Looking for interesting "mountain towns" in West Virginia (Charleston: live, gardens)

[BJC]

3run, that is so funny, and reminds me of our son's 18th birthday trip. hubby and his friend took, Jeff and 2 of his friends White Water rafting, did the upper and lower Gauley in the same day, none of them had EVER been WWR before. They loved it! They went back to my Mom's for a homemade spag. dinner, the boys (really young men) found a Barbie car left over from our 16 yr old daugheters summer days at grandma's, the size for a young child. Anyway I guess the thrill of the WWR still had them pumped up, they decided to take the Barbie car to the top of the hill behind my Moms house and ride it down the hill! This is an excellent hill in the winter for sleding. Can you picture 3 young men riding a Barbie car down the hill over and over? What a site, they had fun, Barbie car did not survive!

[GottaHerdOn]

Originally Posted by Threerun

Bah- just remember throttle on oversteer and you're good!

Just don't do what this guy did, lol

Ha Ha.. I live on 33 east of Elkins around Alpena, and I've worked at Canaan Valley and Timberline resorts in high school and in my years of living/working there I can tell you I've seen many cars and tractors and trailers do the exact same thing from ice, not really from rain. Ok, I've done it too ha ha. 7 days after I got my license I totaled a Jeep Grand Cherokee Kind of looked like that picture ha ha

[vec101]

GottaHerd,
How about the tractor-trailer truck driver who tried turning around at the intersection where you turn off onto the road to Spruce Knob (a few months ago. He went into Elkins from the Beverly area & was trying to hit the 4 lane - went the wrong way up Rt. 33 - finally realized his mistake.)

He backed his trailer over the mountainside at the intersection. Can't believe the guardrail held him and he didn't go down that mountainside. Heard he didn't even realize that he was over the hillside - just couldn't figure out why the truck wasn't going forward.

I saw the mashed guardrail and asked a local I know what happened - that is what he told me. Don't thrash me if that story is wrong.

That intersection always scares me in winter - can just imagine going straight over the hill in a snowstorm.

[snorpus]

Well, my experience was on a Saturday night a few weeks ago... probably the 3rd or 4th weekend in June. We were returning to Blackwater Falls after riding the Mountain Explorer.

The T-storm hit just as we got in the car to drive back. My Cobalt has decent all-season tires, but would alternately over-steer (if the rears lost traction) or under-steer (if the fronts happened to hit the flooded spots). Visibility, even with SilverStars, was limited... half the time I was guessing whether the road turned left or right.

But I must say the windmills on the ridge are really dramatic when lit by lightning!

[GottaHerdOn]

Originally Posted by vec101

GottaHerd,
How about the tractor-trailer truck driver who tried turning around at the intersection where you turn off onto the road to Spruce Knob (a few months ago. He went into Elkins from the Beverly area & was trying to hit the 4 lane - went the wrong way up Rt. 33 - finally realized his mistake.)

He backed his trailer over the mountainside at the intersection. Can't believe the guardrail held him and he didn't go down that mountainside. Heard he didn't even realize that he was over the hillside - just couldn't figure out why the truck wasn't going forward.

I saw the mashed guardrail and asked a local I know what happened - that is what he told me. Don't thrash me if that story is wrong.

That intersection always scares me in winter - can just imagine going straight over the hill in a snowstorm.

Oh yeah!!! on Rich Mtn!! I saw that too. I rarely get over in that direction, but I was visiting one of my friends who was also in from college that lives in the Harman area and I saw that guardrail, I just assumed a tractor and trailer went over head first.. or some huge and epic crash. I wasn't expecting to hear of any survivors. I don't know the back story either.. so your story is just fine!!

[Threerun]

Okay, although this isn't necessarily a mountain town, I think it deserves a mention.

Had to visit a banker in Middlebourne today so I drove from Clarksburg to West Union via Rt.50W and continued on 18N / 180 to Middlebourne. Nice little town and a wonderful drive. After our visit, we continued on 18N to Rt. 2 N to New Martinsville and stopped to eat lunch at Quinet's Court restaurant.

WHAT A GREAT PLACE!! Man was the buffet phenomanal! Ham loaf, meatballs (swedish and italian style), pork chops, chopped steak, casseroles of countless types, hoppin' john, butter beans, corn... Sweet Manerva! Must have been 50-75 different home cooked items laid out! For $8.95 no WONDER WV has an obesity problem, lol..

I contained myself to mostly veggies, a piece of fish and a taste of the ham loaf.. (I did have some home baked apple pie- Mmmmm-mmm! )

Anyway- nice place too, really neat old building and if you travel around the old main drag (off Rt.2) some of the older victorian homes are stunning. Lot's of great looking homes. From there we backtracked to Paden and back on to Clarksburg.

I'd put the Ohio River Valley on the list of places to trek, and certainly a MUST to stop at Quinet's!

[snorpus]

Some more about New Martinsville...

Hometown of Bill Stewart.

Right across the street from Quinet's is the County Courthouse. Classic early 20th Century government architecture. It seems like many counties in the state still have their 100 year old county buildings.

It's the northern terminus of State Route 20, which winds its way all the way from New Martinsville to Princeton, through (it seems) every little town you never heard of in the central part of the state.

A couple of blocks north of Quinet's is the Presto Restaurant. Retro 50s/60s Rock-N-Roll theme. During my 40th HS Reunion last year, we had a nice reception there on Friday night.

The local fair is Town-n-Country Days, in September I think.

The New Martinsville/Wetzel County area seems to be picking up a bit, with all the gas exploration going on.

Unlike a lot of small counties that have gone to a single consolidated high school, the Wetzel voters approved an excess levy to maintain high schools in Hundred, Pine Grove (Valley), Paden City, and New Martinsville.

[Threerun]

The evidence of New Martinsville favorite son is readily apparent throughout the town, lol.

It is a very quaint place, especially on the older side of town.

I think there is a Gas and Oil days either there or in Paden.. Not sure which..

[snorpus]

Or maybe it's in Sistersville?

[Threerun]

Yes- thanks for corrrecting me. I do believe it is in Sistersville. We stopped briefy at the old Wells Inn and I got a sneak peek at the old bar in the basement. Too bad it's not open cause it looks cool.

And if you ever get a chance to go there, check out the old urinals in the mens room down in the bar.. Really!