Now that we are entering the month of August there is not much time left to plan a little summer vacation. I wanted to share with you a one- or two-day trip you can make to southern West Virginia that will be worth your time. It will be an experience that will appeal to both adults as well as children.

 

In Beckley there is an Exhibition Coal Mine open to the public. West Virginia is known for its coal mines, and I venture to say that there are very few families in West Virginia who have not been touched by coal mining. Those of us who have not been directly exposed to a mine cannot imagine what it is like to go down in a mine. Once you have made this trip you have an altogether different outlook on mining.

 

The Beckley Exhibition Mine is not a working mine but it does introduce you to the basics of a coal mine. There is a small fee to take this trip. You will board coal cars and ride them into the mine and back out. Once inside you will view the walls from where the coal is mined. Usually, the mines are damp and cool. If all the lights were turned off, it would be very dark as no outside light can infiltrate the inside of the coal mine. This type of trip will only introduce you to an actual mine and not to the mining of coal.

 

Now I will share with you an experience I had several years ago with a coal mine. As the director of the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival, I was contacted by a national magazine who wanted to do a story on West Virginia’s Italian community. Of course, in the interview the topic of employment came up and the large majority of Italians who went to work in the coal mines.

 

I made a few calls and was able to get us in a mine in Philippi for an actual visit. We had to take a class and then we were suited up in gear to be able to enter the mine. We entered the mine on an elevator that went down many feet. Then we got into coal cars that took us back in the mine for what seemed miles.

 

At one point our guide stopped the cars, turned all the lights off, and asked us to touch our noses. A hard trick in a very dark place.

 

We were in the mine for about an hour and observed the miners mining the coal and loading the cars to take the coal out. As for me, this was an experience that I did not soon forget. The miners were actually mining the coal. The mine was not tall, and we spent the entire time bent over. Can you imagine working in these conditions for eight hours? I gained a new appreciation for those miners, especially those immigrants who worked under much worse conditions. I am very happy that I could add this experience to my repertoire but was not planning another trip soon.

 

While you are headed to Beckley, plan on visiting Tamarack, which displays the Best of West Virginia. The National Radio Quiet Zone at The Green Bank Observatory located in Green Bank, West Virginia, which is about 80 miles from Beckley. A great mini vacation in our beautiful state.

 

I hope you will have the opportunity to plan this trip. Summer is quickly fading away. Do not miss a mini vacation. Stay cool, enjoy summer, and until next week, “Now You Have Heard It Through The Grapevine.”

 

Editor's Note: Photo from the Exhibition Coal Mine courtesy of the West Virginia Department of Tourism.