Why West Virginia?

 

       West Virginia is one of three remaining states we have to explore in our "Amber Waves" tour of the past dozen years or so.  Years ago, when we were making our way from one state to another, we briefly drove through West Virginia on the highway, and I suggested to Dana that we get off an find an interesting spot to explore and take a respite.  At the time, he was more interested in getting to our destination than checking off a state in the then early stages of our quest, so we pressed on.  For the next many years, each time I would propose we begin planning our West Virginia adventure, he would grumble some version of "If I'd only gotten off that exit and stopped at a Dunkin Donuts, we'd be heading to Europe instead!"

    This became a bit, as much as it did capture some of his - and, perhaps, to a lesser extent, all of our - uncertainty about just how wonderful a vacation centered on West Virginia might be.  When we arrived to our charming Bavarian Inn a few nights ago, and I found the very first of the FAQs to be one I had heard earlier that day from both Scott and Anne, I had to laugh:  "Why West Virginia?"

    Until a few days ago, our family's most emotional connection to this state came from Mark Strong's moving performance in the otherwise better to forget sequel to Kingsman.  As he prepares to end his life - and take out a bunch of the bad guys along with him - Merlin sings "Take Me Home" - and West Virginia suddenly held more allure.  If you haven't watched the scene in a while, or ever, here it is... 

    Needless to say, that song was the first one added to our vacation's playlist.  As one might imagine, there've been a whole lotta "Mountain Momma" references over the past several days.  I was delighted to see that West Virginia used the song in a tourism campaign video, perhaps hoping to provide a few definitive answers to that dismissive "Why West Virginia?" question.  

    As we said our goodbyes to the eastern panhandle yesterday morning, bidding adieu to the Potomac and our beloved Bavarian Inn, having breakfast at Betty's, a local institution, with a tree planted outside - and ribbons always added - to honor the loss of a loved one in the community. we opted to take the slightly longer route on another leg of the George Washington Heritage Trail that maps out the route our first President took through these parts so many years ago.  

    While this route did offer even more lovely country roads, it must be said, yet again, that the highways in these parts (West Virginia, Maryland, where much of our driving officially took place) are nearly as spectacular.  Lush, curving, hilly, relatively traffic free, they don't even seem like distant cousins to the highways we drive at home.  Still, the best part about taking the "Trail" is that it takes you right through charming towns such as Martinsburg and Berkeley Springs.

     There was neither the time nor the inclination to stop at every point of interest along the way, but we did see "George Washington's bathtub," where he enjoyed the famed, healing waters of Berkeley Springs, each took a turn at the water fountain (and then bought a bottle of the stuff to take with us!) and enjoy lunch at Tari's , where it was easy to see why it was a local favorite.  We also drove up the Cacapon Mountain in the heart of town for a beautiful, if slightly hazy, panoramic view of the landscape below.

    Originally on yesterday's agenda was a visit to Arthurdale, known as Eleanor Roosevelt's village, but that activity was postponed until this morning, so I will wrap up this blog in just a moment to get the show on the road.  Arriving in Morgantown around 7:00 PM yesterday evening, we weren't initially all that impressed.  The appeal of West Virginia, thus far, are those quiet country roads, the charming cafes where the locals all know your name, the hikes and forests and mountains.  While our time here has been limited to our forays out for dinner at Ogawa, a wonderful little college favorite Japanese restaurant, followed by dessert at Apple Annie's, another Morgantown institution, each of those delightful spots was dropped in its own landscape of asphalt and concrete, lessening their overall appeal just a smidge.

    Still, as I look out over the peaceful Monongahela River and look forward to this evening's exploration of Morgantown's wharf district, I can already offer a hearty defense of why we chose West Virginia as this year's vacation spot, and that's before our whitewater adventure or our spa treatments at the Greenbrier!