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I'm driving through one of the poorest places in America, where the average household income is less than thirty thousand dollars a year. Religion, drugs, and coal. That's it. This is southwest Virginia, deep in the heart of Appalachia. It might also be the most stereotyped place in the country. I'm talking hillbillies, trailer park homes, and banjos. But almost nobody travels here to find out the real story. So I've come alone with one mission. To meet the people who live in these hills and find out what makes their culture so unique.
Get ready to see a side of the US that you never knew existed. The only thing I see right here in the border town of Virginia and Tennessee are cigarette shops and lots of them. There's like four of them on this corner. Okay. Our first stop is the town of Appalachia in Appalachia, Virginia. So it doesn't get more Appalachian than that. Cue the bluegrass music now.
It's always really nerve-wracking to start these videos because. I'm totally relying on my people to guide me around and I don't know any people here, so, hopefully they're friendly. A little, like, downtown area here. Church. Barbecue shop. Like, cool brick buildings here. Like, as if it was a nice place. Cool little downtown area. I think I've already left the town after two minutes. All right, I'm gonna go turn back around and see what kind of characters I can find.
How you doing? Good. Are you from here? I live right there. I'm from Arizona. Oh, you are? Yeah. I'm just driving around the country. Welcome to Appalachia, Virginia. Thank you. My name's Danny. I'm seventy, seventy-eight years old. You're seventy-eight years old? You look much younger than that. I got the good Lord with me that's why. Yeah, I, I, I see your hat. I got the good Lord with me, that's the reason why. Do you, do you work here? Or do you, what, what do you?
No, I don't work here. How do you, how are you related? You work for him? Yeah. What does he do? Oh, he's retired. You just said you work for him. Yeah. Like at his house or what? Yeah, cleaning. Like clean the house. Oh, clean the house, got it. Yeah. What's there to do here? Yeah. We just go to church and, enjoy ourselves. God healed me. Yes. God healed me, I had cancer. Okay. God did heal me.
Congratulations. What kind of cancer did you have? Prostate cancer. I'm happy that you are cured, that you are fixed. Amen! That's why I told you God takes care of me. Yes, exactly. God is good. God, he has a thing for me. This used to be the hotel a long time ago. Nineteen twenty-six hotel that is. That's a 1926 hotel You know what, that's a hundred years ago. It's a real nice apartment. Yeah. I'll take you to my apartment. I appreciate that. Yeah, you're real nice to me. You're a very friendly guy.
Huh? I, you're a very friendly guy. Well, God made me that way. Are you born and raised here? I was born in Wise County, Virginia. Mm-hmm. I was born here. You're born here? Right across the road. Was this town much more busy and thriving? All the coal mines was booming like crazy. There's still a bunch of coal mines. There's still coal mines? Yeah, they work all the time. Trucks haul coal through here all the time. But they're not.
Yeah. But they're still working, or, or? Oh, I didn't know that. Thank you. Yeah. Don't pay no attention to my house, we're just trying to take you up. Don't worry, um. It a mess. Don't worry. They got thirty some apartments, whatever. You pay according on income. It was lights, water and rent, one payment. All you pay. One payment. I pay four hundred dollars. I can't name you another place in this country that's that cheap. His check is like, uh, fourteen hundred and that's how much he pays. And my check is uh, nine hundred something.
So I would pay. I would pay two hundred twenty-one. You only pay two hundred tewenty-one for all? Live with that but, uh. Wow. This is our laundry room, whatever. But uh. There's a laundry room? Yeah. Is it like an elderly folks home or anyone? That anyone. Anybody. Um. Sometimes when I do his laundry when he's in bed. I come here and I sit and look down here, and I start imagining, I'll say, man, 1928.
Yeah. Oh cool. It's like frozen in time, this place. Yeah, that's what I think, I sit and think about. Could you imagine they have these little tables, whatever, big wine and stuff. And then I grow up thinking. When those women had those funny looking dresses on. And they'd be dancing around, you know. You know, and these little men talking about whatever. Yeah. Look at. Look at this. You could just imagine like, it like it even smells old, like. How long have you been working for Danny?
Four years. I mean, he's got a major crush on me. He's got a major crush on you? I think he's got a crush on a lot of people. It's his personality. Is he married? His wife died. No. My husband, my husband passed away, uh. So you're both widows? Yeah. I heard about these like snake handlers. That's me. You? No, I am the one. You, you're a snake handler? No, I mean no, no, that's my belief.
The last one was when my Grandpa got, my, my Grandpa were, my Grandpa got bit. He died by the faith. He died by a snake bite? He died by the faith. By the faith, yeah. When you got the Holy Ghost in you and you know and you got power of the Lord in you, you know, you can do anything, you know. They drank strychnine. My Grandma had drank strychnine you know, and all that, and they'd handle serpents, you know. My Grandpa, whenever my Grandma was coming home from church one night.
He said that night to her. The rattler, one of the rattlers got out and it bit my Grandpa. And then that night, uh. Well. That's so sad. Anyway, I was a small child but. Anyway, I still remember there he said that, uh. Grandma said, "Daddy." You know how old timers call each other like that. She said, "Daddy" He said, uh, "You want me to call you a doctor? Rescue squad?" He said, "No mommy." He said, "I'mma die by the faith. If God wants me to live," he said, he said, "I'll live." So he suffered all that night.
Then the law come in, or whatever, you know. They shut the church down and everything, you know. When you were younger, what was your job? I work on the railroad. You did? I was eight year old. They rented houses for fifteen dollars a month. Eight dolars a month I think. A candy bar was three cents, and a pop was a nickel. Yeah. How much was it to fill up the car, the gasoline? Cost 24 cents a gallon. And how do you feel about. today's world versus when you.
Today's world is the death of what it used to be. Back then there wasn't all this going on. Which one is better, now or before? Was priced for right. You could get a whole lot of food back then. See, word got about food. A long time ago somebody, uh. Somebody took him and his, either his girlfriend or his wife, one of them, and another couple. And took and put them in the basement and kidnapped them.
