"I Wanna Do That!" : Harlan County / Hatfield McCoy

Whether you are looking for an educational trip or an adrenaline-filled day on atv trails, you can find it in Harlan County, Kentucky.  This was my first trip inside a coal mine, and was definitely an experience I will never forget!  You can almost hear the mine speak during the ride back into the darkness. One bit of history from Portal 31 comes from the early 1920's.  On February 12, 1923, the world's record for coal production in a single nine hour shift was achieved when 1,500 miners operating 40 shortwall cutting machines produced 12, 820 tons of coal, filling 256 railcars stretching a mile and a half long.  If you are interested in taking the tour of Portal 31, you can reach them at 606-848-1530 or visit their website at www.portal31.org/.

If you love getting your vehicle off the pavement and a little dirty, then you need to plan a trip to Black Mountain Offroad Adventure Area.  There are trails for riders of all levels and for all types of offroad vehicles from dirtbikes to side by sides to rock crawlers.  Dallas and his crew are located at the Evarts Trailhead, and you can find directions and their phone number on the website : www.blackmountainoffroad.com.  Remember, they have an amazing zipline course, too!

If you've never taken a day and seen the sites of the Hatfield McCoy Feud, you should plan to do just that. And, on your way to the sites in West Virginia, make sure you stop by the McCoy well site in Hardy, Kentucky.  Look into the same well we did, and imagine what is lying under the years' of sediment that tugged on our magnet!  I am definitely going to go back with a bigger magnet!

And, thank you to my dear friend "Banjo" Neal James, who stopped in to help me close the show.

Here are a few pics I snapped during the filming of this episode :

Black Mountain has a pretty healthy population of black bears.

A couple of the animatronic coal miners telling the story
of Portal 31.

On the way home from Harlan County, we stopped
to take in the view high atop Pine Mountain in Letcher County.