West Virginia and western PA 2014
WEST VIRGINIA (AND Western PA) JULY 2014
Been to PA many times, but took advantage of the American-US Air merger and new non-top flights to Pittsburgh, and PA’s proximity to WV to see a new state and take a Frank Lloyd Wright pilgrimage.
This trip highlights why it is important to do research from home but also to pick up every map, brochure and flyer along the way (or else we would never have discovered the Big Mac Museum).
There’s something about giant food statues that screams, “U.S. Road Trip!” Big Mac Museum outside Pittsburgh.
3-Jul-2014
Tropical storm Arthur delays our plane for 5 hours, but we befriend our fellow travelers and get an invite to a bluegrass concert in WV, so it all works out!
4-Jul-2014
En route to WV we stop at the National Historic Site, Friendship Hill, home of Albert Gallatin, a Swiss-born politician and philanthropist. Pleasant walk through the grounds to the tomb of his first wife, Sophia.
Friendship Hill has an interesting place in American history. Whiskey Rebellion.
We stop at local place called Martins BBQ, ho hum food and slow but friendly service. Took some short walks through Core Arboretum, which is next to WVU stadium and a short drive from the hotel. Dinner at Sonic – this is embarrassing but true, but we don’t have one close to home and the Oreo cookie and peanut butter shake was very good. The banana and peanut butter shake was also very good, but then we put them together for something Magical!!! Can’t say no to a corn dog either.
Bamboo at the Core Arboretum in Morgantown.
5-Jul-2014
Shopping stop in downtown Morgantown center for the Morgantown Farmers Market, which is very small with only about a dozen sellers, selling mostly the same thing. We bought delicious arugula and cookies. We also walked around downtown, but most places were closed for the holiday weekend.
Morgantown Farmers Market, and ample cheap metered parking right in the city center.
Lunch stop at Kenyan Café, a rare opportunity to eat something unusual (and so unexpected in this part of the country). We should have gotten goat stew with plantains (Matoke), but got chicken stew instead. The peanut with rice dish was great, but both dishes had cilantro (UGH).
Who knew we’d find authentic Kenyan food right by our Hampton Inn? We did, because it was a top rated place on Yelp.
We spend the afternoon at Cooper’s Rock State Forest.
Now overgrown the moss, the Henry Clay Furnace is at the bottom of a pleasant walk.
We first hiked 1 mile to Henry Clay Iron Furnace. Later we walked the Overlook Trail that goes around the mini canyon filled with large stones, as if a river carved some parts into the ground. The Underlook trail allows you to go down to the canyon floor and climb / touch / photo the rocks.
Climbing at Cooper’s Rock, WV.
Drive a few short miles to Chestnut Ridge camping ground for the blue grass concert by the Half Time String Band and meet up with our airplane friends. Inexpensive and delicious pulled pork sandwich and watermelon available for sale, and we eat and relax while the band plays. Great people watching.
A bluegrass concert in WV. A perfect summer day.
6-Jul-2014
Due to some craziness with the prices of car rentals, we have to drive back to Pittsburgh (we save $150 this way by returning the car and then re-renting it immediately).
Downtown Pittsburgh has reinvented itself well with shops and restaurants along “The Strip,” as well as the Heinz Museum.
Downtown exploration to the Heinz History Museum. Huge building with 4 floors of Pittsburgh and American history. Turns out the original Jeep was made around here. Also Mr Rogers, Gen. Marshall (WWIII fame), the modern funeral ritual – many things with Pittsburgh origins. Lots of old artifacts from like 1850s to 1970s, featuring ethnic group paraphenalia like Italian, Jewish, Irish, Serbs.
Hudson Samson’s funeral parlor was the first purpose built funeral home in the U.S. Prior to its building in 1884 people waked in the home. He transformed the industry and is memorialized in this display in the Heinz Museum.
The museum is at he end of the Strip District, hip area with lots of small stores, people out and about. First stop was Peace Love and Little Donuts, where we got a free dozen little donuts because it was closing at 2 – yummy!. Next, tacos from local taco stand. Many more shops to explore.
A dozen little donuts = Peace and Love.
The Carnegie name certainly is everywhere. We take a rest at the large Library and enjoying the magazine room. We don’t go inside but all next to each other are several museums and the Cathedral of Learning on the college campus.
Carnegie Museum and Library and other Carnegie buildings dominate this part of Pittsburgh.
7-July-2014
Lunch stop at Fox Pizza for some “Wedgies” which are sandwiches made by folding a fresh made pizza over some meat. Our Frank Lloyd Wright pilgrimage begins with a tour of Kentuck Knob, a Usonian house once owned by an ice cream millionaire and now by an English lord who opens the house to tours when not in residence. Tours sell out during summer, so it’s important to book well in advance.
Water feature at Kentuck Knob.
The house has a fountain out the back and lots of art work on its compound. We walked down past a piece of the Berlin Wall, some outdoor sculptures, even a large sculpture of an apple core.
Eccentric sculpture park on the grounds of Kentuck Knob.
Not sure what hasn’t already been said about Fallingwater, but we’ve waited years to visit. The book “Fallingwater Rising” by Franklin Toker is recommended advance reading. FLW’s work is a masterpiece of concrete, steel, stones built over a waterfall. You can walk down to the Bear Run river from inside, and the Kaufmans ate breakfast with feet in the water.
Pilgrimage to Fallingwater
The pilgrimage continues at Polymath Park, one of 6 places in the world where the public can sleep in a Frank Lloyd Wright house (or you can just tour the homes by day). It is a compound comprised of Duncan House, designed by FLW, and Balter House and Blum House, designed by his apprentices. The houses are open for tours and available to rent for overnight stays. We walk around the grounds to see the exteriors of all of the houses and then return to sleep at Blum House. The houses are great, decorated in Mid-century furniture. Our kitchen has original cabinets. fireplace, etc. There is also a murky pond that is a pleasant walk on the property. If you stay on a weeknight, the apprentice houses are very affordable and not much more expensive than a regular hotel.
Our living room in the Balter House.
At dusk it doesn’t take long for the fireflies to come out, and we gaze at them for hours. No a/c, but the house is designed for a delicious cross-breeze so we sleep like a dream.
Our dinner guests at Polymath Park.
8-July-2014
Morning rain doesn’t deter our jaunt to Ohiopyle State Park, a popular place for hiking, biking, and white water rafting. The old railroad trail is about 125 miles, but we walk just a couple. Dramatic bridge walks over the river and so many peaceful trails.
We had enough of the mud, back up the gravel trail and drive to Cucumber Falls a little ways back. We climb down yet another steep, wet and muddy stone and log stairway. This looks like falls were stronger in the past, lots of stones and boulders thrown about in front of the falls, some logs.
At Cucumber Falls in Ohiopyle State Park.
Who knew that the Big Mac was invented in Uniontown, PA by an Italian franchise owner in 1968, and it was popular after a few years?! This McDonald’s is one of the largest, cleanest, friendliest and most efficient we’ve ever visited. The Big Mac Museum” and giant hamburger are worth the trip.
Ending our sightseeing with the Frick Museum in the wealthy Point Breeze neighborhood. The art museum is free, but Clayton, the family’s mansion, is by guided tour with paid admission only. One unique items is the antique “Orchestrola ?” sort of a player piano on steroids.