You were kidnapped? Yeah. But why? They took him and, um, another couple. And took their checks, and they kept them for a few months. Months? When, when was this? Uh, three years ago. So recent? Recent. They had a gun to you. Really? They wouldn't let you go to the bathroom. They wouldn't let you take any bread and water. And one of them escaped and went and got help t old on them. Were they looking after you specifically or were you in the wrong place, wrong time? And that be uh.
Well, I thought they was my friend. Oh, okay. I appreciate you letting me inside your house. It's. It's nice in here. So he lives alone? Yeah. I come, I come there sometimes, he stayed the night with me. And this is your bedroom over here? That's my bedroom. What enologist add up. Churches donates food. Uh. Different people donates food. And then even, even my family members of, uh.
Oh, it's. He's got more food in the corner. Yeah, you could, you could stay in here for like six months and you'll have enough food. I know I do. I got it back there too. God takes care of me and her. I love this guy. Yeah. I quit four months ago. You quit four months ago? Yeah, and I started back. Oh, you missed him so much. She missed you. I'm happy. I quit work, he fell, broke his arm. Then you had to come help him again?
See. Is it okay now? That's, that's as far as it's gonna get. Really? You can't, you can't extend it? No, it's got two rods in it. Oh, man. Are you back full time now with him? Helping him or just when you? He's like a magnet. And I drive him, and I'll, I'll back and then I'll drive. He can't drive? She fine to drive me. She love me too. She takes care of you. Yes she does. And my, and my family does too.
You're so sweet. You guys have the cutest relationship. I'm like, my heart is like melting. I'm not ready to say goodbye to these two just yet. So I invite them out to lunch at their favorite restaurant in town. So, is life good here? Like, people are happy, generally? Yeah. I'm happy. You're happy? Yeah, I thank God he wake me up this morning. Uh-huh. I bet he's happy right now. What do you think about like, YouTube and just social media? And sure is. That one for you. Uh, that's one for you. Thank you, sir.
I, I like it. You like it? I watch it all the time. Is there like crime here? Drugs? Like what, what are the problems of this community? Uh, two years ago, uh. Well going on three years now, my husband got on meth. I left him because of it. I told state trooper he's doing meth and I said, I'm afraid he's going to kill somebody driving like that. He said, "Well, you might as well go get some insurance out on him." He said, 'cause he's got a short life. He said he'd be dead in two years.
Is he still alive? No, he died. from meth? Yeah. It, it turned into cancer. Just recently? Yeah. Sorry to hear that. He died. Yeah. How did he get hooked on it later in his life? Some young dude, posed to be like his young cousin, whatever. And he, he was stupid, acting that old, do something like that. Yeah. He shouldn't have done that, but he done it. They've heard one of his doctors. Her birthday is this month. What, what are you gonna get her for her birthday?
He got me something. Oh, really? I done handed it to her. Yeah. What did he get you? He gave me three hundred dollars. Really?! Yeah. That's a lot of money! Yeah. Why did he give you so much money? I love her so much. He just does. Did you ask for anything? He just gave it to you? I've never asked nothing. I just gave it to her. I'll take care of her. Iake care of her and she take care of me all the time.
I'll never asking that, I was just uh. It's hard not to like him. He's got this like. Yeah. Like, personality. Both of you. Yeah. I love you. I love you in my heart. Yeah. Yeah, you love me in the heart? He loves you. He loves you in his heart. Aww, thank you so much. That's the way we were raised up. Thank you. The one with mashed potatoes? Thank you so much. Yes.
Okay. Tell him. It won't get no better buddy, really. It won't get no better. Ay, it won't get no better. Good burger. You got your wife on the phone? Yeah, she's here. Yeah, yeah, of course I, I'll call her when I'm driving. Okay, I'm gonna tell her, tell her that. Yeah. What do you want to tell her? I'm going to keep ya. He going to keep you here. If you could say one message to everybody in the world, what would you tell them?
Get Jesus. Get Jesus in your life. There ain't no life until you get Jesus. You get Jesus in your heart. Then you will have life. Cause this world getting too wicked. Too many people on drugs. doing meth and all that. You know what I mean? Yeah, I understand. I'm gonna head out, but it was lovely to meet you. I love you, God bless you. Yeah. Thank you. We pray you have a safe trip back.
Heavenly Father, we ask that you put a shield around him. And you, and the Lord take care of you so you can make it home safe, and see in Christ's name, amen. Thank you so much. It was very, very lovely. Thank you Jesus. Thank you so much. I, I. You. Look, you gave me the. You gave me the, the hair is standing up on my arms. Yeah. Thank you. Very kind of you thank you. You too. Thank you, guys. See you. Ay, you alright, God will take you home.
Thank you. See ya! That was incredibly interesting and they're just the sweetest people ever. And now I'm fired up for the rest of the story. Time to move onwards, to drive deeper and deeper into Virginia and Appalachia. I'm rolling up to what looks like a coal mine. I don't know if it's still. working. But I'm gonna try to enter and see what happens.
I'm waiting for someone to, like, scream at me for being here, but I think it's just empty. Because today's Sunday. After the Civil War, railroads opened up Appalachia to coal mining, and the industry boomed. Virginia's mines peaked around 1990, producing over 46 million tons per year. But then, it started to slide. Today, the state pulls out less than nine million tons a year, about twenty percent of what it used to. And as the jobs disappeared, so did the people. The work that's left pays well, but there's far less of it. Which is why so many locals have moved away. But some families have been here for generations.
Like this couple, who had just stopped to ask for directions. What's it like to live here? Very boring. Like, I mean, it's safe, like, you know we don't have a lot of crime or anything around here but. Yeah. Except for meth heads. Yeah. It, well, yeah. I've been driving for, um. Just in this area for the last thirty minutes. I think I've seen about six or seven meth heads on like, just on the side of the road. Tweakers, he had a fan. Like. Have you noticed it's gotten worse?
