Side trips
Lighting of the Tunnel
Where: Natural Tunnel State Park, Duffield, Va.
When: Aug. 27 and Sept. 24, 7-10 p.m.
What: Four 2,000-watt lights flood the cavern in a spectacular display. Trains still pass through the 850-foot-long tunnel, which is accessible by a chairlift that descends more than 200 feet to the tunnel's mouth. Music, food and other activities are planned. Parking is $2, chairlift $3.
Contact: (276) 940-2696.
Breaks Interstate Park
Where: Dickenson County, north of Haysi
When: Aug. 19-20
What: One of Southwest Virginia's most spectacular scenic spots is where the Russell Fork of the Big Sandy River cuts a five-mile gorge out of the mountains straddling Virginia and Kentucky. "The Breaks' " 4,500 acres of woods are home to a variety of rock formations, caves, native flora and wildlife. The canyon contains thousands of years of legends, from American Indian mysteries to the legend of John Swift's buried treasure.
Hiking, biking, picnicking, horseback riding, driving and swimming are encouraged. Visitors can camp, stay in the historic lodge or dine in the restaurant. Breaks Interstate Park was recently added as an official Crooked Road attraction.
Contact: Call (276) 865-4413 or (276) 865-4414 or go online to breakspark.com.
Country Cabin
Norton, Va.
The Country Cabin has been a focal point for musical entertainment in Norton for 67 years. Constructed by workers employed by the New Deal's Works Progress Administration during the Depression, the cabin played host to square dances, suppers, cakewalks and reunions and later was used as a mattress factory and a residence.
In recent years, the cabin has once again become a music venue. A new, larger facility was built across the road in 2002 to serve as the centerpiece for the Appalachian Traditions Village. Country Cabin II, as the facility is called, features local music every Saturday at 8 p.m. The original cabin still stands and is a National and State Historic Landmark.
The Appalachian Traditions Village is home to the annual Dock Boggs Festival on the second Saturday of September. Boggs was an influential banjo player and singer whose career spanned five decades. His earliest recordings from the 1920s are included in the Smithsonian Anthology of Folk Music. The festival also honors Kate Peters Sturgill, a local ballad singer and songwriter who was instrumental in getting the original Country Cabin built.Breaks Interstate Park.
On the dial ...
WMMT (88.7, FM)
Whitesburg, Ky.
The radio voice of Appalshop, the Whitesburg-based institute dedicated to preserving Appalachian culture and history, doesn't carry quite as deeply into Southwest Virginia as it once did. An old transmitter and several aged translators (the towers that pick up the radio signal and extend its reach) need repairs, and the station has launched a fundraising campaign to replace the old equipment. When you can pick it up, WMMT plays a terrific mix of traditional and contemporary music, from bluegrass to country to rock.
If you want to learn more about the station or its fund drive, go online to appalshop.org/wmmt or call (888) 396-1208. Pledges can be mailed to WMMT, 91 Madison, Whitesburg KY 41858.
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