at the House of Mercy church. It was a good museum and an excellent docent.

The campground I stayed at in Big Stone Gap had lovely surroundings,
but I couldn't use their water - it was brown and nasty looking.

The ex-owner of the campground repurposed all of the dead trees

Big Stone Gap had a three mile trail that surrounded the city. Miko and I hiked it every day.

Western Virginia is right next to Eastern Tennessee, so of course I had to stop in and see my friend Kathy. Lots of laughing and eating as is the norm when we get together. Another reason I like stopping there is that one of Kathy's friends is a diesel mechanic. My beloved truck had a milestone birthday when she crossed over the 100,000 line. I was able to get all the necessary maintenance items taken care of, which takes a load off the ol' mind.

Our first field trip was to the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. This is a maximum security prison where they sent the “worst of the worst”. Their motto seems to be “Brushy was the Damnation of many of an evil man and the Salvation of a humble few”. James Earl Ray(MLK's assassin) was one of the inmates. The prison was active from 1896 to 2009. The prison itself is nestled right into the mountains and the landscape is so pretty, the prison not so much. I could not believe how shabby the interior has gotten (perhaps it was always peeling paint?) in the few years since it closed.

James Earl Ray escaped into those hills and lasted 54 hours before the bloodhounds found him.

The entrance hall - so very inviting.

Some inmates had sentences of 200 years.

The guys in solitary had one hour a day to exercise here.

There was a restaurant and I got the "Killer Potato"
Pulled Pork, Bacon, Cheese, Sour Cream, BBQ sauce
I didn't have to eat for days!