Yeah. If they're in your property, you're like, would you talk to them? Or do you, like, how you. Uh, I mean we'll. That or pull a gun on them, tell them to go. No. Speaking of, everyone here has guns, right? Yeah. Pretty much. Normal. Yeah. How you doing? I spotted you as soon as I pulled up. I watch you on YouTube. Oh, dang! I, I've been following you for years, dude. I have. I really have. He said. I don't watch. I don't watch much YouTube.
Oh, that's so funny, dude. I'm I'm literally. Oh, you know each other? Yeah, he is my. That's my daughter and my son-in-law. Yeah. So what do you do for a living? Well, right now, I'm letting her get this whole thing situated with this store and my middle son, he's autistic, so, you know. I really just help take care of him right now, you know. That's so kind of you. Can I meet him? Yeah. I want to say hi. You guys are super, super nice.
I cam get him right now. That sucker all over. Hey, buddy. How are you? Can I give him a fist bump? Yeah, go right. You can go, go ahead give him high five. How you doing? High five. High five! Probably do high five. There you go. Oh, bless you. What's his name? Axton. Yep. So this is South, Virginia? I guess to, to me it is south for now. I, I saw two, I saw, I saw two Confederate flags like, twenty miles that way so I can imagine that means it's south, right?
Yeah. I. We still have a school. Something rebels, um. Hurley High. But anyway, they have the rebel flag painted on their school. Really? West Virginia was actually part of Virginia. And then during the Civil War, West Virginia got split off from Virginia, and that's what made West Virginia. Basically, Fair enough. it's the Mason-Dixon line is what separated them, and I think the Mason-Dixon line actually goes up into parts of Maryland but that's kind of what separated the North from the South, was that Mason-Dixon line. Gotcha.
So when you tell people you're from out here, did they, like, what would, what would they say? Well, some. Hillbilly. Hillbill. Yeah. Some people. I was getting there. I, I can make it kind of redneck like my tooth. Yeah. What happened to your tooth? I just got loose and just fell out. So I got just kept it that way because it's kind of like. It's kind of like a trademark.
Like, when you were a kid or when you were an adult? No. Probably how about six months ago. And you just, you just kept it out? Yeah, just kept it out. I'm starting to realize that all stereotypes about Appalachia just aren't true. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming here. But since there's not a whole lot to do, my new friend Jeff invites me to go to Walmart and I can't wait to hear more about his life in the hollers. So, this is Norton. Is this like the biggest town in the county? Yeah. Yeah, really it is.
Like here in Big Stone Gap is really about your biggest areas as far as like, you know, people being in it and whatnot. Yeah. Well, yeah, it's just kind of dwindled down. A lot of it is, you know, EPA laws have cracked down on a lot of these coal industries. A lot of people just are against coal in general. Yeah. Because the environment stuff? Yeah, because it's so harmful to the environment, you know. I guess to me, I don't see it like that because that's just. That was our way of life and that was our way of,
Sure. you know, making it and, uh, you know. I actually worked for the coal industry for a little while, Sure. Oh, you did? so. Yeah. But there's no bars, there's no, "Hey, let's go out to get a drink." there is a couple places like the Dough Makers Pizza that we just passed by Well, they actually have like a little area to drink and stuff like that. I can see why drugs are a problem because there's not many else things to do. They should offer more for kids to do around here.
You know? If they would just get some grants or something like that to open up more kids friendly things around this area I think that. the whole drug problem. You know, obviously drugs is going to exist anyways you're just going have that. You know, just about anywhere that you go. The future of our kids, you know. Yeah. Uh. Right. Yeah you got three kids, right? They get. Yeah. So, that, that's got to be scary to you that thinking that the meth problem has gotten so bad here. You don't, you got to make sure you protect your kids.
You, you know meth and fentanyl. That's, that's. We live in times where that is just a major concern. Is there a lot of diversity here? Is mostly white? Um. I haven't seen any black people yet. Or Asians. I haven't. I saw a few Asians. Well, they're, you know, like there's a Chinese restaurant over there. Really here, like I think it's all together. I think that, you know, like the African Americans here, they're all good with the white people, you know.
Everybody gets along here, you know. Great. That's one thing I will say, is everybody gets along here pretty much, Good thing man. Happy to hear that 'cause you always hear about the opposite happening. so. That's good. I, I talked to some other dude and he said ninety-five percent of people have guns here. Is that true? Oh yeah, yeah. I think a lot of it is, you know, just growing up in these areas, you know, that was just a way of life and has always been a way of life.
Right. Um. Is to own a firearm and keep one on you, you know, because you, you never know when something's gonna happen, you know. Yeah and you don't use them often? No, I mean. Or, I mean maybe for hunting purposes. Yeah, hunting or. you know, some people around here, they find enjoyment out of going and shooting. Can you just buy it or you need a license? Um. I think as long as you have, uh. When if you're 18. Yeah, be 18. Uh. Just have a driver's like proof of ID.
They do a background check on you. Um. Because I think they have a little system where they do a background check and it'll come back and as long as you come back good, For sure. then hey. Uh-huh. Doesn't get more American than that. Yeah, yeah. It's quite busy in here. You see more people, more people in Walmart than out on the streets. Yeah, I mean, well, like I said, there's just a lot of people from different areas that come over this way, you know, because there's just not.
You have like little IGA stores and Food Cities around the area. Of course but -- some of the stuff, you know, that people want to buy, they don't have. So you know, they're, they're kind of forced to come here, so. Sure. It's hard to explain the scale of how big this store is to someone who's never been in Walmart. I mean, it takes like a good seven minutes to walk over, like maybe ten minutes to walk around the perimeter of the store. Yeah. sick, bro. Yeah. Do you do your shopping here for food too? Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean we pretty well now there's certain things that we don't.
We'll go to Food City for, just because like meat and stuff. Yeah. I don't know. I'm kind of funny about Walmart and, their meat section you know. Dude, I, I was gonna say something about that. I, I don't trust it. I don't know, I'm just. Me and my wife are very funny about you know, getting meats from Walmart. So where do you get your meats from? Usually Food City. Is that like a. That's like Kroger? Like that, that's usually probably but. Kind of. Yeah, it's kind of like the area's Kroger, yeah.
