This Scenic West Virginia Steam Train Rolls Along A River To A Mountaintop View In October
A steam locomotive built in 1905 still chugs up the exact mountain tracks it was made to climb. It once hauled logs, and now it hauls happy, camera-clutching passengers instead.
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5 West Virginia Riverfront Walks Where The Ohio And Kanawha Look Their Best In Fall
Charleston once had an island that seemed to vanish and reappear as the Kanawha rose and fell. A park still carries that magic in its name.
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Fairmont’s Family Pizza Kitchen Still Serves Pepperoni Buns In The Pepperoni Roll Capital Of The World
The pizza here comes with exactly two topping choices: pepperoni or peppers, hot or mild. That's the whole list, and honestly, it feels confident.
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Why Do So Many People Stop In This West Virginia’s Oldest Town, Just To Walk German Street?
A steamboat chugged up the Potomac here in 1787. That was two decades before Robert Fulton got famous for the same idea. The...
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8 West Virginia Quilt Shops Local Makers Lean On Now That The Big Craft Chain Is Gone
Over 7,000 bolts of quilting fabric fill a single shop in West Virginia. That's not a typo, and that's not a warehouse either. When...
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Whole Families Once Lived in An Abandoned Coal Mining Town Now In Ruins in West Virginia
Eight hundred and twenty-one wooden steps drop down a mountainside to reach what's left of this old coal operation. Then, of course, you climb every single one of them back up.
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Before The Interstate Came Through, Travelers Slept At This Hawks Nest Overlook Lodge Above New River
Ospreys once crowded a rocky cliff high above a roaring West Virginia river, and old-timers called them fish hawks. The birds moved on long ago.
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Stand In The West Virginia Park Where The Shenandoah Pours Into The Potomac And Three States Wave Back
Two big rivers crash together right below your feet, and three states share the same view. That's not a riddle. It's a real overlook...
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Folks Stock Up On Wagyu Steaks Straight From This Family Cattle Farm In West Virginia
Wagyu beef, the same famous breed behind steakhouse menus, is coming from a small family cattle farm in West Virginia. No white tablecloth required.
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A Wooden Bridge Older Than The Civil War Still Carries Cars In West Virginia
You might roll right up to it without a second glance, thinking it is just another plain white barn stretched over the water. Then your tires hit the deck, the light goes soft...
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Birds Fill The Shady Trails On This Peaceful West Virginia Wildlife Refuge Island In The Ohio River
Some of the best spots in West Virginia never shout for attention, and you only find them by turning down a road you almost skipped. Picture a quiet strip of land in the middle...
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Why The Mystery Hole Near Ansted, West Virginia Still Makes Grown-Ups Giggle
Some of the best memories in West Virginia start with a sign you almost drove past. You slow down, squint at something bright and odd on the roadside, and suddenly you are pulling...
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Is This Really One Of America’s Best Small Towns? West Virginia Locals Say It Earned It
Some places in West Virginia look like a quick stop on the map until you park the car and realize you never want to leave. You come for a cup of coffee and a stretch of the legs,...
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Five West Virginia Church Suppers Where A Plate Of Soup Beans Still Costs Less Than Lunch Out
I almost drove right past the hand-lettered sign taped to a fellowship hall door, and I am glad I hit the brakes. Inside, a West Virginia church basement smelled like slow-simmered...
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West Virginia’s Most Photographed Mill Is Secretly Pieced Together From Several Old Appalachian Mills
Some places in West Virginia look like they have stood forever, quietly minding their own business beside a rushing creek. I went looking for a pretty picture and a bag of fresh...
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Stagecoach Drivers Once Changed Horses At This 1800s West Virginia Tavern That Still Serves Supper
I only meant to grab a quick bite and a bed for the night, but the old brick front and glowing chandeliers stopped me cold on the sidewalk. West Virginia has a way of hiding its...
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In Princeton, West Virginia, a Retirement Check Still Covers Rent, Groceries, and Monday Night Music at the RiffRaff
I went looking for a cheap place to stretch a retirement check and found a whole street that seemed to be painted in color. Somewhere in southern West Virginia, between the rent...
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Seven West Virginia Heritage Spots to Visit Every Fall
Some of the best fall memories in West Virginia start with a smell, like wood smoke drifting over a copper kettle of bubbling apples. You pull off a quiet road expecting a quick...
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This Unassuming West Virginia Field Is Where John Brown’s Raid Ended With A Fire Engine House Standoff
You could walk right past it and never guess. Tucked into a quiet corner of West Virginia sits a small red brick building about the size of a big family garage, with a little bell...
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Every Sunday, Bargain Hunters Pack This West Virginia Flea Market Selling Everything From Tools To Goats
You hear about it first from someone at a gas station counter, almost like a secret they are glad to share. Then you pull off a winding two-lane road in southern West Virginia...
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This Quiet West Virginia Theater Has Been Showing Movies Longer Than Any Other In America
Some of the best evenings in West Virginia start with a small brick building you almost walk right past. You notice a glowing doorway, smell warm buttered popcorn, and suddenly...
