Trail Blazers
36 Hours In Berea KY: Exploring Bereas Historical SitesMalika
Okeyo, Communication, Sophomore, Entrepreneurship for the Public
Good Program Summer 2015.June 8, 2015Berea College This
presentation was developed after conversations and interviews were
conducted with adventure tourists in Berea KY
My name is Malika Okeyo, I come Kenya and I am a student here at
Berea college currently pursuing a Bachelors degree in
Communication.
Today we will be taking a 36 hours journey that explores some
cultural and historical sites that are found here in Berea KY. We
will do this through the eyes of James and Margie.
JAMES & MARGIE
Vogel, Dixie. Old people and a bird in the grocery store . May
28, 2012. Photograph. A fools journey article. Web.
James is 63 years old while Margie is 59 years old. They have
been happily married for 35 years, and have lived in Washington DC
for the past 20years. James made a mistake this time round and
forgot to celebrate with Margie their 35th wedding anniversary.
Instead, he had made plans with his friend Francis and they went on
a senior golfing retreat for two days. He came back to find Margie
was very sad, and she refused to accept any of his apologies.
Albrektsen, Peter. Study links job stress to heart attacks in
older workers . November 20, 2012. Photograph. The Journal.ie .
Web.
James was stressed over this issue and he decided to do
something special to win back his sweetheart Margie. He knew that
Margie enjoyed visiting towns which had a rich cultural heritage,
and so he called up Margies best friend Felicia to find out if he
had any current recommendations. Felicia had recently travelled to
Berea college with her 36 year old daughter, for her grandsons
graduation. While in Berea, Felicia enjoyed the small quiet
community and had lunch with her family at the Historical Boone
Tavern. Felicia remembered that Margie had expressed her wishes to
visit this town and see all the beautiful things that Felicia had
told her about.
Kelowna. Living Well. 2015. Photograph. Advanced home Care
Solutions. Web.
And so, since money was not a problem, James quickly worked out
a budget, made online flight bookings, called up the Boone Tavern
to make reservations, and surprised Margie with the idea of a
romantic gateway.
Margie was extremely exited with the whole idea, she immediately
started looking up the historical sites that are in Berea KY
through Trip advisor. She was very happy by the results she got,
she wrote down everything on her notebook (especially the artistic
spots) and started packing up for the trip.
2 hour Trip
James and Margies flight left Washington on a Thursday afternoon
at 3pm, reached Lexington airport at 4:20pm and took the Bluegrass
Cab up to the Boone Tavern Hotel.
BOONE TAVERN
An Elegant Dining Experience in Berea, KY. Digital Image. Boone
Tavern Hotel. Boone tavern Hotel. Web. 2015.
They received a warm welcome at the Historic Boone Tavern,
checked into their rooms and refreshed. The trip was quite
exhausting for both of them and so they had a few refreshments then
retired for the day.
Friday 9am
An Elegant Dining Experience in Berea, KY. Digital Image. Boone
Tavern Hotel. Boone tavern Hotel. Web. 2015.
Friday 9am, they had breakfast at the Boone Tavern as they
browsed the Hotels history catalog.
10:15am
Artisan Center Events. Digital image. Kentucky Artisan Centre At
Berea. Kentucky Artisan Centre. Web. 2015.
The first place that Margie wanted to visit was the Kentucky
Artisan Centre, immediately after breakfast, the Bluegrass cab
transported them there (it is only a five minutes drive away from
the Boone Tavern). The center displays artistic work from over 700
Kentucky artists, that includes unique artefacts, pottery, weaving,
bee products, Bourbon products, jewelry, clothing, and a variety
blend of all local artists work. Moreso, James and Margie
experienced the face jug pottery event which includes a live
demonstration of how pottery jugs are made. They also took
pictures, asked questions about the history of the various artistic
pieces, and bought lots of souvenirs. Before they knew it 2 hours
15mins had passed by.
12:40pm
Papalenos restaurant. Photograph. Tripadvisor. 2015. Web.