It's a little sad how the towns are kind of like. Not, not disappearing, but they're just kind of like. Yeah, they're dwindling. They're hanging. They're just dwin. Yeah, they're hanging on by a thread basically. They are hanging on by a thread. Right? And you guys are the ones that are keeping it going. Yeah. Like, like when your kids are your age, I wonder what this place is gonna look like. I, I think about that all the time, yeah. I really do.
I, I, I. Yeah, right? At some, I think. Half these shops are like closed or they're just like empty. Yeah. And, uh, and, and the, the it's like as time goes on, the more just keep shutting down that. So this place is like a hudnred percent Trump, right? When it comes to that, majority of people, yeah, they're going to tell you that they're Trump, but you're also going to find there's a lot of back and forth. There's a lot of Democrats and there's a lot of Republicans, you know. I'm all for whoever does a great job of taking care of us Americans, you know, that's what. That's what matters to me.
I don't consider myself a Republican or I don't consider myself a Democrat. I'm whoever's for making this country better and making us better. The more time I spend with Jeff, the more my assumptions fall apart. I came here thinking that everyone in Appalachia shares the same politics, but it turns out, I was wrong. So now that Jeff has shown me a bit of his home turf, I'm dropping him back off where we met, with his family. You go there, man. Thank you. You're welcome. So this is named after you.
What is it? Drew Binsky. So sweet. Really? Yes. And. Like you're gonna name that in the shop? Yes. Really?! And I don't know if I told you, but the shop's going to be called Sip N Sweet, so. You told me. Wait. When it comes down through here stop at Sip. Okay, let's do this. Take a picture of me holding this and put it in there because otherwise people are not going to know, what the connection is. Thank you. Here. Here, I got one too. Take one with me, sure. Yeah. For all of us. ignorant people that have no idea what I'm holding, that aren't from here, what is this? That is a loaded tea so it has caffeine in it.
It's loaded with, um, vitamins, sugar-free. They're good. And what flavor is this one? That is strawberry, pina colada, and cotton candy. And yours? Mine is passion fruit, pina colada, and cotton candy. Cheers. Well, let me put the straw, and. Dang, that was good. All right, have a good one, guys. Thank you for it man. It's a wrap. See ya. I'll be on the look out. Thank you. What an incredible experience. Man, I'm getting super lucky today or everyone here is just amazing.
Nicest people ever. Super nice! By the way. This drink is extremely sweet! I haven't had like. I, I don't even know what to say. It, it's as if they dumped sugar in it. But as they said, it's sugar-free. And we move onwards. Going through the hollers of Appalachian Virginia. Before I keep exploring Appalachia, I want to tell you about Revolut, a long-time partner of this channel. No matter where you are, managing money shouldn't be complicated. Whether you're traveling, working remotely, or just handling everyday expenses, having full control over your money matters.
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All right, now let's continue exploring Appalachia. We have made it to Lebanon, Virginia. Actually, they pronounce it here Lebanon. No. Lebanon. I think it's Lebanon. What did the guy say? Lebanon? Yeah, Lebanon. So I see a church, a post office. Like everywhere else out here, there is a church and a post office. Hello, Lebanon. You look so. different than the real Lebanon.
I wonder what percentage of this town actually knows that the name of their town is off of a country in the Middle East. I don't know the answer to that, but I can only assume. I'm excited to keep driving through Appalachia, but to take it a step further, I'm heading to pick up Tate, a fellow YouTuber I connected with on Instagram, who agreed to join me for the rest of the journey. You must be Tate. That's me. What's up, dude? Fishing with Tate. Bro, that. You got it.
Are you fishing around here? Uh. I don't know of any fishing spots around here but. All right. He's joining me around. He's kind of my tour guide. Or maybe I'm your tour guide. Kinda I mean, you're going to show me the ropes um, I'm kind of pumped to see what we get into. All right, cool. All right, Tate and I are cruising. I'm sure a lot of people watching this video are gonna be really attracted to your. The accent, dude it's so deeply rooted like, you can't fake where you're from.
No, not at all. You can't. Like, in my head, I feel like we're, we sound the same. Like I don't even notice it. That's because, I, you know, when you watch movies, they probably speak closer to me. Yeah, exactly. We like to add ours and stuff. And that's a lot of, like, Irish, Scottish influence. Yeah. Window. A lot of times, at the end of it, instead of saying the O, really pronouncing, enunciating that, we just add an ER to it so winder. Got a little winder over here. Yeah, it's the winder. A, a wasper. A lot of people know them as wasps. I didn't know wasp was a thing.
I didn't know what it was. It's always been a wasper. When did you find out what other people call a wasp? I was in college. Tater? Yeah. What's a tater? Tater you know what a tater is? Potato. A tater is a tater tot. Okay. You know what that is? Yeah. Okay. I say tater way more than potato. The mater is kind of like okay, it depends on the situation. Taters always. So.
Taters always, forever. What I love about Appalachia is that people are really family-oriented. Is that something you experience? That could not be more true. If I hear somebody say something bad about my family or. Or somebody, it's like, I feel like I've got to step up and protect them, even if maybe they're, they're doing something wrong you know like. A lot of times we grow up really close to each other, and we're taught that family is everything, which sounds very cliche, but it's like we're willing to go to battle for our family. You know what I mean? I love that, man. Totally. I love that. So. That's so good to hear it.
All right, Tate and I just spotted a ginger dude, so we're the same breed. Let's go, brother. What's going on? Same shit. What's up? Hey, we're not from here. I'm actually from Arizona. I'm traveling around the US. I'm here just trying to tell some cool stories and meet cool people, but we haven't met anyone yet, and you winked at us, so that's why we stopped. What's going on. What. Oh, I was just using that. You're a really nice guy. What's going on here? Like, can we meet anyone? Like, what should, should we be doing?
