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Hello, my wife and I will have a quick visit to Wheeling on Friday 6/8. We're asking for recommendations for dinner, breakfast, and something to do as we pass through. We'll drive in from Canton, arrive around 3pm and stay in Wheeling the one night before driving to Pittsburgh the next morning.
What do you recommend we see & do? And eat? Apparently Grandma Jo's is a good breakfast spot for Saturday morning, would you recommend that? I realize it's a little out of the way.
Especially something with a West Virginia or Wheeling flavor, both in meals and activities. Any local brews you'd recommend? Thanks!
CTMountaineer would be the one for this thread. I'm not from the area so my opinion would be less impactful. I will say that Wheeling Island casino is nice, and there is ALOT of good architecture.
CTMountaineer would be the one for this thread. I'm not from the area so my opinion would be less impactful. I will say that Wheeling Island casino is nice, and there is ALOT of good architecture.
No... Cabela's and Casino aren't 150 year old examples of irreplaceable early US architecture. These attractions are safe from the city's wrecking balls.
echo7tango: Visit East Wheeling to see an entire Victorian neighborhood crushed to dust... replaced by an extremely questionable redevelopment strategy of non-regulation-size athletic fields.
Take many photos of the remaining historic structures that give Wheeling its character and unique urban fabric in Downtown, Centre Wheeling and Victorian Old Town... who knows how many years they have left before another hare-brained redevelopment scam is concocted by the city government?
You can then enjoy a nightcap at the casino... the prized economic development tool of West Virginia government.
Don't miss Coleman's Fish at the Centre Market House (build in the early 1800s) for one of their famous fish sandwiches. Oglebay Park and Museum is a must see. My favorite Wheeling restaurant is the Bella Via Restaurant, on US 40 on the east end of Elm Grove. Have a cold mug of beer at the Alpha, and old German style pub in the Edgewood section of town, you can also move from the bar to the dining area there and enjoy a nice meal.
The past 30 years have not been kind to my old hometown, and they have suffered from having a group of city employees that are politically just too powerful and poor choices in elected officials. Still, it is a beautiful old city with some of the historic districts intact, even if somewhat rundown. Take a stroll through historic North Wheeling to see lovely victorian archetecture that still remains, and walk around lovely Wheeling Park off of National Road. Wheeling has perhaps the world's best municipal park system funded by endowments from the old money era of big steel and coal. If you have children, they are sure to enjoy the wonderful zoo at Oglebay Park. Until the early 1980s, Wheeling was easily the most affluent and interesting city in West Virginia, with a lively nightlife, great entertainment options, good paying jobs at local factories, and the outstanding park system. Then the factories mostly closed, one by one. It has been a long 3+ decades of decline, but now things are starting to turn around.
The Marcellus Shale developments in this wet gas region are breathing new life into the city, and traffic and commerce are rapidly increasing. Nearby Utica Shale oil plays are also adding to the influx of business and now people. I don't know if it will ever be what it was once, but it is definitely making a significant comeback. It is a shame much of the old archetecture is now destroyed, some of it by idiot politicians in favor of narrow special interests, but enough of it remains that it is still amazingly beautiful in some parts.
I'm not much into gambling, but if you are there is a casino and race track on the south end of Wheeling Island.
No... Cabela's and Casino aren't 150 year old examples of irreplaceable early US architecture. These attractions are safe from the city's wrecking balls.
echo7tango: Visit East Wheeling to see an entire Victorian neighborhood crushed to dust... replaced by an extremely questionable redevelopment strategy of non-regulation-size athletic fields.
Take many photos of the remaining historic structures that give Wheeling its character and unique urban fabric in Downtown, Centre Wheeling and Victorian Old Town... who knows how many years they have left before another hare-brained redevelopment scam is concocted by the city government?
You can then enjoy a nightcap at the casino... the prized economic development tool of West Virginia government.
For breakfast has anyone tried Grandma Jo's Polkadot Cafe in Moundsville? A local newspaper reported it's supposed to be good. It's 10 miles out of our way towards Pittsburgh. If it's good, I'll go, but it's just breakfast so not a big deal.
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