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Issue: Spring/Summer 2012
Author(s): Becky Linhardt
Whether it’s hearty “yee-haw” or an archaic “mark twain,” Point Pleasant, West Virginia has a lot of history to shout about. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers, this small town opened the Point Pleasant River Museum in 2003 to celebrate its heritage. The rivers’ natural world is revealed within the imposing 2400-gallon aquarium stocked with freshwater fish from the Ohio River Valley. You can stand in a working model of an old steamboat pilot house, ogle numerous steamboat models an...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2012
Author(s): Patricia Bates
A lump of black coal never seems the same after a visit to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine in Beckley, West Virginia . Once you discover the source of our energy, you’ll know how much work it takes to provide our nation’s heating fuel. With a pick, an axe and a shovel, miners would hand-load ore years ago into bins some 1,500 feet below the hills of New River Park. Get a feel for what life was like on the underground tour and ride the authentic “man cars” to explore a former geological site with a vete...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2012
Author(s): Stacey Higgins
There are few things more synonymous with summer than the red, ripe strawberry. It’s no wonder, then, that the annual summer festival in Buckhannon, West Virginia , is an ode to that sweet summery fruit. The West Virginia Strawberry Festival started in 1936 as a way to honor the state’s strawberry growers and gave them a place to sell their berries. Still going strong in 2012, the festival now runs for five fruitful days — May 16–20. Activities range from carnival rides, craft fairs and parades to draft...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2012
Author(s): Jenny Pavlasek
You’re in a travel rut. And the only prescription is some serious adventure. The recently opened New River Gorge Bridge Walk in Lansing, West Virginia , is just what you need. Already famous as a playground for whitewater rafters, climbers, birders and other outdoor types, the 70,000 acres surrounding the New River Gorge National River delivers some of the state’s most spectacular scenery. The bridge tour, which takes you across the New River Bridge via a 24-inch-wide catwalk, is a chance for visitors t...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2011
Author(s): J. Eric Eckard
It should come as no surprise that the bloodiest war on U.S. soil also sparked one of the nation’s most famous family feuds. Many historians trace the roots of the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys to 1865. Returning home from the Civil War, Union soldier Asa Harmon McCoy was killed by a band of Southern sympathizers, whose ranks were filled with Hatfields. But after years of fighting that led to 13 deaths, a pall cast over the Tug Valley between West Virginia and Kentucky, and the “mountain folk” j...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2011
Author(s): Sandie Young
Before the falling snow and after the summer heat comes a season to celebrate. And there is no better way to savor seasonal traditions than to join West Virginia during Fall Harvest Festivals . Grassroots Appalachian music emanates across the town of Hinton during the Festival of the Rivers , celebrated annually during Labor Day weekend. Experience small-town culture at the Golden Delicious Festival in Clay County, held September 15–18. Festival president Terri Allen says that about 20,000 people head in...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2011
Author(s): Sandie Young
The holiday season seems to disappear faster than Santa Claus himself. The red and green stockings, glittering lights and hand-made ornaments can only be admired for a short time each year, so indulge in the simple seasonal joys with a one-of-a-kind performance of American Mountain Theater’s Christmas Spectacular in Elkins, West Virginia . The Christmas Spectacular — which is, like all of the theater’s shows, modeled after the variety shows of yesteryear — offers a combination of classic holiday tunes, m...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2011
Author(s): Christina Ipavec
There’s no time like the fall to visit New River Gorge National River Park in West Virginia. Of course, whitewater rafting is the major draw, and ziplining offers an ethereal experience when the leaves change colors. Hiking along the more than 6,000 acres of trail will impress visitors, too, but those wishing to really rough it will enjoy overnight horseback riding, which incorporates sightseeing and primitive camping for a true family-bonding experience. One of the few area outfitters to offer ov...
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