Yesterday morning, after final packing and a great breakfast with my parents, we were off! We drove south through Indiana and Ohio to our first stop: Berea, the arts and crafts capital of Kentucky. The drive was (thankfully) uneventful. For much of the ride Christa slept while I drove and listened on my mp3 player to "The Jewish Wars" by Josephus, a first century historian. By early evening we arrived at The Greathouse Inn, a bed an breakfast run by a schoolteacher named Pat Greathouse. She was a wonderful hostess, treating us to fine accomodations and a terrific southern breakfast complete with fresh biscuits.
We spent most of today walking around central Berea, taking in the sights and sounds of the arts community here. We spoke with artists in their studios, hard at work making all sorts of wonderful items, from glass beads to woven rugs to sterling silver jewelry to mountain dulcimers.
Christa watching Jimmy Lou Jackson make glass bead jewelry in her studio, Hot Flash Beads.
Looking over a rustic style rising pan for bread dough.
Story people by Brian Andreas, who has a very unique perpective on life (double click to read).
A cowboy hat by Chris Ramsey. It was made from ambrosia maple and turned on a lathe. Next to it is a beautiful natural edge walnut bowl.
Pat had made three recommendations for lunch. We decided to go to a bohemian restaurant, where we split a light lunch of french onion soup, an oregano parmesan pepper crepe with fresh greens, and an ice mochaccino. I took a picture to share because I remembered all the great food shots David Teitsma put on his bike-across-the-continent blog last summer.
Late in the afternoon we left Berea for Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where we checked into the Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort for dinner and overnight. Tomorrow we'll travel through the Smokys to Brasstown, North Carolina. I'll leave you with the prayer for the modern traveller, as posted in the Berea Artists Welcome Center (double click on the image to get it to a readable size).
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