A lot of the people around here are super old. I actually moved here from Maryland. Oh, you're not from here? No, I'm from right outside of D.C. Why'd you move here, bro? Because I bought a house for $30,000. Really? Yeah. No, shit. Yeah. You like it? I freaking love it, dude. Can I film this conversation? Yeah, I don't mind. What made you look here to find a house? Um. I did it for my mom, actually.
What's. Um. My dad had just recently passed away. About six or seven years ago now. He had a workplace accident. Oh, man. And, um. My mom got a, uh, check or whatever, and then, uh, she wanted somebody to help her find out some place to live, somewhere that she can move into, get away from the big city, away from all the, uh, the racket and whatnot. Sure. So what's it, what's it like here, man? It looks pretty desolate. Uh. Relaxing, honestly. Not a lot goes on you don't have to worry about, like, your neighbor like, everybody knows everybody around here. And that's how it is for most of Appalachia.
The community is probably, like, the best part. What about, like, job opportunities like? That's probably the hardest part. Yeah. I'm like, I, it's so quiet here. How many, do you is it, like, a couple thousand people here or less than that? Um, I think in total, it's probably maybe around like, seven hundred, if that and that's, like, including, all the way out past the cemetery and all the surrounding. If we're talking about just like in Pocahontas like, Sure. maybe a couple hundred, if that.
Yeah. Do you mind me asking, what do you do for work? I'm a locksmith. Nice! Are you the, are you the locksmith of Pocahontas? Uh, no. Funny enough, I actually work with a friend who's, uh, lives down in Georgia. Okay. And I usually occasionally go down there, and I'll help him for a couple of months at a time, and I'll come back up here and help take care of my mom. Dang. How often do you see visitors here? A lot, actually, but they don't come here for Pocahontas. They come here for the trails.
A lot of ATV trails around here. Because you talked about your thirty thousand house. Can I see it? Or is it private? Sure. So how many years you've been living here? Four, five years now. Four or five years. On a scale from one to ten, one being this place sucks, ten being like, I'm never leaving. What, what would you give it? I mean, I, I'm never leaving. So ten? I would say like a seven. I'm so surprised that you, like, found a house here.
The USA is massive. You could have gone anywhere and you somehow locked in on this community. The house we originally came down to look at. Was a piece of trash. And the only reason we even got the house that we're in, is because the, uh, the real estate agent that we talked with just happened to have somebody call him that day and say that they were looking to sell. That's how life works, man. You just, you never know what you're gonna come across. Exactly. What do you do, like, on a Friday night?
I, I was gonna. If you're trying to get down, like, what, what do you do around here? I am not a people person at, in the slightest. Oh, you seem like a people person. I mean, you're extremely friendly from the of go get-go. Yeah, well. It's because, like, you know, locksmith I, I learned how to. do that way. But honestly, myself personally, I'm like a computer person. Like, I mess with technology, like that. I don't like. Introvert. Yeah, exactly. Where, where is the crowd at though? Like, what do other people do?
Probably like one of the best spots in this area, like late at night, would probably be the bowling alley that's right down there in the. Bluefield. I love that: "The bowling alley." What's like something dark, dirty or whatever? Something that you wouldn't normally see from this town. Right there. Okay. Would be, uh. I guess saying a drug den would be putting it lightly. Really? Yeah. Since when? Uh. couple years ago. And it got closed down?
The person who lived there, it got passed down to their children and they, had like a bunch of squatters living in there. They got them all kicked out. Now it's just empty. Yeah. The children can't sell it until, uh, they get old enough to be twenty-one because it's currently in a trust. Dang. So they, they literally can't do anything unless they want to live here. But I mean. So. Do you know what kind of drugs it was?
Ahhh, probably meth. But then again. I don't. I see. I'm not gonna use it for her. That's good. How cool, man. Wow. Not bad, for thirty grand. Yeah. It's hard to beat, man. Exactly. I mean, we fixed it up a bit. Yeah. Not the. Not the greatest. Thirty grand don't even buy you a decent car these days. Exactly. And you moved here with your mom? Yeah, my mom. I got two brothers and a sister. One of the best things I like about this house is, uh.
It was built in, like, I think eighteen ninety-seven is what it was. I was thinking of seventeen ninety-seven, but that's not right. That's a long time ago. Yeah. And, like, the, the original, like, floor joists and everything, it's all original. Really? That's original? Entire foundation. Whoa. Whoa! Through your basement? Um. The, the crawl space. So down there is our furnace and whatno but, like, all. everything under there is completely original.
Whoa. How many bodies you got down there? Be for real. Legally, I can't tell you. Like, what, what do you put down here? Um. Really nothing because it's sitting on the ground and when it, uh. It snows, and then winter here, it does snow a lot. Everything down there just gets soaked because all the water comes in. For sure. Dang, bro. So, what's the best and the worst thing about living in Appalachia? So, I would say the best thing is. how peaceful it is out here.
There's pretty much there -- at least in this area, there's, like, no crime. In the five, four or five years I've been down here, there's been sirens, maybe. Really? Four or five times. Nothing. And the vast majority of four of those times is because there's a bunch of old people that live down the road and they got violence. Yeah how they get. Yeah that or like, they fell and. busted something. That's what I wanted to show you. Are they here? This I got from a friend of mine who used to live in Maryland.
His name is Alex. Holy moly. And uh. The hippie car. He calls it the spray van. He actually had, like, a Facebook group about it or whatever. This is a straight-up hippie mobile. He parks outside of, uh. Walmarts and, like, uh, he had magnetic trays he would stick to the side with spray paint on it. And let anybody just come up and tag the car. Do you drive it? Yeah. Just a, as your actual car? Oh, no. You just take it for fun? Yeah every now and then.
He's got a lawnmower in here. Yeah, we use it for now. It's, it's practical. Exactly. Really? The few that are that's custom, my brother. You're like, how can I do something similar? Yeah, I had a hearse, man. I'm telling you, I had a hearse I drove around and you could put stuff in. You had a hearse? Oh, yeah I camped in it. Was it a. Was it a used hearse? Yeah. Practical. I fixed it, made the camper. Yeah.
