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.
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