Manchin's West Virginia - The Drive-Through State

[MineralMan]

I have been in WV only once. In 1968, I drove from my parent's home in California after being on leave from my 15-month stay in Turkey, courtesy of the USAF. I had asked my father to find me a Volvo 544 before I returned from Turkey. He hated foreign cars, but found me a nice one in Santa Barbara, priced at just $600. It was a 1959 model. It ran great and everything worked, so he picked it up for me. I wrote him a check for the $600. I did an oil change, put a set of new tires on it, and it was ready for a cross-country trip.

I had a nice long leave visit with my parents, and allowed 10 days for my drive to my new assignment at Ft. George Meade in Maryland. I used a road atlas to find a route to Laurel, MD, since we didn't have GPS or the Google Lady to tell us how to get places.

The route included US 50 through Ohio and West Virginia. That was the shortest path, if not the fastest, but I wasn't concerned with speed, since I had 10 days to make the trip. What do I remember of West Virginia? Well, nothing, really. Just some curvy roads and hilly terrain. I think I stopped for gas in Clarksburg. That was it. Pretty country, though.

About a year later, I reversed my course, but took a completely different route back to California. I was still driving that white 1959 Volvo 544, though. Great car, if a little outdated, even then. Wish I still had one. They're classics now, and too damned expensive if they're in great condition. Oh, well.



So, I don't remember West Virginia, really. It was a drive-through state. Now I live in a fly-over state - Minnesota.

[kickitup]

1. As a Kentuckian without much room to talk, I dislike West Virginia.

I find Huntington especially depressing. I live east of Lexington, which is, in my opinion, a wonderful little city. My son used to play soccer in Ashland, KY, so we would make that drive frequently and often go on to Huntington. The drive from where I live to WV is beautiful, but . . . LORD.

[Botany]

2. W.V. is awesome

[MineralMan]

4. Yeah, it's a pretty place.

But, I was just passing through for one day. It wasn't Fall, either.

The second photo looks like it could be US 50, though. I love two-lane highways.

[Claire Oh Nette]

14. Wild, Wonderful West Virginia...

I grew up in Los Angeles, moving there when I was about 6 from Ohio. My dad was a Firestone executive, and became CFO of the plant in South Gate.

I am an adopted person, too. I was born in Akron strictly by accident of birth. My parents and families of origin are from West Virginia, for multiple generations. Huh.

Imagine my surprise, since Los Angeles is the antithesis of WV.

Beautiful state. Like Lake Tahoe, only everywhere. Spectacular resources, and the New River Gorge is a sight to behold. Oak Hill and Fayetteville are very cool places. I golf, so Glade SPrings and PipeStem and the Pete Dye Club and the Greenbriar are world class. My dad's course is pretty nice, too. Lots of white water and mountain biking. It's so much more than the stereotypical hillbilly from hollywood.

From the interstate and US 50, it's like any other place, a drive through. Get off the highway, and spend time, and you'll love it, too.

[Botany]

16. I have spent a lot of time in S.E. OH, W.V., and Western MD and the country is beautiful except ...

... where it has been mined, polluted, or overwhelmed by chemical plants. Although, at least
50% of the people are racist know nothing folks. But I can tell you one thing is if I was stuck
hanging from a side of cliff I would want a "good old boy" to come help me out.

[joetheman]

3. It's beautiful in the fall. But then, how long does fall last? nt

[EYESORE 9001]

5. I visited Harpers Ferry a couple of years ago

I enjoyed seeing the historic town, but the most memorable thing for me was the view from Jefferson's Rock. It's easy to understand the strategic importance, given the confluence of rivers and inaccessibility except through easily controlled routes.

[FakeNoose]

6. For visitors and tourists, it's a beautiful state

... but as the saying goes, "I'd never want to live there."

I'm in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania, and I've taken several jaunts into West Virginia because it's only a little more than an hour away by car. Culturally it's more like northern Appalachia, since most of the young people leave the state as soon as they can to pursue careers elsewhere.

[PRETZEL]

11. My wife and I are actually thinking of retiring there,

but then again, that's because she grew up in WV and her sister and family still live there.

