36 hours in Berea, KY: The Trans-America Experience
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
1 like•189 views
The Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program Summer 2015 has been focusing on making Berea, KY into a trail town in order to increase tourism in the Adventure Tourist area. This presentation is an attempt to outline how an Adventure Tourist would spend their time and money in Berea.
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (13)
Viewers also liked
Viewers also liked (18)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
36 hours in Berea, KY: The Trans-America Experience
- 1. 36 Hours In Berea: The Trans-American Experience Guinevere Beirne, English Literature Major, Junior Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program Summer 2015 June 8, 2015 Berea College
- 2. Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program. Cohort 12. Beirne, Guinevere “Personal Observations.” Berea, KY. May 2015.
- 3. Adventure Tourism Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program. Cohort 12. Beirne, Guinevere “Personal Observations.” Berea, KY. May 2015.
- 4. Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program. Cohort 12. Beirne, Guinevere “Personal Observations.” Berea, KY. May 2015.
- 5. Why Berea? Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program. Cohort 12. Beirne, Guinevere “Personal Observations.” Berea, KY. May 2015.
- 7. Adventure Cycling Association. “TransAmerica Trail." Adventure Cycling Association. Web. 05 June 2015.
- 9. Limitations
- 10. Boone Tavern Hotel 7:00pm V. Libby. “New Front Entrance." Boone Tavern Hotel Yelp. Web. 07 June 2015. Thursday
- 11. Papaleno’s 7:30pm Han, Doly. “Photos of Papaleno’s Restaurant." Papaleno’s Restaurant. Yelp. Web. 07 June 2015.
- 12. Pinnacles 6:00am "Berea Pinnacles Photo: East Pinnacle view to the right." Berea Pinnacles Pictures. TripAdvisor, Nov 2011. Web. 07 June 2015. Friday
- 13. Old Town Amish Food Store 11:00am “Open Seven Days a Week." Old Town Amish Store. Weebly. Web. 07 June 2015.
- 14. BC&T 12:30pm “BC&T Spring Time Store Front." Berea Coffee & Tea Co. Yelp. Web. 07 June 2015.
- 15. College Square 1:30pm “College Square Berea, Ky." Facebook. College Square Berea, KY, 28 April 2014. Web. 07 June 2015.
- 16. Berea Fudge Shoppe 4:00pm Han, Doly. “Photos of Berea Fudge Shoppe." Berea Fudge Shoppe. Yelp. Web. 07 June 2015.
- 17. Old Town 4:20pm "First Friday Berea." Facebook. First Friday Berea, 24 May 2015. Web. 07 June 2015.
- 18. "Village Trough." Venues & Event Spaces. Yelp. . Web. 07 June 2015. Village Trough 5:00pm
- 19. First Friday 6:00pm "First Friday Berea." Facebook. First Friday Berea, 24 May 2015. Web. 07 June 2015.
- 20. Sleep 9:00pm
- 22. Itinerary Thursday 7:00pm- arrive at Berea and Check into Boone Tavern 7:30pm – Dinner at Papaleno’s 8:00pm- Hotel for a shower and sleep Friday 6:00am- Wake up, breakfast in room and hike to pinnacles 11:00am- Old Town Food Store 12:30pm- Lunch at BC&T 1:30pm- Browse College Square 4:00pm- Berea Fudge Shoppe 4:20pm- Browse Old Town 5:00pm – Dinner at Village Trough 6:00pm– First Friday 9:00pm - Hotel for a shower and sleep Saturday 7:00am- Wake up, breakfast in room, and set off for next adventure
- 23. Recommendations
Editor's Notes
- I’m part of the Cohort 12 of the Entrepreneurship for the Public Good Program, and we have picked up where previous Cohorts have left off in working with the trail committee to make Berea the third certified trail town in the state of Kentucky. So far our Cohort has presented to the merchants of Berea and gained their support following this came the creations of the merchants, signage, PR, Education, and volunteer committees. After presenting to the Merchants, we moved on to the Executive Judge Reagan Taylor where we got him to sign a letter of support.
- Besides this, our Cohort has been exploring the Adventure Tourism activities such as hiking, biking, and kayaking. We have done this to gain the mindset of an adventure tourist, so we can better understand and participate in our efforts to make Berea a trail town. Making Berea a trail town will most likely increase the number of Adventure Tourists that come to Berea which will then increase the Revenue that Berea makes from tourism. As Rita Smart said for every dollar that Berea spends on tourism we gain 15. This presentation is an effort to outline how an adventure tourist would spend their day and money in Berea, Kentucky.