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Here’s Why Bluefield, West Virginia Once Had More Millionaires Per Square Mile Than Anywhere
Picture yourself driving through the mountains of southern West Virginia, looking for nothing more than a good lunch and a quiet road. Then you notice tall brick buildings climbing...
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Ever Heard Of The World’s Largest Sycamore Stump? It Sits Beside A West Virginia Highway
Some of the best stops in West Virginia never ask for your attention, and you only notice them because a curious friend told you to slow down. That is how a lot of folks first...
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Locals Say This Huntington, West Virginia Hot Dog Joint Has Served The Same Chili Recipe For Generations
Some of the best meals in West Virginia come from places you might drive right past without a second look. A bright little building, a paper-wrapped hot dog, and a frosty mug of...
Read More 9 min read
Seven West Virginia Farm Stores Where Folks Fill Their Freezers With Beef Raised Just Down The Road
Some of the best meals in West Virginia start with a gravel lane, a small sign by the road, and a chest freezer humming in a farm building. You walk in expecting a quick errand...
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Seven West Virginia Speedways Where Saturday Night Still Smells Like Hot Tires And Funnel Cake
Some of the best nights in West Virginia start on a gravel lot with a paper plate in your hand and a roar rolling down the hillside. You come for a cheap ticket and a hot dog,...
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This Hidden West Virginia Swimming Hole Sits Beneath A Waterfall Most Folks Never Find
Some of the best places in West Virginia never show up on a billboard or a brochure. You hear about them from a cousin, a fishing buddy, or an old-timer at the gas station who...
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West Virginia River Town Lets A Modest Pension Cover A River-View Home And Slow Mornings Downtown
Some places sneak up on you, the way a good cup of coffee does on a cool morning. I came to a small river town in West Virginia expecting a quick stop and left wondering what it...
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Seven West Virginia Glass Studios and Factories Where Artisans Still Shape Every Piece By Hand
You pull off a quiet West Virginia road expecting a quick look, and suddenly you are standing a few feet from a glowing furnace, watching someone turn a blob of orange fire into...
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Families Pack The Bleachers For A Real Rodeo At This West Virginia Arena You’d Never Expect
Some of the best nights in West Virginia start with a gravel road and a hunch. You follow a country lane past farm fields, half wondering if you took a wrong turn, and then you...
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A Historic Family Mill Waits At The End Of A Winding West Virginia Back Road
Some of the best memories in West Virginia start with a wrong turn, a gravel road, and a quiet voice saying we should keep going just a little farther. That is exactly the kind...
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Folks Load Up On Fall Apples For Pennies At These Seven West Virginia Orchards
Some of the best deals in West Virginia never show up in a sale flyer. They hang from a branch, wait in a wooden crate, or sit in a bushel basket by a farm stand door where the...
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Before Hollywood Had Glamour, This West Virginia Opera House Drew Crowds By Lamplight
Some of the best finds in West Virginia hide in plain sight, tucked along a quiet street you might drive right past on the way to lunch. I went looking for a good meal and a slow...
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Nobody Believes Us When We Say West Virginia Has A Real Castle Built By A Coal Baron
Tell a friend from out of state that a genuine stone castle sits on a ridge in West Virginia, and watch their eyebrows shoot up. I used to give that same look, right up until the...
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Seven West Virginia Comfort-Food Suppers Where A Home-Cooked Plate Still Costs Less Than Fast Food
There's a special kind of joy in pulling open a screen door in West Virginia and smelling gravy simmering on the stove. Somewhere between the red vinyl booths and the second cup...
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The Oldest Continuously Running Movie Theater In America Still Shows Films In This West Virginia Town
Some places in West Virginia hold onto their magic quietly, tucked along a small-town Main Street where you might drive right past without knowing what you missed. Imagine walking...
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Inside This Free Charleston Museum You Walk West Virginia’s Whole Story From Ancient Coal Forests To Today
Some of the best afternoons in West Virginia start by accident. You wander into a grand building expecting a quick look and end up staying for hours, wrapped in a story you never...
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Seven West Virginia Farm Stands Where A Basket Of Just-Picked Produce Costs Less Than The Grocery Store
There's a certain kind of joy that comes from pulling off a country road in West Virginia and finding a little market piled high with corn still warm from the sun. The smell of...
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Seven West Virginia Small-Town Soda Fountains & Ice Cream Shops Where A Scoop Still Costs Almost Nothing
Some of the sweetest memories in West Virginia hide behind screen doors on quiet main streets, where the whir of an old fountain and the clink of a metal spoon still cost next...
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You Can Sleep In A Real Caboose At Stone Run Station In Flatwoods, West Virginia
Some of the best stays in West Virginia aren't fancy hotels with fancy prices. Sometimes it's a little converted train caboose sitting right next to real railroad tracks, waiting...
