Beckley West Virginia

We arrived in Beckley with zero cell phone service! T-Mobile map says we have service but in reality it doesn’t work.

We toured the Exhibition Coal mine riding in a coal car. The tour was very informative.


After the Coal mine we went to the New River Gorge Bridge to get some pictures from the overlook. It is the longest single span steel arch bridge in the western hemisphere.

The food of the day is the official state food of West Virginia. Which is…. The Pepperoni Roll!

Tomorrow we are heading to Lancaster PA for the Amish county and Strasburg Railroad. I’m hoping the GPS tracker will work at some point during the trip to Lancaster.

 

 

One thought on “Beckley West Virginia”

  1. Coal Mine eh? Well time for the lyrics to an old song….

    “Big John” – Jimmy Dean

    Every mornin’ at the mine you could see him arrive
    He stood six-foot-six and weighed two-forty-five
    Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip
    And everybody knew ya didn’t give no lip to big John

    Nobody seemed to know where John called home
    He just drifted into town and stayed all alone
    He didn’t say much, kinda quiet and shy
    And if you spoke at all, you just said hi to Big John
    Somebody said he came from New Orleans
    Where he got in a fight over a Cajun Queen
    And a crashin’ blow from a huge right hand
    Sent a Louisiana fellow to the promised land, big John

    Then came the day at the bottom of the mine
    When a timber cracked and men started cryin’
    Miners were prayin’ and hearts beat fast
    And everybody thought that they’d breathed their last, ‘cept John
    Through the dust and the smoke of this man-made hell
    Walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well
    Grabbed a saggin’ timber, gave out with a groan
    And like a giant oak tree he just stood there alone, big John

    And with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove
    Then a miner yelled out “there’s a light up above!”
    And twenty men scrambled from a would-be grave
    Now there’s only one left down there to save, big John
    With jacks and timbers they started back down
    Then came that rumble way down in the ground
    And then smoke and gas belched out of that mine
    Everybody knew it was the end of the line for big John

    Now, they never reopened that worthless pit
    They just placed a marble stand in front of it
    These few words are written on that stand
    At the bottom of this mine lies a big, big man
    Big John

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