I mean, the same thing with this. I mean, he's got a lawnmower back here. You wouldn't even know it. You want to tag it? Uh. sure. I got some spray inside. Yeah, I'll definitely tag it. Are you serious? Yeah. I'd be honored, too. I like it says unlocking autism. Why does it say that? It's a vanity plate, my mom. Got it. That's what she wanted it to be. Look at you, man. But, yeah.
Look at this guy. He comes out with twenty cans of spray. Y'all can go ham. Do whatever you want. Just don't hit the windows. Yeah. I'm gonna draw you a portrait. Oh, man. Put him a little beard on there. There you go. Pretty cool. Yeah, you missed the body shape. I think it needs to be more rounded. If I'm like, an artist and I'm tagging a building, I would do it like this. Cool, man. Sick. Now it's the Binsky mobile. Oh, there you go. So, Tate, to me, this is like a literally a village. What, what does this place feel like to you?
Yup. I mean, it's a. Medium-sized city? Yeah, it's, it's. It's definitely is, but nothing like some of the cities we've come through to get here. I mean, it's. Yeah, Roanoke is like a. Sure. Desolate. Right here. Yeah. So. We're walking in the middle of the road right now. Yeah, we were walking in the center of the street and there's nothing. Yeah. I mean, it's. It's quiet. I don't hear a car, I don't hear music.
No. Nothing. There's nobody in the streets here but there are five cars parked at the funeral home. Yeah. So I think we know where the party's at. Yeah. Too pretty lively out there at the funeral home. See, a lot of these houses are just, like, half dilapidated. I wonder if, like, erosion where it's, like, built up on the mountain.
Maybe erosion's done it or something. Or Dang. Another church. Shockingly, that's two churches within a hundred yards of each other. How do you know what church you should be a member of? Uh, yeah. There's. I don't know. Honestly, I don't know. There's just so many. Religion, drugs, and coal. That's, that's it. What, what is this like for you? What does this, like, feel like for you? Like, seeing this. I mean, this. Honestly, this is.
Nothing. Nothing shocking. This is a low-income area, like most of Appalachia like, it's not a lot of job opportunities. Yeah. So you find yourself. living in, you know, trailers. More often a cheaper alternative. You got to live somewhere. That's true. After an hour and change on the road, we drive by a tiny house where an old man flags us down. He turns out to be a retired coal miner, living out here all alone with just his pit bull for company. What was it like in the coal mines?
Yeah. I loved it. I mean, in, uh. The first coal mines I started at. But when they put me that other one crawling around on my knees, it, it didn't last long. Is the coal industry dead now? No. It's still going. But it wasn't what it was. It went down. Well, it don't have the members and the manpower because equipment's took it over. See, when I first started there, we had machines it was so loud you couldn't hear each other talk. Did it mess up? Did you get black lung or anything?
You can't hear? I can hear, but not good. I got black lung, but I never did be able to prove it. Tell me about this community you live in. It's just a good community. People friendly, know everybody. And watch out for each other. That's good. You live alone? No, I got a wife here someplace. She's in Bluefield, though. So what's up? Look at this. Hey, buddy! Are you having a good time? So what's the best and the worst thing about living out here?
I. I've, I've lived here so much, I just think it's all good. But, I mean, you ain't as close to the hospital and the stores is in town. But do what you want to out here. You decide you want to go in the backyard and shoot a gun, you can. Is there any crime? Why, sure there a crime every place. That's true. What do you think about the, like, the police presence? Do they, are they, like, active out here? Is there not enough police?
They're pretty good, yeah. Okay. So, aside from coal mining, what are the other jobs around here? I don't have no idea. I've been out of coal mine since they broke me down. What about other people around here? You don't talk to your neighbors? Yeah, I talk to them. Most of them like me retarded. I mean, retired. Oh, man. Yeah. So, did you actually, you went down, like, underground mine shafts? Sure. Did you do a lot of.
I didn't do a shaft. It was a slope. Okay, like a slope. You do like, some strip mining too? Or. No, I never did do strip mine. Okay. You made a lot of money doing that, huh? No. Not compared to what they make now. You know, I made good money for back then. When I started out, I was making twenty-eight dollars a day, and that was good money. Yeah. That's pretty good for back then. Yeah. There you go. Why you got sticking up bag on top of your car? Tell them what it is.
My antenna came off the top of my car, and I'm trying to keep all the electrical stuff from getting destroyed by rain. Have you ever traveled to big cities? Not try, not to. I feel like that's the common answer around here. Yeah. Even for me. Like, I go to a big city, I get. anxious. I just don't go. Nervous. What do you not like about it? None of it. The traffic. Most of the people ain't friendly. Down here, you, I go up and down the road you can.
This tractor coming here, ninety-nine percent possibility he'll wave at me before I do. Let's see if he wave. He's gotta hear you. That's your traffic right there. Yeah. This man comes from a version of America that is fading away. But I'm glad to see he's still out here living his best life. At this point, Tate and I have detoured away from our planned route, and we have just come across our next pit stop. We're in the town of Tazewell, Virginia, and we're gonna get some food at a little mom and pop shop. Some bikers outside.
Oh, yeah. I'm so hungry. Is it good stuff? You must be hungry when you eat here. All right. Are people struggling in this county? What would you say are the biggest struggles? How you doing? Nothing, here. Good. How are you? Hey, buddy. Went well. How you doing, my friend? Doing okay? Hey. Oh, yeah, not bad yourself. I'm doing great! That's just. Mater. Hot. What do you call this? Fried green tomato.
Mater the old school. Mater is the old school. I told him at home, I call him cut me a mater. Yeah, cut me a mater. But out at the. Out at the store, something. You got to say tomato. Grab a tomato. Yeah, 'cause they going to say, well, where you from? Oh, wow. Thank you so much. You can put. Put it here. Yeah. Oh, my God, that is. That looks delicious. You like that? You weren't kidding about the ribs, dude. Oh, no. Told you.
