Posts Tagged With: Charleston West Virginia

Maine or Bust 2022: The Virginias

Our perfect timing allowed us to spend Easter weekend with Chris and Gail in and around Charleston, West Virginia. We relaxed with dinner out Saturday night and spent Easter Sunday hanging around our campsite. After two games of croquet, where the guys fought for first place and Gail and I battled it out for last place, we rounded out the evening gathered around our cozy trailer dinette feasting on barbecued shish kebabs. And then it was time to say goodbye…

We’re settled in Virginia for close to a week in this hidden gem of an RV park.

We’re not far from the Blue Ridge Parkway, the 469-mile national parkway that runs through Virginia and North Carolina. We drove a part of it on a trip 5 years ago, but the weather was so cold and foggy we deserted it after just a few miles. This time the weather was beautiful, but cold…36 degrees as we stopped at various viewpoints and took a quick look around the historical 1889 Brinegar cabin property. Returning by way of an alternate route, we saw acres of Christmas tree farms decorating the landscape.

A six-mile roundtrip walk along the New River Trail State Park, a 57-mile strip that follows the abandoned railroad right-of-way, got us out of the truck for some much needed exercise. With two more days to fill and temperatures promising to warm up into the 70s (F), we expect to explore more of this rail trail with our bikes.

Categories: Maine or Bust 2022 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Backroads Across America: On the Banks of the Kanawha

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Another day of clouds and drizzle sent us to downtown Charleston to explore West Virginia’s capital city.  After a leisurely cup of coffee in a downtown coffee/bookstore, we wandered along a walkway that follows the Kanawha (Ka-naw) River, which flows through the city.

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Charleston’s present state capitol took eight years to complete, with work beginning in 1924.  The 23-karat gold leaf dome soars 293 feet, making it the tallest of any state capitol dome in the United States.  The capitol is open to the public and the staff couldn’t have been more welcoming.  After a quick security check, we were handed a lengthy history of the capitol and urged to “make ourselves at home.”

The governor’s mansion is also located on the Capitol Complex grounds, perched on a grassy rise with a view of the river below.  Not quite as welcoming, it sat behind locked gates, so we had to be content to peer through the fence.

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Categories: Backroads Across America | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Backroads Across America: BBQ, Board Games and Breakfast

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIt’s been a whirlwind of a weekend since arriving in Charleston, West Virginia.  Chris and Gail enjoyed a mini vacation when they spent Saturday night in a cabin at our campground.  We enjoyed having them “right down the street,” if only for one night.  After a barbecued steak dinner at the cabin, followed by two highly competitive rounds of our dice game Yamslam, Reg and I headed back to our trailer to rest up for the Sunday breakfast we were hosting.

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Chris has been working at Gritt’s Midway Greenhouse for the last year, and today he gave us a tour of the company’s retail store and 20+ greenhouses.  We weren’t quite prepared for the scale and quality of this family operation.

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A kaleidoscope of colors and textures greeted us as we wandered through most of the six acres of production greenhouses.  We saw flowers, vegetable plants, house plants and potted blooming plants, all grown and nurtured to supply Gritt’s retail and wholesale operation.

 

 

 

As amazing as all of that was, the greenhouse where the tomatoes grow surprised us most of all.

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We were fascinated with the 1.5 acre hydroponic tomato operation.  These are vine ripened tomatoes and the plants produce continually except for the months of December and January.

We were tempted to sneak a couple for our dinner!

Categories: Backroads Across America | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

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