Crossing the state line into West Virginia

Firstly, we apologize for the delay in our update.  Java security and scripting issues made it impossible to include our pictures!  Our story resumes in the heat of the summer, although by now we have already seen our share of snow and frost in WV.

With Kentucky now behind us, we were in the home stretch for our last day of driving.  We drove across the West Virginia border and up through the center of the state.  We tried our very best to grab lunch at a local chain recommended by our AAA guidebook.  As quaint as it sounds, Tudor’s Biscuit World is actually just a fast food stop where everything is sandwiched between greasy biscuit halves. We sat in the parking lot and stared through its windows - greasy biscuit balls just seemed like a bad idea.  

 

We put off our lunch and instead drove around Charleston, West Virginia's capitol city.  As new West Virginians, we felt we ought to know what this capitol is all about!  We pulled up to the stately capitol building overlooking the river.  

Stonewall Jackson

The capitol building was begun in 1924.  The gilded rotunda, completed in 1932, is five feet taller than the one erected in D.C..  Beneath its dome hangs a large chandelier made of Czechoslovakian crystal, which although massive, we did not find to be particularly beautiful.  Instead, it seemed as if it belonged in the casino of a Bond movie.  Marble and Italian travertine make up the capitol building’s interior, while the outside is made up of Indiana buff limestone, accented with mythological creatures.

Mythological heads guide matters of the state.

We meandered between the echoes of purposeful heels, found parabolas to whisper secrets to, and read hand-lettered doors.

As we exited out the other side, we found a familiar vampire...

Why, it was Abraham Lincoln, and he was surveying the river view.

Back on the road, we take a quick fill-up in Boontown.

And we reached Weston by sunset, just in time to catch a few buildings.

We especially liked the Citizens' Bank Building, a lovely example of Art Deco from 1927-1930.

Ironworker Samuel Yellin is responsible for the exquisite panels that adorn the building's face.

We treated ourselves to a sit down dinner at the tiniest creek side cafe.  Our landlady had advised us to stop for a good meal instead of rushing into town to meet her.  On our way back to the car, we paused on an armistice bridge to take in this"small" town, just outside of our final destination.

Weston is actually a little bit of a "big" town.  Its claim to fame is the Weston Hospital, often featured on ghost hunting shows.

An hour later, we have our first glimpse of Morgantown. Its windy mountain roads are much like the sort one travels on between journeys, except we were here to stay.

Smitty's, apparently known for serving the "Hillbilly Mess."

Winding a few miles down an unfamiliar road, our landlady welcomes us at our little home.  She meets us standing just inside the porch door.  She laughs at our little car and wonders how we'll fill the two-story house with all that we've brought.  We are given a quick tour and the house suits our needs well.  We are just about ready to bed down but first we must empty the car, go for rations, and pick up our airbed from a grad student colleague.  Its a bit of good fortune that the bed arrived earlier that day!

Our carload, plus a couple of FedEx boxes we last saw in Needles.

When we return, its unpacking linens from the floor and making a bed in our strange new home.  It has been one month since we've been married and our focus has been on packing and moving, and traveling like gypsy hobos for some time.  Our new neighborhood is intensely quiet and still, but for summer crickets singing a symphony.  Sitting still in four walls of our own feels quite strange.