- I’ve based the Adventure Tourism Persona in this presentation off of previous Adventure Tourists who our Cohort has met. These Adventure Tourists were cyclers who were all travelling on the Trans American Trail, and they were all young intellectuals who either had a college degree or was pursuing one.
- So, why Berea? Why would people be attracted to Berea? Aside from the fact we have a unique, rich, cultural history, aside from the fact that we have many local artists who create a variety of different products such as brooms, pottery, and jewelry that they sell here in local shops, aside from the fact that we have many natural scenic attractions such as the pinnacles and the 21 trails that have been outlined by the trail committee, aside from all of that! I have learned recently from one of the bikers that we are a natural stopping point along the Trans American Trail because we are at the end of one map and the beginning of another.
- Now, I want you to imagine a girl. Let’s say her name is Rachel. Rachel is a 22 year old, single woman who has recently graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelors degree in Bio Engineering. Born into a wealthy family in Portland, Rachel is used to the big city life and being surrounded by skyscrapers and sidewalks. Though she hasn’t been out of Oregon more than a handful of times, Rachel has always had the desire to travel across America and eventually around the world. She tries to remain economically friendly by riding her bike wherever she goes, she does not own a car, so her parents come visit her or take her home whenever she wishes to go home. She values eating organic whole foods and fair trade or locally grown products. Her most favorite hobbies have always been outdoor recreational activities such as canoeing, kayaking, biking, and hiking. However she has always favored biking above all others. “Engineering, Computer and Information Systems: Undergraduate Degree Programs at OSU.” Office of Admissions. Oregon State University. Web. 07 June 2015.
- Wanting to escape the city life for the summer, Rachel has decided to take the summer off before she starts her new job in the Fall and bike the Trans America trail by herself. This will also enable her to reach her goal of traveling across America. Other than the trip itself, her biggest goal is to learn as much as she can from each place she stops at and to have fun. Being an avid cyclist, Rachel already owns all the materials she will need in order to start the trip. Being that she’s into the spontaneous and wants to have all the fun she wants without hindrance, she has decided to abstain from creating a budget. She figures that it won’t cost too much in the long run anyway.
- Using the Trans America Trial website, she has ordered all the maps she needs and has a general idea of where she will be heading and what she will be seeing. Along the way, she uses warmshowers.com to figure out places to stay and Yelp to find attractions and food sources. Above all else, though, she listens to the advice of the local residents when looking for attractions or restaurants because she figures they know where they live best. Motorrad Media.“The Trans-America Trail.” Web. 07 June 2015. "Home | Warmshowers.org." Home | Warmshowers.org. Web. 07 June 2015. “Yelp” Apple iTunes Store. 2014. Web. 07 June 2015.
- Going from a busy high school student to a busy college student doing internships during the summers, Rachel’s greatest limitation has been time. That is why Rachel has chose her last summer to do this trip across America. On the road however, her biggest limitation has been that she is a woman travelling alone. She often feels a bit threatened or scared of being alone. After a while, however, she has grown used to being on the road and has become braver.
- After 950 miles of travelling, Rachel arrives in Berea at 7:00pm on a Thursday. She hasn’t heard back from her warm showers contact, so she decides to check Yelp for other lodging options. Though she sees that she could take the cheapest route and go camping for the night at the Walnut Meadows Campground, she decides to go the more expensive route and check out a room at the Boone Tavern Hotel since it was already growing late, and she would have to set up her camping gear. She chose this place because it seemed like a place where she could learn the most about the history of the town, and it was in the heart of the town as well. Two nights would cost $272. Berea College. “One King Bed.” Room Availability. Historic Boone Tavern: Hotel and Restaurant of Berea College. 2013. Web. 07 June 2015.
- After spending half an hour checking in and checking her phone for a bit, Rachel decides to check Yelp once again to see what there was to eat. She realizes that she could eat at the restaurant within her hotel, but after spending so much on lodging, she felt that maybe she would like to spend a little less for dinner. She found an Italian restaurant called Papaleno’s which seemed to have good reviews and was decently priced. She met a few local college students there who were very nice and recommended places for her to visit and said they would be willing to wash her clothes for her. By 8:00pm she was back in her hotel, updating her blog, showering, and then going to bed.
- Already on a sleeping schedule that made her go to bed at nine and be up by 6:00am, Rachel started her day at 6:00am when she ate a Cliff bar for breakfast in her room and then decided to bike 30 minutes out to the Pinnacles that her newfound college friends had told her about, and hiked 1.3 miles to the East Pinnacle. After spending sometime looking around and enjoying the view, it was still early, so she hiked four more miles over to the West Pinnacle where she did the same. Finally, Rachel hikes back down and heads back to the hotel to meet the students who have her clean clothes at 10:00am.
