Harlan, KY

After we’d spent the morning in Pineville, we drove east to another small Kentucky town: Harlan. We met up with a member from the local tourism board and had lunch at a local favorite called The Portal. It was voted best restaurant in Harlan for their incredible pizzas. But its big claim to fame is that it was the original home of the Pizza Portal as seen on season six of the hit FX Original show, Justified. People will come from all over the world to visit the Pizza Portal to live out their ultimate Givens or Crowder dreams, but we’ve never seen Justified (and I had to Google those character names...), so we just came for the pizza. We love a hot New York street slice or even some cheesy Chicago deep dish goodness, but we’ve met very few pies we don’t like. The Portal has just about every topping you could want on your pizza, delicious hand tossed crust, and a signature sauce. After drooling over all of the options, we decided on the Central Street Supreme. It had Italian sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, mozzerella, green peppers, onions, olives and all things wonderful and delicious. It was divine! After our time at The Portal we took a quick walking tour around town, and had a visit with the town mascot, an adorable baby possum named Petunia. The mural was created by artist, Lacy Hale, and she wanted to break some possum stereotypes, and show how cute and important they really are. Petunia is pictured with her tail wrapped around a pokeweed as a nod to Harlan’s famous Poke Sallet Festival. The pokeweed relies on animals to spread its seeds, and possums are one of the only mammals that can handle the toxins from the berries. So, without sweet babies like Petunia, we wouldn’t have Poke Sallet and we’d have a whole lot more ticks and snakes. We left the mural and headed for Moonbow Tipple Coffee and Sweets for the most important part of the day... a latte. Moonbow Tipple has a beaufiul industrial interior, which gave off the perfect vibe for a downtown coffeeshop. After our adventures in Harlan, we finished the day at Sassy TRASH. It’s an eclectic antique shop in downtown Harlan with everything from local art pieces to vintage signs and telephones. You’ll even find locally sourced honey, fresh bread and jams!

On our trip to the Cumberland Gap area, Jenni and I got to experience an adventure that totally rocked our world. One drizzly afternoon we drove to Black Mountain in Harlan, Kentucky. We had been told we would be having an ATV adventure. When we arrived that adventure became an ADVENTURE really fast.

We would be driving our own ATV.

What?!

I was so excited. Jenni just started to pray that we’d make it out of this alive. I eagerly agreed to drive our two-passenger ATV. Two of our new friends from the Guardians of the Gap, Phyllis and Linda, buckled up in the third ATV with Linda at the wheel. She was excited to whip around on the trails, and Phyllis, decked out in her stylish pink jacket, was already holding on for dear life.

After a driver’s training session for Linda and myself, we were ready to hit the course, following behind an expert guide of course. We went up hills, through mud puddles, and tried our best to keep control going downhill. The air was filled with my laughter and Jenni’s screams. The scenery was exquisite. I wanted that ride to go on forever, but like all good things, it had to come to an end. We drove the muddy steep trails back down to where our grand adventure began. Thankfully we all survived, with only two near-death experiences, and pulled back into the parking lot in one piece and unharmed. That is everyone and everything except Phyllis’s outfit. She was covered from top to bottom with specks of mud. But, between all of our laughter it was hard to find time to worry about any of that. That afternoon was one that I could relive over and over. So much fun in beautiful surroundings with ladies we now cherish as friends. When we came back to Cumberland Gap, we had a picnic with The Guardians, and the four of us ladies shared the crazy stories of our day. It was certainly out of all of our comfort zones, but I would do it again in a heart beat. Jenni, despite her screams of bloody murder all through the trails, says it was one of the most exciting adventures she’s ever been on. We’ll definitely be making another trip to Black Mountain for some more ATVing. We’ll just make sure Phyllis wears something more casual like a rain coat and galoshes.