What you want to eat, you come to the right place. I got brisket. It looks juicy. Do you want to go half and half? Are you comfortable with your brisket? Uh. If you want to go half and half, I will. It's the best of both worlds. Hey, unc, you were not joking, man. Oh, no. Oh, man we don't falsify information. Is this place really segregated? Because all these communities we've just seen, like, white people, white people. No Asians, no Black people. So how are you, like.
Well, they. Now, if you go back to the history, yeah. Yeah, for sure. Never seen that bothers here. Yeah. Okay. So you, you don't see racism? We're not. Just straight up in your face. Yeah. But you can feel it at times. Yeah. What do you want the world to know about Appalachia? The economy. is kind of rough around here. How long can you be in here? Yeah. Coal mines is your main economy in this area with the unions and all this. caused a lot of mines to shut down because they can't afford to do what the unions want.
That just leaves this area hanging. The people that are here. They're in a place that's been basically. Yeah. Like you said, a shell of a town. Yeah. Not really great employment opportunities, they're not making a ton of money. Where are they going to go? Right. Well, you can't. Well, you can't afford to go. You know what I wean? Can't afford to go anywhere. It's like, then people get into drugs, they get into, you know, certain things like that, and then it becomes just a revolving door of. the next generation.
They're more likely to get on drugs and probably not have a great job and be dependent on government things. And that's just not a good. Right. That's not a. Since. That's not a growth tactic. Not to. Yeah. What makes you happy? Watching people smile when they eat my food. He's smiling. You're happy. You're really happy. What's your. You seem like a happy guy. What's your key to happiness? Don't get stressed out.
How do you not get stressed out? I deal with what I can deal with, and what I can't, I don't want to buy. Do you think America is going to shit, or we have good days ahead? They need to get that orange motherfreaker out of that office. Cause he just doing what the freak he want to. And he pissing everybody off right now. It sounds like, your opinion is an. Is an unpopular opinion and where we are, most people around here is all Trump signs.
Yeah. There some. Well there some few of them. They just don't say it because they don't want to upset nobody. And everything he done did didn't failed no. But we still like his ass for some reason. That means not. With full stomachs, we're hitting the road to meet up with a local legend who made his fortune in coal. He invites us to talk under the covered bridge in front of his home. And I can't wait to hear his story. Appalachia is about the end of the world. You came here for the coal industry? I owned my own for years. I had monster strip job in Kentucky. And four deep mines.
The deep mines is the seam of coal is under that rock. Got it. You don't own them anymore? Oh, uh, no. One mines a big strip job we sold it. Here's what happens in coal marketing, we had our own little sales company. We sell to the brokers And, you have to prepare the coal and crush it down and put it in the railroad cars. And then in the wintertime, you treat it with an alcohol that keeps it from freezing up. So, coal business has a cycle. We start here at the bottom of the cycle.
Business is down. You can't sell coal very good. Nobody wants it. But then, political picture changes. Bingo. It gets to the top of the cycle. And then it goes off. It may go straight off or it may go way out. Like. Let's say. Like real estate. From here to here is four years. Coal business follows a four-year cycle. In coal business you can make good sometimes, but, if it don't keep carrying on, you'll try to stay in business hoping that the sales will come back. But you got so many things that the government has imposed upon you to maintain your status. If you ain't mining, you're just a sunk duck.
Do you want to be successful in life? Do you? There's only one word to get you there. What is it? G-O-D. God. Came. How you doing, man? Howdy. What's going on? Hey, you got a banjo with you? Yeah. Oh, dude! Can you play for us? He can play, yeah. Play for us. Yeah. Can you play something real quick? Sure. Oh, dude, yes! This is, uh. He can play. This is one I like. Dear old Dixie. Now crap.
I, I think that a lot can be told from the, the name of our street. Faith Manifested Boulevard. Yep. Good hard work gets you a whole lot of places. Talent gets you a whole lot more. Even more than that is faith. Uh. Faith will, will do things that you don't expect and things that you don't think can, can happen. And uh, going from. From nothing to a whole lot of something is, is, uh. All three put together. Um. I think that's this whole property. It's hard work, it's faith, and it's, uh, talent. Wow, that's really inspiring, man.
This is pretty cool. Oh yeah. He, he. I spent many, uh. Many evenings after school, uh, running around with my grandfather, helping him whatever, whatever new adventure he wanted us to go on. What have you learned from him about life? You don't have any business owning something if you don't know how to work on it. Uh. Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without. That's it. Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without. Yeah. Hey you all, I have got to hang up.
There's a YouTuber wanting to tour our farm. All right. Tommy just invited me in his truck to go for a tour the house so here we go. I'm being. Yeah, I'm being serious. Really? Who is he? Hi, how are you? I, I gotta hang up. Goodbye. My grandfather was always a mechanic. He spent his life as a mechanic. And what was easier than collecting whole cars was collecting motors. So right now we have about two hundred exhibits of different motors and transmissions for different cars.
These are used in bigger pieces of equipment, right, like. Some of them are used just for factories. That one, in particular, that was used in a logging mill. Uh. We still haven't weeded it from last year because, uh, we like to wait until June but. It's hot in here, man. Everything in. Oh yeah. Uh, last November and Christmas I think we picked our last pepper the week before Christmas. Y'all playing dirty jokes on people in here, no doubt, right? With those snakes.
Well, a time or two, but really they do help. Uuh, I know it doesn't look realistic at all and it's kind of silly having a rubber snake as a garden tool, but it, it helps when it comes to, uh, pests eating, eating the garden. So what is it like growing up like, with all this amazing land and house? I mean, like this is, this is actually statistically one of the poorest counties in America. Oh, yeah. So is that like, what has it been like for you? Well, I, I get to see two different parts. I get to see, uh, Riverview, which is about not even half a mile down the road. And you see police officers and sirens every,
every weekend. It's just terrible. Then you have this and it's a. It's a whole lot better it's. Yeah, it's a whole lot better for sure. Uh. It's given me an experience that a lot of my peers don't have. Uh. And you're grateful for that? Oh, very grateful. Because I get to learn. Uh, how to stay a lot more self-sufficient. Um. I love that. How many siblings you got? Oh, just my sister. Uh. She lives down there. Who lives here in this property?