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Way Back In The Hills, This West Virginia Wetland Shelters Rare Species Found Almost Nowhere Else
Tucked deep in the West Virginia mountains sits a place that feels like it belongs way up north in Canada instead of the heart of Appalachia. Here, the ground is spongy, the air...
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Seven West Virginia Lakes Where You Can Rent A Boat And Fish All Day For Almost Nothing
There's a special kind of joy in pushing off from a quiet dock in West Virginia, knowing a whole day on the water won't cost you much more than a tank of fuel. You don't need a...
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Every Spring This West Virginia Hillside Erupts With Wild Ramps Folks Drive Hours To Dig
There's a scent that drifts through the mountain air each spring, sharp and sweet all at once, and folks in West Virginia know exactly what it means. Somewhere on a shady hillside,...
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Way Up In The West Virginia Mountains, A Lonely Fire Tower Opens Onto Five Rolling Counties
Somewhere high in the West Virginia mountains, an old wooden tower still stands watch over miles of quiet forest. It once belonged to lonely lookouts who scanned the ridges for...
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This West Virginia Waterfall Drops Sixty-Three Feet In The Middle Of A Sleepy State Park
Some places sneak up on you. You round a bend in the mountains, follow a boardwalk through the trees, and suddenly there it is: a curtain of amber water tumbling into a deep gorge.
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Thirty-Five Dollars Fills Your Whole Backseat With Bargains At This Enormous West Virginia Flea Market
Sometimes the best days start with a spur-of-the-moment turn off the road, drawn in by nothing more than curiosity and the hope of a good find. Tucked into the capital city of...
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Long Before Coal, This West Virginia Salt Works Made The Town Richer Than Anyone Expected
Picture rolling hills and a winding river in West Virginia, where an ordinary-looking spot hides a story most folks never expect. Long before coal ruled these valleys, one humble...
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This West Virginia Neighborhood Is Packed With Grand Victorian Homes On Every Walkable Block
Some places sneak up on you when you least expect them. I turned off a busy road in West Virginia hoping for nothing more than a short walk, and instead I found block after block...
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Seven West Virginia County Fairs Where A Few Dollars Still Buys A Whole Day Of Fun
There is something about the smell of funnel cakes and the glow of a Ferris wheel at dusk that pulls you right back to childhood. Across West Virginia, small county fairs are quietly...
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Locals Fill Their Freezers At These 6 West Virginia Meat Counters That Beat Grocery Prices
Somewhere off a quiet West Virginia road sits a little butcher counter that most passersby never notice, yet the freezer at home tells a different story. The steaks taste richer,...
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An Entire West Virginia Glass Factory Still Blows Marbles The Same Way It Did A Century Ago
Some places you drive past a hundred times without ever guessing the wonder happening inside. Tucked along a quiet street in West Virginia sits a factory where molten glass still...
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Deep Inside This West Virginia Mountain Sits The Bunker That Was Built To Hide All Of Congress
Picture arriving at a grand old resort in West Virginia, famous for its mineral springs and fancy dining rooms, never guessing what waits below your feet. Beneath all that polish...
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Miners Once Dug Diamonds Out Of This West Virginia Hillside, And You Can Still Sift For Them
Every so often you find a place in West Virginia that feels bigger on the inside than it looks from the road. Picture towering sandstone walls, hidden little caves, and a shady...
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Locals Swear These 8 West Virginia Pepperoni Roll Bakeries Beat Anything The Grocery Shelf Sells
Somewhere in West Virginia, a warm pepperoni roll is sliding off a baking sheet right this minute, and once you taste one fresh, the plastic-wrapped grocery kind will feel like...
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This Hidden West Virginia Trail Winds Through A Silent Old-Growth Forest Older Than The Country Itself
Some of the best places in West Virginia hide right off the highway, waiting quietly for anyone curious enough to pull over. Along a stretch of forest near the New River Gorge,...
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West Virginia Locals Line Up At This Hole-In-The-Wall Spot For What They Swear Is The Best Breakfast In The State
Some of the best meals in West Virginia hide in the places you'd drive right past without a second look. Tucked into a corner most folks don't expect, there's a little breakfast...
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West Virginia Locals Keep Driving Across The State For The Golden Hash Browns At This No-Frills Diner
Some cravings sneak up on you when you least expect them, and in West Virginia there's one dish that has folks planning whole road trips just to get a plate. Tucked off the interstate,...
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This West Virginia Farm Lets You Watch a Bison Herd Roam—Then Take Their Meat Home
Some of the best places in West Virginia hide at the end of a gravel road, far from any highway sign. Picture yourself climbing a winding mountain drive, only to find a herd of...
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This Hidden West Virginia Beach Has Water So Clear You Can Count Pebbles On The Bottom
Some places in West Virginia stay quiet on purpose, tucked far enough off the main road that only the folks who really look ever find them. Imagine wading into water so clean and...
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This Ornate West Virginia Temple Hides Marble Craftsmanship You’d Never Expect to Find in the State
Picture driving through the quiet green hills of West Virginia, expecting nothing more than another country road, when suddenly a golden palace rises out of the trees like something...
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