Day 56, Country Roads Take Me Home

The air definitely had a bit of a autumn feeling as we left Virginia this morning. As we headed towards West Virginia, the mountain tops struggled to peek out above the cloud cover.

If you haven't driven out of your state using Google Maps, you may not have had the pleasure of being welcomed to your new state. Crossing the border brings up a message and the voice that gives you the map directions says, "Welcome to (whichever state here)." Not sure why, but we always enjoy hearing it.

Our campground is in Milton, West Virginia. It is simply about 200 miles from our last stop and 200 miles to our next stop. What is there to do in Milton, West Virginia? you might ask. Not much.

But Milton is not that far from Charleston, West Virginia, which is the state capital. But, about 18 miles west of Milton is Huntington, a kinda border town on the Ohio River and near Kentuck and Ohio. As Denis was looking for a brewery, he found that there were a large number in Huntington. Turns out, it is university town. Huntington also has an art museum.

We got to the Huntington Museum of Art about 20 minutes before closed. We managed to make a quick walkthrough, it is a small regional museum but has some interesting West Virginia artists in addition to other American artists. Coming at the time we did meant we had it to ourselves. The museum also has some outdoor art and nature trails.

We decided to hike the one mile, muddy, but very nice trail
and enjoy the occasional art, seeing no other people along the way.

Of course, the initial reason for coming to Huntington was the beer. We stopped at Taps at Heritage. Huntington had been a transportation hub. In earlier days it was the Western terminus for the B&O Railroad. This plaza celebrates that heritage with a few old railway cars, some housing businesses.

Today, Huntington is the largest inland port in  the nation. Another fun fact, it was the second city in the nation to have electric streetcars.* The first was San Francisco.

We were really looking for an Oktoberfest type of place. Huntington has the largest Oktoberfest festival in West Virginia. Did you know that Cincinnati has the largest Oktoberfest festival in the United States? It is only second to Munich in Octoberfest festivities in the world.

We went to Bahnhof WVrsthaus & Biergarten. With a selection seasonal beer and house made sausages, we were not disappointed. Even the red cabbage met with our approval, which is big since I usually have a hard time finding one I like as much as the one Denis makes.
We enjoyed our visit and hope that our KN95 mask wearing and outdoor seating away from other people kept us safe. 🤞

Prost!

*My friend, Tony, grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He wrote to me with this:

"Really enjoyed your and Denis's visit and will enjoy following the rest of your journey. I know as you are traveling the country, you encounter many places that make claims about being first. As usual, they are pretty nuanced. So, for your further investigation of electric street cars, I give you Scranton's claim.

"The first street car system in the U.S. built entirely for operation by electric power was at Scranton. It began operation on Nov. 30, 1886. The initial run was between central Scranton and Green Ridge section. (Historical marker in downtown Scranton, PA)"

Location: Huntington / Fox Fire KOA Holiday, 290 Fox Fire Rd, Milton, WV 25541, USA

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