The obligatory picture with the Mountaineer
Perusing Woodburn Circle
Hanging out at the ‘Lair
Waiting for the Drunk Bus
Checking out Oglebay
Knock knock!
Everyone loves to hang their head out the car window
Click on any picture to go to my Flickr set with more adventures!
I’d feel bad about never having been to the WV Botanic Garden before, except it’s relatively new.
The weather cleared, so we took a walk on the rail trail today.
These are at and around the new construction on Beechurst. (Here’s a shot from last April.)
Saturday we were in Charleston for our niece’s birthday, but since the “kid’s party” was in the early afternoon, we spent time with Michael’s mother, and wandered around a bit beforehand. Michael’s mom lives quite near the Coal River, so we went to the Big Falls area for a bit, and then to the Little Falls area.
So the endpoint for our travel was Berkley Springs.
The center of Berkeley Springs are the springs that bubble up from the ground. The became a spa that was visited regularly by George Washington. In fact, there’s a little stone tub labeled “George Washington’s Bath”.
We again had beautiful weather, and since the Eastern Panhandle is slightly warmer than us, there was still plenty of leaf color.
Prickett Fort Cemetery is a private cemetery located in Prickett’s Fort State Park. It was established in the late 1700s, and contains markers that in some cases are nothing more than simple stones.
There were “newer” stones that had obviously replaced older worn stones, but even many of the stones from the early 1900s are wearing and will soon be illegible.
Very humbling to think that even the stone markers we leave as our memorials eventually return to nothing more than stone, with our passing and history erased.
Prickett’s Fort State Park was only about 15 minutes from our house when I was a teenager and young adult. Yet I don’t ever remember going there.
Of course, this isn’t as illogical as it sounds. The son of friends of my parents was killed there, struck by a train, when I was eight or nine years old. (Their daughter is the same age as me, and the memories of the day of the funeral are still sharp.) It just never seemed like a fun place to go.
But, today I decided it was time to leave the past in the past, so we went. It was a little odd, but I’m glad I finally decided to let myself get past it.
Sunday, since the weather was so beautiful, we took a drive to the iron bridge over Cheat Lake, and then out briefly to Coopers Rock.
Earlier this year, the old iron bridge was finally closed. Luckily, it’s completely open to pedestrians, so Michael and I wandered over the bridge. I wanted to walk to onto the construction site for the new bridge, but Michael nixed the idea, and since he’s sensible and I’m not, I didn’t go down. But I really did want to get pictures underneath the bridge.
Route 19 passes by/through Summersville, which perhaps best known for being the biggest speed trap in the state.
The bridge over Summersville Lake actually has a pedestrian walk, and is an amazing view.
So, if you’re unfamiliar with this West Virginia holiday of sorts, Bridge Day is when they close the New River Gorge Bridge for six hours so you can walk across it, rappel down it, and jump off it.
We went for walking across the bridge and taking pictures.
We’re almost there!
Saturday we took a nice scenic drive to Blackwater Falls State Park. Oddly, despite the number of times we’ve visited the park over the course of our lives, we’d never actually hiked around the park, so that’s what we did this weekend.
This made my day.
Our trip to Blackwater Falls State Park this weekend was gorgeous, with plenty of color in the trees.
I must say that Michael and I had a perfectly lovely day. (More pictures in the coming days.)
4) Mountaineer Week beard growing contest begins
West Virginia University’s annual beard growing competition begins with a group shave at noon on Oct. 12 in the Mountainlair.
Mountaineer Mascot Brock Burwell asks participating students to challenge his legendary beard for a $100 prize and year-long bragging rights.
Contest organizers hope to see 75-100 participants in the event, which marks the beginning of Mountaineer Week scheduled for Oct. 28 through Nov. 6.
More online: http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/n/2011/10/04/mountaineer-week-beard-growing-contest-begins
Note: I will not be participating.
On Route 50 in Rowlesburg, WV is Cool Spring Park. It’s an everything store with crates of fresh apples and a diner in the middle of the store. We got an iced tea and two milkshakes and our bill was under $5. It also has a park, which is… well… Let me just show you.
Saturday, we also went to Cathedral State Park. I don’t remember ever having been there. Michael hadn’t been there since boy scouts.
Cathedral State Park is a virgin forest–sometimes it feels like it’s one of the few. Unlike much of the rest of the state, the area was never strip mined or logged, so it’s a truly old growth forest.
I took a LOT of pictures this weekend. Here’s our first stop, Decker’s Creek along Route 7.
For years, Decker’s Creek was a lifeless waste, due to acid mine drainage. The creek was orange, and there was little life. It most certainly was not anything you’d want to splash around in.
Today–after years of fighting to force mine owners to take responsibility for the damage they caused, it’s quite beautiful.
Out Sunday drive started with a walk around the Rail Trail in Star City, then when the temperatures rose, we went for our drive.
I realized when we came back from vacation that although I have been to lots of places in West Virginia, there are many many more places where I have not been. So I bought to WV guide books (one for scenic drives and the other an explorer’s guide) and decided it’s time to get to know my state better.
Our drive for last weekend, New River Gorge, was canceled by the brakes on the car acting wonky (we replaced the rotors and pads both on Wednesday) but this week–shiny new brakes in place–we took our first drive to some place I hadn’t been before.
Just a few miles outside of Westover is the only covered bridge in Monongalia county. It’s not actually in use anymore, and there’s a rather unattractive “modern” ridge running next to it, but it was a lovely drive.
Star City Rail Trail:
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