Tamarack- West Virginia's Artisan Retail Center in Beckley West Virginia

We were able to spend the first night of our recent road trip in Beckley West Virginia.  This was our first time here, though Beckley has been on our list for some time.  Though we were on the road late, and Beckley is a long drove from our home, we made it to the Tamarack Artisan Center by 6!  Luckily, they are open from 8am until 8pm!

Tamarack calls itself "West Virginia's Artisan Retail Center".  If you have been to the Artisan Center in Berea Kentucky, this place is similar.


The Tamarack center is built like a big circle.  Art is everywhere.  Giant sculptures, carvings, and paintings are everywhere.  I saw a brilliant life sized sculpture of coon dogs treeing a raccoon that reminded me of my dad in his hunting days.

The Greenbrier Hotel had a space.  They were selling their branded items and coffee.

I was very impressed with a large section of local interest books.  I found plenty of volumes on coal mining, the civil war, and other West Virginian topics.  They had several signed books, and a local author was there the day we visited!

We enjoyed a meal at the "A Taste of West Virginia" food court.  I cannot stress how pleasant this place was.  It is cafeteria style, but very upscale.  Much of the food is made while you wait.  I had an exceptional fried green tomato BLT.  We had a table by a window and chatted with some locals.  It does seem that there are people in the area who spend a lot of time at this great place.  I sure would if I lived in Beckley.


As we walked through Tamarack, we saw a nice gallery area, a theater, and some workshop areas, where visitors can watch the artists practice their craft.

Random Thoughts on Friday

I am JUST settling down from a trip we took through West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania!  Whew!  We covered a lot of ground, and saw a lot of things!  This was my first time ever in Delaware.  That state is really a bit out of the way, and you really have to want to go there to be there.  To be honest, we just spent the night in Dover Delaware, and then moved on.  We did stay at a very nice Home 2 Suites in Dover, and we talked to a very nice lady there named Diane.
We had several goals on this trip, besides seeing Delaware for the first time. 

We wanted to spend some quality time in Gettysburg.  We were there several years ago, but we were there for only a few hours.

We wanted to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, and go through the Delmarva area!  That was cool.

We also wanted to see some of the Presidents homes scattered through Pennsylvania and Virginia.  We got to tour 5!  More on that later.  We did make a last minute change on our trip- we were going to see Mt. Vernon, but we realized that we would have to deal with DC traffic.  It seemed like this might be a home to skip on this trip.  We ended up seeing ANOTHER Presidential home- the Woodrow Wilson House in the very attractive town of Staunton Virginia!  This was a good move, as we were able to do a couple of other fun things here (like seeing a replica of the Shakespeare Blackfriar's Theatre!).

Copper River Grill- Nicholasville Kentucky

I JUST found out about Copper River Grill in Nicholasville the other day!  The place has been here for a few years now, and I really wish I knew of it before....

Anyway, our waiter told us that there are 8 locations, all owned by the same person.  This is the only one in Kentucky.  Its not a franchise or anything like that.  Also, they are all built to have a feel of an Alaskan lodge!  It reminded me a little of one of my favorite coffee shop chains, Caribou Coffee!

The food was great, and prices were reasonable.  We had a BBQ chicken pizza, some nachos with cheese dip, and some wings.  They got everything right.  I would go back just for the pizza or just for the wings.

The vibe was very relaxed too.  I would recommend going here when you have a couple of hours.  This is a place to sit, relax, and enjoy a nice meal!

Camp Nelson- Nicholasville Kentucky

Here is some info on ANOTHER of the many great Civil War sites close to Lexington- Camp Nelson.

The very brief story of this site- in 1863, this camp was established as a depot for the Union.  It served as a recruiting spot for escaped slaves, and soldiers from Tennessee.  It was named after Major Bull Nelson who had recently been murdered in Louisville (his name pops up frequently concerning the Battle of Richmond Kentucky too).

ANOTHER name that figures in to the history of Camp Nelson is John G. Fee (see also Berea College)!

The Camp lasted for only a few years.  Today, the land is still preserved as the Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park.  It occupies over 500 acres.

We stopped by recently and spent most of the day here, which still left us with many things to do on our next visit.

We walked in to the visitor center and were welcomed by friendly staff.  We were encouraged to watch the 20 minute or so film on the camp.  After that, we were allowed to explore the museum.

The film was very well done and the museum was great too.  They had some great dioramas set up depicting life at the camp.

There were plenty of relics on display too.  More on that later.

After the film and museum, we grabbed a map and started walking through the camp.  What was neat was you could walk in a general trail area and see a flag.  You could check your map to see what part of the camp used to be where the flag now stood.  Thorough interpretive signs told more information about each spot.

We walked for some time, and covered a lot of area, but we realized there was still a lot to see.  If you take away the Civil War history from the camp, it seems a lot like exploring your grandpas farming land.  This is a great area to walk for exercise and fun, even if you are not a Civil War fan.

One thing that was cool about the walk through the fields- we noticed that there were flags marking other spots on the farm next door.  Though this is now private property, the property owners have allowed the flags up.

As we ended our hike and made our way back towards the visitor center, we noticed some good people digging!  They were very friendly, and let us watch them and ask questions!  This was VERY exciting and I hope that we did not bug them too much.