Uh. Me, my mother and father. My. Uh, my grandfather who you met down there, and my grandmother. Man, that's it. That's a lot of space for a few amount of people. Pretty awesome, man. Oh yes, very awesome. Very, very awesome. There's the canning house. Yeah, yeah. What's that. What's that for? My great-grandmother used to live there. And. now we just use it to can goods because canning takes a whole lot, a whole lot of space, especially if you do a whole lot of it. And it was just easier to do all of it in there than to clean out the kitchen.
Sure. Something of my unique perspective is. You see on the phone a lot of, "Oh, don't whistle at night, don't walk in the woods at night." And making the woods a horror story. When I mean I've been in my entire life, I mean, I. I, I've walked from the back of. The back door of this house down to my house through those woods just without a flashlight. It's just. You're not scared of nothing. This is a five-string pre, uh, pre-war Gibson banjo, which were very rare because five-strings were not at all popular where four-strings were. Because bluegrass had not
been what it was and jazz was a whole lot more popular. And these five-strings were looked down at a little bit more. So it's, uh, it's exceedingly rare. How much is this worth? My grandfather estimates about. About a quarter million. However, uh, they, they sell differently. Oh, wow. Dude. That's worth a quarter million dollars. Quarter of a million dollars. How many of those in the world do you think there are?
I've looked online, for a pre-war. This is what's called a Florentine. It's a Gibson Florentine. And I've looked online for an original five-string Gibson Florentine that's pre-war. And I have not found one yet. I found its sister model, an All American. But I've never found a uh, Florentine. Pretty nice. I took my senior pictures with this banjo. Do you think I could hold a quarter million dollars? Sure. That was a long thought, dude! Okay. Be careful. That's insane. That's awesome. That's super cool. Uh, play some.
Okay. Didn't expect that question, did you? So who lives here? Uh, me and my mother and father. Got it. My father is now a retired from the railroad. But, uh. My mother's a school teacher. You can see where my nephews. My nephews are up here a lot. You get any bears over here? Oh, plenty. Come in. Hi, how are you?
Hello. Good. How are you? Hello. Nice to meet you. Hey, bud. A lot of cool stuff in here. Our music room. Whoa! What a man cave. How do you know which one to grab at any given moment? Uh, just whatever strikes my fancy. You're just like, I want that one. Fiddle? Just a little. This banjo was from nineteen sixteen. It's made by Orpheum. And this is a Irish tenor banjo. And what differentiates it is it's a seventeen, uh, seventeen-fret instead of nineteen-fret.
Does it sound different? Yeah. Uh, typically it's tuned a lot lower. Sounds way different. It's very hard to stay in tune. It was made before manufacturing was standardized. So if you was to look, you actually, if you did look, I can't find a banjo head this size. What does music mean to the people of Appalachia? It's, it's. It's definitely a pillar to the culture. Uh. not everybody plays.
It's. It's gotten less and less popular and less prevalent for people to play, but it's definitely still there. I mean, bluegrass music sounds a lot older, but in reality, it, it developed about the same time that rock and roll did. Uh, that's because it had a lot older influences. Music here means a whole lot. My, my whole family, with the exception of my parents, uh, they play music. My grandfather, my aunt. Um, my great-grandfather, and his brothers. It's just as much to the core of the culture as the food, as the language, as anything else. That's cool man. Do you agree with that?
I, I would agree. So I would say maybe even more so. Music, storytelling is massive. I mean. You got a lot of family that plays music, too? Good. Oh, yeah. A, a ton. And, you know, music, religion, kind of just meshes right together. Storytelling. I, I would say so. Our language. As an English major, I've had to take several language classes. Every dialect is there, there is no correct dialect. And because Appalachian has certain features, uh, like the epenthetic R.
Uh, an epenthetic R is "I'll wash my clothes, wash". Adding an a. It's a verb. "A". I'm a-fix them. And you're adding an "a" to the beginning of the language, which is actually a lot older feature from mark uh, Middle early, or late English and, uh, early Modern English. People don't know much about Appalachia, like, from other parts of the country. And frankly, it has a bad stereotype. They think it's poor, impoverished. And a lot of that is probably true. You know, it was booming a hundred years ago and now it's.
People. The towns are becoming empty. People are leaving. What do you want to say to people of the world about Appalachia? We're a whole lot more than the problems. Every, every area has problems, and Appalachia has a lot more than, than some. But we're. We're a whole lot more than that. Uh. For every place where it's a trailer park with rampant drugs and, uh, opioid use and poverty, there's a little farming community.
The people around here are constantly told, "Well, Appalachia's poor, Appalachia's ignorant, Appalachia's inbred and addicted to opioids." And that causes a, a lot more problems. I mean, my entire life and you all's life, there's the Hee Haw where. uh, depicts country and Appalachian folks as pretty ignorant, or Beverly Hillbillies or the old Mountain Dew ads. The very common stereotype that people are starting to fulfill it. How does that make you feel? Well, because I'm aware of it, it's a little bit different, but, uh.
Pisses me off. I wouldn't say pisses me off, because people don't. People don't understand it. Yeah. I mean, the truth is we hear terrible things that may or may not be true about Chicago. But there's cool art in Chicago that I know about. You know, there's cool, like, buildings there. There's cool things about it. The Windy City. But if you just hear the negative all the time, sometimes that gets drowned out, you know, think it's the same here. Yeah. Uh. people, people don't think of Appalachia as, as developed culturally as a lot of places. And I understand that because.
Just because of the, the state it is in, it has a lot of problems, yeah. But it doesn't, uh, take away from the positives. I showed up to Appalachian Virginia not knowing a soul. And now I'm proud to be leaving with a handful of new friends. Sure, the poverty here is real, but so are the deeply rooted traditions, the bluegrass music, the soul food, and the people who will bring complete strangers into their homes. You don't get any of that from the stereotypes. You just have to roll down your window and ask.
