A few months ago, Josh and I took a day trip to Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. And while my first trip to the small mountain town had admittedly been a great one, we unfortunately experienced some overt homophobia from some patrons at a local bar at the end of our visit, which led to our abrupt departure. After that experience, I had just about written off Cumberland Gap as some sort of backwoods, gay-hating town I never needed to visit again. But the weather this past weekend couldn't have been better for a trip up to the mountains, so we decided give Cumberland Gap a second chance.
So after loading up the dog, the kid, and plenty of snacks for each, we hopped in the car and made the trip north.
Gap Creek Coffee House
We got the day started with a visit to the Gap Creek Coffee House. It was about 11 AM when we arrived, and up until that point, I hadn't had a chance to ingest any caffeine yet.
And if you know me at all... you know that a caffeine-less me is not the one you want to spend time with. Some pumping caffeine into my body was a must.
Walking the greenways
It was a cool morning, so we sat and drank our coffee on the coffee house lawn while the kiddo scarfed down some of his PB&J and the dog tore some sticks. And once we finished up our morning coffee, we made our way to the greenway that wrapped around town.
While walking the greenway, we stopped off at the local dog park, which Raleigh loved.
"Downtown" Cumberland Gap
I'm not sure if "downtown" is the best word for the small collection of (see: three) streets lined with shops and home. But after the greenway, we spent some time walking around the cute little downtown area (in all of its small-town Hallmark-movie-feeling glory)...
Cumberland Gap National Park
Before hopping back in the car and making our way to Cumberland Gap National Park, which sits on the intersection of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee.
While at the National Park, we hiked up to the Pinnacle Overlook...
Where we enjoyed some absolutely ridiculous views of the Virginia-Tennessee-Kentucky tri-state, which our phone cameras did zero justice. (And for some reason, this photo turned out exceptionally fuzzy??)
A Second Chance for Cumberland Gap
After our trip to the overlook, we decided it was time to head back home. So we jumped back in the car, descended from the mountaintop, and made our way on back to Knoxville.
Without the overt homophobia this time, this outing shaped up to be what last outing should've been. So overall, I'm glad we gave Cumberland Gap a second chance. And I imagine we'll be back to visit soon.