The excavators let us know that they were digging around an old campfire!  They had found nails, probably from shipping boards used to send things to the camp which still had the nails in them.  An excavator explained about how, since the nails were burned, the chemical process helped keep them from rusting!  I HOPE I explained that right.

Before we arrived, they had found bottle pieces and a label from a wine bottle!

As we talked to the team, they found more nails AND a pants button!  We thought it was so amazing that, as we stood there, these small yet informative relics were brought back from the past!

We are looking forward to seeing more of the park and the cemetery.

J's Place in Nicholasville Kentucky

I want to tip my hat to J's Place in Nicholasville!

Do you remember FOUR AND A HALF YEARS AGO, when I mentioned the great old coffee shop in Nicholasville, Main and Maple?  I was pretty bummed when that place closed!  it was so nice!  AND, Nicholasville is such a great, cozy town for a coffee shop like this.

Well, the great guys at J's place have put a NEW coffee shop in the same location!

I was able to finally make it there on a recent Saturday, and I was very impressed.  The place looks similar, but there are some noticeable differences.  The old booths have been removed, and I recall a large condiment station that is out too.  It has a more open feel.

There is less art up too, but I could see that changing.  I thought I recognized at least once piece from the old location.

They have an old window from Main and Maple (with that shops logo on it) displayed too.  I thought that was pretty cool.  They had some affordable J's place items too.


They have old photos from the area up too.  Check out the black and white photo with the carriages and horses!  YEP!  That is the same spot decades earlier!

This is a great coffee shop, and I am so glad it is here!  The only thing preventing me from more trips is the hours.  They do close at an early 5pm on weeknights right now.  I hope they consider later hours in the future (me and a buddy were going to Main and Maple about once a week for coffee and wraps back when).  Still, I will have to make it down any Saturday that I can!

Nicholasville Confederate Monument- Nicholasville, Kentucky

Her is another Civil War monument.....  In front of the courthouse in Nicholasville is this guy!

Kentucky Branded- Lexington Kentucky

Kentucky Branded just opened behind Fayette Mall in Lexington!

We stopped by a few days ago when they had their grand opening!  We each got a free shirt, and they had free bourbon balls and cookies too!

I wanted to give them a quick mention because this is a cool place, with a ton of cool Kentucky shirts, hoodies, caps, etc. at respectable prices.

Shelbyville Kentucky

ANOTHER town that just grows on me all the time is Shelbyville.  This is great Kentucky town that is attractive, and packed with cool places, but I feel like people pass it up for other cities.  They have a great downtown area, that I feel is getting passed up for other shopping sites nearby.  If you appreciate more interesting local type shops, GO to DOWNTOWN Shelbyville!

I have mentioned the MANY classy, clean, and fun antique malls here before.  I took a friend with me recently who had never been in the area.  They actually aren't a fan of antique malls, but they commented about how these malls are nice, and uncluttered- and the dealers were selling nicer items.  These antique malls are not of the flea market type antique mall.  They aren't snooty either.

We really love Harvest Coffee and Café here, which is nice and cozy, and inside of one of the antique malls!  They have ice cream too which is a treat!


I have made several purchases at these malls, and the people running them are friendly and knowledgeable.  I truly have fun when I browse this area.

La Grange Kentucky

La Grange is really growing on me.  This is such a great area.  You can tell the locals are proud of what they have, and they are trying hard to make it even better.

I think some people may not make it to La Grange, because it is a bit off the beaten path.  I think of it as kind of between Louisville and Lexington, but still another 20 miles out.

BUT, it is a short pleasant 20 miles.

And the area is worth a day trip!


THE great feature of the town is a train track that runs right down the middle of the place!  The train LITERALLY come through town, down the main street in the area!  Cars MUST get out of the way!  Don't worry though, there are plenty of lights, gates, and warnings.  You know way ahead of time before the train comes through.

We arrived early one Saturday morning, and relaxed at the La Grange Coffee Roasters, one of my favorite coffee shops in the state.  THREE trains came through during the time we were there!  How many coffee shops can you think of that offer the experience of watching a train while inside of a relaxing atmosphere?  It is a very cool, rare, retro experience.

By the way, I have said it before, but this is such a great coffee shop.  These guys know coffee, and we enjoyed some breakfast items while we were there.  It is a spacious, and attractive shop.

I was excited and hopeful about seeing another train before leaving the area.  I was in Karen's Book Barn (ANOTHER GREAT shop in town).  I asked there if they thought another train would be through anytime soon.  They assured me one would be, and they told me that they average 26-31 trains a day!

Sure enough, another came through right after that!

While in town, we visited a great toy store, an art gallery with quality, and affordable items, and a farmer's market!  We had lunch at a nice deli.

More on all of those places later, as I am sure we will be back soon.  If you have never gone to La Grange, you need to.  This is a very relaxing, but fun place to spend a day!

Woodland Art Fair- Lexington KY

Hey!  I forgot to get these photos up sooner!  A couple of weeks ago the Woodland Art Fair took place in Lexington! 

I probably mention this one about every year.  It is a lot of fun, and there are MANY great artists here!