After asking around a bit and checking the Tripadvisor reviews
for a local restaurant, they agreed on heading to Papalenos for
lunch. They wanted to eat a dish that was locally renowned and so
they selected chicken & dumplings with Papalenos famous garlic
bread and vegetable soup. The meal was enjoyable and gave them the
energy they needed to proceed to their next destination. They left
Papalenos restaurant at 2:15pm and headed straight to the Renfro
Valley Entertainment center which was about 16 minutes away from
their location
Don Williams Live at the Renfro valley 2011. Digital image.
Renfro valley Entertainment Centre. Web. 2015.2:50pm
The Renfro Valley musical show was scheduled to start at 3pm,
and James had called in advance to book their show tickets. Tickets
were going for $15.95 per head, and the Mountain gospel Jubilee
band would be playing for an hour. The Renfo Valley Entertainment
Centre is a platform that promotes local Kentucky musical artists
and their work. It was enjoyable listening to cool Kentucky music,
and it also gave James and Margie more time to relax before they
were headed off to their next community event. By 4pm the Musical
concert ended and they hang around for 30 minutes to meet and greet
the artists as well as learn more about the history of the
event.
First Friday. Digital image. Berea where Arts Alive. Berea KY
Tourism Web. 2012.5:00pm
They left the event at 4:35pm and headed out to their very first
First Friday event in Berea KY . First Friday is a community block
party that is held at the downtown Artisan village shopping
district of Berea KY. The event features local artists, handmade
arts & crafts , local food, regional live music and dance,
local businesses, local products, and unique exiting activities
every month. James and Margie enjoyed every aspect of this event.
They took more photos, bought a few more souvenirs, and enjoyed a
bag of the local kettle corn.
An Elegant Dining Experience in Berea, KY. Digital Image. Boone
Tavern Hotel. Boone tavern Hotel. Web. 2015.Anniversary dinner
~Boone Tavern~5:00pm
After the festivities, they headed back to the Boone Tavern to
refresh, enjoy their 35th Anniversary dinner, and rest for the
night. By then, Margie had forgiven and forgotten any grudge that
she held against James.
Berea Coffee & Tea
Berea Coffee & Tea. Digital image. Berea where Arts Alive.
Berea KY Tourism Web. 2012.Saturday 9am
Saturday 9am, they had breakfast at the Berea Coffee & Tea,
commonly known as BC&T. They were fortunate to sit at the same
table with Mr. Adam (the owner) who explained to them the history
of the coffee shop. What was most fascinating was the fact that
BC&T has coffee from around the world that has been harvested
and brokered through sustainable and fair trade practices. The
coffee was delicious and they bought a packet of it for their trip.
They expressed to Adam their interest in touring Berea College
before they traveled back that evening, and he organized for them
to have a guide from the school.
Colleges with the lowest average tuition per year. Digital
image. Campus Explorer. Campus Explorer. 2015.
10:15am
A tour of the college was organized and they went through the
various academic buildings like Frost, Draper, Alumni, Academic
services, Admissions; through the dormitories Bingham, Anna Smith,
Deep Green; through thee quad, the library, the log house craft
gallery, through student crafts, the seabury gym, and thoroughly
throughout campus. The log house and student craft center were
particularly more intriguing for James and Margie and they bought
souvenirs. They also received a catalog of the school and learnt
more about its history.
Main Street Cafe. Digital image. Berea where Arts Alive. Berea
KY Tourism Web. 2012.
Main Street Cafe12:10pm
Enjoyed lunch at the main street caf. The local cafs ambience
and the food was absolutely wonderful. They finished lunch at 2pm
and went back to the hotel to check out. Their flight back to
Washington was leaving at 4pm.
$ 3,500
Flight tickets $1,400 (round trip)Accommodation - $600 (couples
suite)Food $700Souvenirs - $800
Total $3,500 in expenditure for spending only 36hours in Berea
KY. Think of the opportunity, think of the huge possibilities. This
couple did not explore any of the trails or go camping, yet they
spent all these funds on a simple Anniversary tour that was mainly
inclined on small historical art galleries. Indeed, Adventure
tourism has so much potential in growing our local economy,
especially when we target this particular senior age demographic
segment.
Comments or Questions?