Apr 17, 2013 - The Lincoln Museum and moving to the Renfro Valley - home of Kentucky Country Music

Monday This morning we drove back to LMU to visit the Lincoln Library. Because we had not been able to visit Sunday, the curator allowed us in early to see the collection. We enjoyed a visit with him. He is from Michigan and came here to serve the University as curator of the Library and Museum. The Museum does have a neat collection of personal Lincoln as well as Civil War items. As with many, they also have a large number of artifacts in storage that they don’t have room to display. We returned to the campground, hooked up, dumped and...

Jul 22, 2011 - Renfroe Valley, KY

June 19-22, 2011 We left Sevierville, TN and headed toward Kentucky. After a nice ride through the hills and valleys on I-75 we arrived at Renfro Valley. This is one of the areas were the country music songs of the 1930’s originated with a radio station playing the songs and many of the original country music stars performed. The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Museum is located along with the Renfro Valley Music Center. We attended three of the shows, Jeff Watson and Friends, Front Porch Pickin and Tribute to the Legends all in the Old...

Jul 21, 2011 - FBE Concludes

Day 6: The FBE meeting concluded before lunch. There was lots of discussion about the 25th Anniversary meeting next year in Birmingham where the first meeting was held. As VP, Jim is in charge of a committee that will do the planning. Yippee! Things to look forward to this year. Lunch at the trailer. Very hot, humid, cloudy and looks like rain. Time to dump the tanks and get ready to move tomorrow.

Jul 20, 2011 - Fellowship of Baptist Educators Meeting

Day 5: Today was the first day of the Fellowship of Baptist Educators. Jim is vice president of the board of directors. We went early to be sure things were set up. We used my computer to set up a SKYPE link with a man at IMB so he could talk with the directors during the meeting. We also got to tour the Book-Link facility. The volunteers there receive religious books from donations, repack them and ship them to seminaries around the world. This helps stock libraries in countries that don't have resources to use to train pastors. We went...

Jul 19, 2011 - Kentucky Heritage

Day 4: We began the day at the Butter Sweet Cabins. The Renfro Valley Historical Association has collected old log cabins from around the area and moved them here for preservation. Some were built in the late 18th century and others in the late 19th century. Each contained an example of the working crafts the mountain people did to manage living in this rugged area. Of course on a Tuesday, none of the living history craftspeople were there demonstrating their work. Oh well, lots of old tools, wagons, hats, brooms, etc were there. We then...

Jul 18, 2011 - Crafts at Berea, KY

Day Three: Today was a shopping/browsing day. We went to Berea, KY (about 30 miles from here) and spent the day browsing through the craft shops and shops with student work. We didn't see anything new that we can't see/buy in Asheville at the Folk Art Center. In fact, we saw a few "imports" from North Carolina. For those of you who might not know, Berea College was established to preserve mountain culture and crafts, to educate mountain people, and to provide an outlet for mountain crafts. Students work throughout their college career at...

Jul 17, 2011 - Renfro Valley, KY

Day Two - Kentucky: We drove today for 4 1/2 hours to get to Kentucky. It was a good drive without too much traffic, even in Knoxville. This is a pretty drive. We went through the Great Smoky Mountains with the clouds hanging low. They looked like their name today. Then in Kentucky the road passes through more mountains, but also through granite rock cliffs where the road was cut through the mountain. It's really interesting to see the "inside" of the mountains. We're parked at the Renfro Valley KOA in a pull through space--much easier to...

Sep 25, 2010 - Saturday, Day 39

Left Woodhull this morning around 10:30....had coffee and said our many good byes (sometimes repeatedly). Got to stop near Indianapolis for a Steak N Shake "fix". It boosted us for the remainder of the trip. We only had 2 cd's left on the last book we listened to and they went much too fast. Passed Lexington KY where there was an Equine Festival going on. Looked like fun. Keep forgetting that September is truly a festival month. When we arrived in Renfro Valley, there was a big festival with lots of country and folk music. We chose to park...

May 19, 2009 - Renfro Valley, KY

We are on the road again! We left Asheville this morning and have stopped in Renfro Valley, Kentucky, at the KOA for the night. Renfro Valley is a big country music spot. There are several show places along the road from I-40 to the campground. There is a show in town every night at 7pm. This campground is sold out for Memorial Day weekend. We are heading toward the west coast of Michigan and on up to the Upper Peninsula. We will be making stops along the way and exploring Michigan. We will be adding pictures as we take them. John has a new...

Aug 8, 2008 - Renfro Valley, Kentucky

The Renfro Valley Entertainment Center claims the title of "Kentucky's Country Music Capitol." It's located in the heart of the Kentucky mountains immediately off of I-75 just about an hour north of Knoxville. It celebrates country and bluegrass music year-round with about a half dozen two-day to six-week festivals AND features country, bluegrass and gospel music every week year-round. We were able to get a last-minute reservation for the RV park since it wasn't a weekend. Apparently the park and surrounding lodgings stay busy weekends...

Jul 1, 2008 - Renfro Valley RV Park

We arrived at Renfro Valley, Ky after 5 P.M. after a all day drive from a K.O.A. in Ga. I was sure glad that norma and gary took me to the Vet's office in calhoun , Ga , my bladder was infected and I had to pee on the bed . That made Gary very mad at me , but after he found out that it was not my fault, he was so nice to me. I have been on meds for now a few days and I' m doing a lot better. PEEING out side now and not on the bed. Gary and norma went to a bluegrass music show at the BIG RED BARN, they said it was a good show. The group was...

Jun 3, 2008 - Pics and more added! Enjoying the lush green rolling hills of Kentucky!

We met up with our friends, Floyd and Nina, whom we met in South Carolina, here at Renfro Valley RV Park and Entertainment Center. Renfro Valley is home to the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and the Entertainment Center includes 2 theaters (one an old barn built in the 1800's), a shopping village, Historic Lodge and resturant, full-service RV park, motel and cabins, and a log cabin village. The log cabins were brought to this location to preserve the heritage of the settlers from the 1800's. As we walked through each one, we were told the...