I am a big fan of State Parks, and West Virginia has a pretty extensive network of State Parks to choose from. I spent a lot of time in West Virginia State Parks and was generally really impressed by how they were run and what they had to offer. While they weren’t perfect, I think a lot of thought is put into West Virginia State Parks, and a lot of what they are doing could be a model for other states which are looking to build their state park systems.
The first thing I would applaud West Virginia State Parks for is, unfortunately, already outdated by the time you will read this. I loved that West Virginia State Parks were free to enter when I was there. That meant that they were there for everyone to enjoy, and I would often see a sign and just pull in to check it out. Starting this year, the state will charge a fee in its most visited parks. While I know this will be a nominal fee, I say leave them free. The parks generate a lot of revenue through lodging and camping fees, restaurants, gift shops, snack bars and vendors. But there are those, especially in a state like West Virginia, who truly can’t afford to pay, but still want to bring their kids to the lake or out hiking. I wish the state would reconsider this...
Finding a true multi-generation craft shop these days is getting harder and harder. Finding one where you can actually see the products being made is even harder still. I treasure these finds because they are so rare. Having been to factories which churn out thousands of pieces an hour, all exactly the same, it is nice when you can find somewhere where things are made one at a time and each piece is unique and distinct. Wandering into Appalachian Glass in Weston, West Virginia I knew I was somewhere special. In the hour or so I was there, I saw really beautiful glass ornaments being blown by hand, learned some history about the area and the industry, had a cup of coffee and walked out with some beautiful hand-made glass pieces in my hand and a smile on my face...
’m going to go right ahead and say it. In the incredible ethnic food scene that stretches across America, the most inevitably disappointing is Italian. I don’t know why this is, but it’s true. Having spent plenty of time in Italy I know how good Italian food is. The Italian-American population is huge, and if you go by their houses you will find amazing dishes in every pot. Why then is it that every time I go to an Italian restaurant I find it so underwhelming? If I order pasta I usually feel as though I could have made better at home in 20 minutes. It’s actually gotten to a point where I won’t even go to an Italian restaurant anymore. This is why Muriale’s in Fairmont, West Virginia was such an amazing find...
Leaving Spencer, West Virginia, I travel out state highway 14, make a left on Colt Ridge and then a right on Colt Run and just like that, I find myself in a different time. The road turns quickly to a one lane dirt track through the woods and leads deep into a hollow. Having spent enough time in West Virginia now, my hope is that I won’t see a massive coal or lumber truck come barreling around the corner towards me. I don’t, and soon I find myself bouncing happily down a West Virginia back country road and quickly pull up at my destination under a sign that reads “Hatfield Farms”.
Hatfield Farms is home to Devil Anse Hatfield’s Great Great-Grandson Mark Hatfield and his wife Brenda. It’s also home to their latest business ventures: Hatfield and McCoy Vineyards and The Sweeter Side of the Feud Winery and Distillery...
Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco Treat Yourself to the Best. While I don’t actually advocate chewing tobacco, or using tobacco at all for that matter, I do love a good Mail Pouch outdoor advertisement. Between 1891 and 1992, West Virginia Mail Pouch Chewing Tobacco, based in Wheeling, had its name painted on as many as 20,000 barns in 22 states. Barn owners were paid a nominal fee to use their barns, less than $50 a year in today’s money, but every few years they got their barns painted for free. If a side wasn’t visible from the road, Mail Pouch would paint it any color the owner wanted.
One barn painter, Harley Warrick, spent 55 years painting Mail Pouch advertisements. A barn would usually take him and a partner about 6 hours to finish and he never used a stencil but painted everything by hand. It is estimated that over the course of his career Warrick painted or retouched over 20,000 signs...
Southwestern West Virginia doesn’t get a lot of visitors. This is a shame because there are some really cool places to see there. But it’s a shame for them as well because jobs are scarce in the southwest since coal has dried up and the economy could use some tourist money coming in. During my time there I saw some wonderful tourism initiatives, some things I would change and some things that just left me shaking my head.
I started my tour in tiny Bramwell in Mercer County. Historically, Bramwell was the business center of the Pocahontas Coal Fields. During its heyday, Bramwell supported a population of over 4000 people. The Bank of Bramwell was the financial center for the whole region and 14 passenger trains a day pulled into the station. In the late 1800s, Bramwell was said to have the highest concentration of millionaires per capita in the country...
If you've ever heard a joke about West Virginia, West Virginians tell the same jokes about people from McDowell County. McDowell County is the poorest county in West Virginia, with a median household income below $22,500, and has the lowest life expectancy in the country for men and the second lowest for women. Opioid abuse is off the charts. This is that Appalachia.
The night before I went into McDowell County I was sitting at a bar in Bluefield in neighboring Mercer County. The gentleman I was speaking with told me they had three rules when they went into McDowell County: have a full tank of gas, make sure your car door locks worked, and bring a gun. He made very clear that he wasn't kidding...
It was great to be in Charleston for their annual Christmas Parade this year. Some of the costumes and characters really put a smile on my face. I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you guys. Enjoy!
Tamarack is an incredible idea executed flawlessly. In their own words, Tamarack's vision is to be "recognized globally as a dynamic catalyst and premiere showcase for all aspects of advancing West Virginia arts, crafts and food products and those who produce or perform them". I don't know what I expected when I walked into Tamarack, but it certainly wasn't what I ended up finding there. People had described it to me as a high end arts and crafts market, but it is so much more than that. Tamarack bills itself as "The Best of West Virginia", and after visiting two days in a row, I can say that slogan much better describes what I experienced there.
Sitting right off Interstate 64 in south-central West Virginia and just outside the town of Beckley, Tamarack may be one of the best ideas I've come across in a long time. It opened its doors in 1996 and has never looked back. Tamarack showcases West Virginia's best artists and craftspeople, but is also a restaurant, a conference center, a community gathering place and a work of art in its own right. As soon as you walk through the door, your senses are enveloped by West Virginia...
It was the first snowy Sunday morning of the season as I drove up West Virginia Route 46 and pulled into the tiny town of Helvetia, population 59. Helvetia was settled by a small group of Swiss immigrants high in the West Virginia mountains just after the American Civil War. The isolation of Helvetia has certainly helped the residents continue many of their Swiss traditions, and I was there to enjoy one: the Bernerplatte buffet lunch at The Hutte Restaurant.
Arriving on a snowy morning was perfect as it added just that little extra touch of authenticity to my visit. I pulled off the highway and went for a wonderful walk around this small community...
John Henry is a popular American folk hero. His story has been told in print, story and song for almost 150 years. His is a classic tale of man vs. machine which is as valid today as ever, especially here in West Virginia.
Whether or not John Henry was a real person has been debated for over a century, but there is no doubt if you ask people in Talcott. West Virginia. Talcott is the town that sits on top of the Big Bend Tunnel, cut for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad between 1870 and 1872 and the site where the story of John Henry supposedly took place. They have built a beautiful park with a statue to this hero of the working man and local history includes many people who claim to have known John Henry and witnessed his famous competition.
When Bill Danert, Taffy Nivert and John Denver penned the lyrics to the song Country Roads, Take Me Home they were trying to capture the spirit of a place. Many critics have said that the song more clearly depicts Western Virginia the region than West Virginia the state, but in Jefferson County, West Virginia you do get both the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River. Seeing these both in one view...
