Read more about the article The Greenbrier Resort – White Sulpur Springs, WV
The Greenbrier Resort

The Greenbrier Resort – White Sulpur Springs, WV

Just before White Sulphur Springs lies the cute town of Lewisburg. Cute shops and restaurants line the street and a Carnegie library, North House and former college stand erect. Had it not been for the signs “Jim Justice for Coal Miners” and signs that said “Pray for West VA” and “W Virginia Strong” you would think you were in Virginia. It didn’t seem like a coal town. In front of the North House was a wood two-story house that housed a covered wagon.

Downtown Lewisburg
Downtown Lewisburg

White two-story houses and a golf course marked our approach to the Greenbrier Resort. Turning into the gate house, we were instructed to park across the street at the train depot and walk a small path to get to the hotel. A large car carrying truck was unloading fancy cars – probably shipped here for wealthy guests. Pink and white impatiens surrounded the white brick guard house. As we entered the grounds and rounded a corner, the sprawling, almost White House looking structure rose seemingly out of nowhere. Large white columns flanked the front entrance. (more…)

Drive Along the New River to Charleston, WV

We stopped by the New River Gorge Bridge en route to Charleston. Unfortunately, the clouds thickened and blocked the view. We didn’t really realized we’d driven over it until we saw the sign for the Visitor Center which had closed an hour before. We decided we’d return before leaving in a few days.

Our map took along a windy road, US 16 (Beckwith Road) to scenic route 60 through Gauley Bridge where we passed a waterfall and Glen Ferris. The road hugged the curves of the river was beautiful and we passed several small towns. Then we came upon Kanawa Falls. We turned into the parking lot which seemed to be a big fishing spot, but nothing else, to take a few pictures.

Kanawha Falls
Kanawha Falls
One of the coal towns along the route
One of the coal towns along the route

We drove past Charlton Falls, Alloy (which seemed a bit bigger), Boomer and Smithers – even passing a coal train. As we drove along the river, we entered Charleston. Although it only has 61,000 people, it seems like a huge metropolis compared to the small towns we drove through to get there. Two- story houses fronting the river dotted the road. Then, the capital popped up. It looked like there was a prom as students dressed in cocktail attire stood on the front steps. (more…)

Read more about the article Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine & Youth Museum – Beckley, WV
Parlor for the Supervisor

Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine & Youth Museum – Beckley, WV

Our first stop in Beckley was the Exhibition Coal Mine, which includes admission to the Youth Museum. We drove into a mini-town (still in the center of Beckley) with buildings – a church, house, etc. It was almost hard to find the museum to enter. Once inside we purchased tickets for the coal mine tour. Departing every 30 minutes, we had 25 minutes to explore the museum upstairs.

At the top of the stairs, wide rectangular, black and white photos of entire coalworkers greeted us. Along the walls, montages displayed various themes with a placard explaining the items. One was rudimentary medical instruments used by the doctors – even if you didn’t need a doctor, the item was deducted from the miner’s paycheck – lunch pails – which were metal and had three horizontal compartments – the bottom was for water, then the food and on top was for pie/dessert. I guess you’d need pie every day to deal with those working conditions. Another montage showed tools – one with a tool you hooked on to your stomach to drill and a picture of a miner using it. Another display case showed miner’s id tags that were used to show who was in the mine.

The museum at the Exhibition Coal Mine
The museum at the Exhibition Coal Mine

The curator announced the “boarding call” so we walked outside to the depot where we sat on two – open air trolley trains. Leroy announced, “Ready for work?” The older, skinny man was a former miner and his father had been too. He drove us in into the black tunnel lit every few feet with electric lighting. I thought we’d go down, but instead we were horizontally inside the mountain. (more…)

Read more about the article New River Gorge National Park – Fayetteville, WV
The view from the old bridge

New River Gorge National Park – Fayetteville, WV

On our last day, sunny skies abounded. However, as we neared the New River Gorge Bridge*, patches of fog settled on the road. By the time we got to the viewpoint, there was no view.

Disappointed, we went inside the Visitor Center where we found out the film presentation wasn’t working either. We walked around the exhibits learning about the area, the coal towns that dotted the river and the importance of this bridge that was built in 1977.

Display of early coalminer hats

Thing 2 and I walked back to the viewpoint where we could see a bit through the fog. We took the path down the stairs mainly for the exercise. It turned out the further we walked down, the more the fog had lifted. By the end of the path, we had excellent views of the bridge. (more…)