We've been there many times and it's true, some of the nicest people you'll ever meet and some of the most beautiful country you'll ever see.

But it's also true that economically it's taking a big hit and will take decades to rebound.

[NNadir]

7. I had a business meeting there a year or two ago.

Overall, the people were nice, about 15 or so of them, all scientists or regulatory people - one was actually African American - but all during the meeting I kept thinking that well more than half of them were likely to be Trumpers.

It was a disturbing thought.

I'm somewhat ambivalent, but overall satisfied that the business relationship ultimately went nowhere.

I also drove through the panhandle a few years back, bringing my son home from Oak Ridge.

I told him we were not getting out of the car in West Virginia for any purpose, and we didn't.

[jalan48]

8. I drove to the National Homeless March in 1989 and passed through WVA. We drove down into a holler

to see what it was like, I felt like I had gone back in time, Twilight Zone like. I thought the people we met in WVA were the friendliest of all we in encountered on our cross-country trip.

[doc03]

13. Yes they are friendly on the surface. When

you get to know them they are suspicious of all strangers
and anyone not white. Hence that is why The Loser won by 30 points in WV. They actually voted for a Texas prison inmate over Obama in the Democratic primary.

[gratuitous]

9. Went to Annual Conference in Charleston in 2004

Charleston is a sprawling little burg, and our lodgings were on one side of town, the convention center on the other, so we drove back and forth each day. I remember looking at the surrounding hills, covered with vegetation, and wondering how many people were living in those dense little forests.

It was a pleasant place to visit (notwithstanding the airport which is rather precariously perched on a hill), but like most parts of the continent that don't border on the Pacific Ocean, far too humid for my comfort.

[Beastly Boy]

10. That Volvo is a beauty! I am jealous.

On edit: 95% of all the cars on the road today are outdated. Internal combustion is so 1950s!

[MineralMan]

12. I wish I still owned one. Truly.

I could, I suppose. You can buy a very nicely restored one for about $20,000. But...that's a lot of money for nostalgia, it seems to me, and parts aren't as easy to get as they once were.

Oh, well.

[Raftergirl]

15. I went through the itty bitty part

Of WVA (through Wheeling) the same year as OP. I was on a summer teen tour of the US. That is the only time I’ve been in WVA and I’ve been to most other states many times.

[FakeNoose]

17. It's called the panhandle; and it feels more like PA and OH there

Many cars pass through West Virginia on Interstate 70 and don't even realize it. It's a quick trip through some hilly country, and then you cross the Ohio River in Wheeling and keep on going.

Actually Wheeling is a rather nice small city (more like an over-size town) however a lot of people don't even get off the highway. I live in Pittsburgh only about an hour away from there, and I've been through Wheeling several times. Usually I'm passing through on my way somewhere else.

[maxsolomon]

18. I'm fascinated by it's "arms".

One poking far north between OH & PA extending N of Pittsburgh, the other where WV & Maryland are topsy-turvy.

I kind of want edit the borders. I like things tidy.

[MineralMan]

19. Using Rivers as Borders Is Pretty Common.

When rivers were used for transportation, it made some sense, I suppose. But, I agree. Those extensions are interesting.

[LanternWaste]

20. Cool shade, bro.

Was that the place you refenced when you said, "I've never seen so much leather on one place!"

There are some wonderful leatherworking shops in West Virginia. K ow any of 'em?

[MineralMan]

22. ..

Please stop.

[Treefrog]

21. West Virginia is actually quite beautiful, but I like that car even more!

[Hortensis]

23. We've stopped in some nice Appalachian towns, where residents could be

dropped in any part of the nation without standing out. One nice little town in the Appalachians was having a charming municipal holiday, which included a 5K or some other endurance race for some goal or other, and a lot of people were out that day. We had a nice lunch from the street vendors. We stayed in a motel in another town that most people have of course never heard of and had a good breakfast in a busy old downtown restaurant that, again, could be dropped in any part of the nation and attract customers.

We've driven back roads in coal country without towns, but not up into any "hollows" where the famous pockets of real poverty undoubtedly persist.

It is beautiful country, and many parts are close enough to affluent developed areas in VA and other surrounding states for retirees and so on.