 As summer quickly approaches, many are getting outdoors with their families and friends. We spoke to Pike County tourism director, Tony Tackett, about low cost and free activities in the region. We'll start at the south point of the Virginia-Kentucky border, of course, with the Brake Center State Park, everything from hiking, rock climbing, and just a casual walk on one of their great trails in right here in eastern Kentucky, the Virginia Mountains. Sometimes we forget about our state parks, like Ginny Wiley or Carter Caves, which are a happening place for families because you can take a picnic, you can fish with a Kentucky state license, fishing license, which is very inexpensive for a year, and then you can discover that property, whether it be the plant life, the animal life, like at the Brake Center State Park, their Welcome Center literally teaches you about the plant life and the animal life on that state park line. Cancer, it's a very scary word, but an outstanding treatment facility was here at home. I was led to the Lawson Cancer Center. As a nurse practitioner at the Lawson Cancer Center, we are champions for our patients. I am so happy for Robert. The treatment worked. In addition to the state park system, eastern Kentucky showcases local artists and bands weekly. Sometimes we forget that we are a number in this community and we add up. When the more events that we are involved in, the more events happen. Not only that is, you bring your families out to it, because all of our music is family oriented in our area, and then you get to educate them on not only the music that you listened to 20, 30 years ago, but you also get to let them know and educate them on your opinion on the local music and how it's changed. Really everything is an educational component that if you use it right enough as a family member to the younger ones. The cool thing about it is Main Street Live is free. Country Music Highway is $3 a person for Thursday nights front porch picking. Those kind of venues, they need you. They need the audience. They need people involved, because it doesn't happen without an audience. There's no reason to have it without an audience. For a full schedule of upcoming events and free activities, go to www.kentucketourism.com. Reporting for Mountaintop News, I'm Brianna Robinson.