- Being that her newfound friends have summer classes to attend, they agreed to meet her later, and she decides to bike out to the Amish Food Store that the students had told her about which carries local and fresh produce so she can restock on granola and maybe some apples.
- After exploring the store, talking to the locals, and buying all she needed, nearly an hour had passed, so she decided to bike back to the college square because she wanted to check out some of the shops. Her total was around $15.00. She arrived at the college square around 11:00pm and decided to have lunch before exploring the shops. Both the students and the people on Yelp had raved about the shop called BC&T, so she decided to check it out. Once there, she ordered a Reuben and a Java chip frappe which totaled around $11.00
- After enjoying a long chat with the friendly baristas and learning about an event that she would like to attend later in the evening called First Friday, Rachel heads out to explore College Square where she visits places like Peace Craft, the Student Gallery, the College Bookstore, The Boone Tavern Shoppe, The Visitor's Center, and Warren A. May which is a store full of hand crafted dulcimers. Sadly, she didn’t have any room and didn’t want any extra weight on her trip to buy any souvenirs, but she did review everyone who had a Yelp on Yelp and took many pictures, so she could post them on her blog and tell everyone they should visit. Amazed at the culture within the town and how it had formed around the local college and how the college itself had started, Rachel visited the final place on her list for the college square. “Shopping.” Berea | Where Art’s Alive. Berea, KY Tourism. Web. 07 June 2015.
- Rachel was at the Berea Fudge Shoppe buying some fudge and an ice cream cone by 4:00pm. She spent around $10.00.
- By 4:00, Rachel’s new found friends were free from class and ready to walk her down to Old Town, so she could experience First Friday. However, by 4:00 the booths are only just being set up and not much is going on, so she decided to visit the shops there such as the Welcome Center, the Weston Glass Studio, Jazzy Jewels, and Honey Suckle Vines. After viewing such beautiful artistry, Rachel decided that a necklace would not weigh her down that much and decided to buy one from Honey Suckle Vines for $30.00. “Shopping.” Berea | Where Art’s Alive. Berea, KY Tourism. Web. 07 June 2015.
- By the time she was finished shopping and some of the stores were closing, it was 5:00 and she was ready for some dinner. First Friday was just starting, but not too many people had arrived yet, so she and her friends headed over to the Village Trough to eat some food. She spent around $10 for her meal.
- By the time she and her friends emerged from that experience, it was 6:00 and First Friday was in Full Swing. At first Friday, she was able to listen to and watch regional musicians and performers perform, browse booths that contained handmade arts and crafts as well as Kentucky Proud foods, and participate in fun activities. During which she ended up buying a bar of soap made by the local store called Berea Soaps and Gifts because she was running out of soap to wash herself with along her journey which cost around $5.00. She also bought herself some Kettle Corn for $3.00.
- By 9:00pm, Rachel was tired, and she left her friends who wanted to stick around until First Friday ended at 10:00pm. They obviously weren’t planning on biking all day the next day, so Rachel headed back to the hotel where she showered and crashed.
- The next morning, she awoke at six before any restaurants she wanted to visit was open, so she decided to eat some of the foods she bought from the Amish Food Store before she checked out and started biking to her next destination.
- During her stay, Rachel would have spent an estimated total of around $372 and had an amazing historical and cultural experience as well as have made some new friends and spread the word that Berea is a great place to be at on her blog and on Yelp. It was more expensive than she had planned most likely because she ended up staying at Boone Tavern Hotel which is a fairly expensive place, but she enjoyed the experience and the hospitality there. 10/10 she would visit again and would recommend her friends to stop by Berea sometime and check it out. Her most favorite part of the whole trip was the people she encountered while she was there and the friendly atmosphere.
- I recommend that certain attraction in Berea be better advertised with either signage or brochures in the Visitor’s Center or the Welcome Center. While Berea does have a packet that lists all the local art galleries and restaurants, I’ve never seen a packet with the entertainment in Berea or maps of the trails in the area available. Rachel would have only heard of this if she did some web research on the area or if she had encountered locals such as the ones I have put into her story. I believe that brochures containing this information should be made and distributed to the suggested areas, so that visiting adventure tourists can have them to use in case they don’t end up talking to locals or are camping and don’t have the means to charge or use their devices to search for places to visit.