Greetings from Charleston, WV!

vraiblonde

vraiblonde

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We're actually in Elkview just north, but we drove through Charleston and will be exploring the city tomorrow and the next day. What a cute little mountain town! And the drive up 64 was gorgeous - every turn you come around was a new breathtaking sight. Probably the prettiest stretch I've ever driven.

And I'm super excited because we got a room upgrade. I'm a LaQuinta rewards member and I'm very loyal to them because of the dog (and it's always a sure thing that it will be clean, comfortable, and have amenities) so they usually give me an upgrade if there's availability. Well! This time what was available was a 1 BR suite with a jacuzzi tub.

:cartwheel

Anyway, most of you who travel a good bit already know this, but for those who don't: it really pays off to find a hotel chain you like and stick with them. LaQuinta gives me upgrades and a snackie upon check-in, but the best part is that it doesn't take long to rack up free nights, which I love love love. We did a long weekend in Williamsburg at Christmas for free because I had points burning a hole in my pocket from my last trip to TX. I belong to LaQuinta, Wyndham (which includes all their brands), and ExtendedStay.

Tomorrow I'll write more about Charleston, but at this point it looks like the cutest little romantic getaway town ever.
 
Bann

Bann

Doris Day meets Lady Gaga
PREMO Member
vraiblonde said:
We're actually in Elkview just north, but we drove through Charleston and will be exploring the city tomorrow and the next day. What a cute little mountain town! And the drive up 64 was gorgeous - every turn you come around was a new breathtaking sight. Probably the prettiest stretch I've ever driven.

And I'm super excited because we got a room upgrade. I'm a LaQuinta rewards member and I'm very loyal to them because of the dog (and it's always a sure thing that it will be clean, comfortable, and have amenities) so they usually give me an upgrade if there's availability. Well! This time what was available was a 1 BR suite with a jacuzzi tub.

:cartwheel

Anyway, most of you who travel a good bit already know this, but for those who don't: it really pays off to find a hotel chain you like and stick with them. LaQuinta gives me upgrades and a snackie upon check-in, but the best part is that it doesn't take long to rack up free nights, which I love love love. We did a long weekend in Williamsburg at Christmas for free because I had points burning a hole in my pocket from my last trip to TX. I belong to LaQuinta, Wyndham (which includes all their brands), and ExtendedStay.

Tomorrow I'll write more about Charleston, but at this point it looks like the cutest little romantic getaway town ever.
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Oooh! I am excited to hear about it!! A new place to try out and CLOSE, too! We have plans for a long Memorial Day weekend, but we were just talking yesterday about a weekend getaway when Thing1 goes away for the Special Olypmics weekend in June. #batedbreath
 
Ken King

Ken King

A little rusty but not crusty
PREMO Member
You're almost in my neighborhood. Have fun and be careful in Charleston. Lots of street robberies in that area.
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

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PeoplesElbow said:
Also if you haven't been Lewisburg during the state fair is a hell of a good time.
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We went through Lewisburg on our way here from Charlottesville - cute cute cute! A destination in its own right.

We went into Charleston today. Very nice little city and quite picturesque, and their capitol building is gorgeous. Monello is playing with the camera and will be uploading pics shortly. We went to the Capitol Market, which is an indoor marketplace with all kinds of shops, sort of how Inner Harbor used to be before Banana Republic and fudge shops took over. After that we did a windshield tour of St. Albans, which is nothing to get excited about but their little downtown is a darling 50s throwback that reeks of nostalgia. And when I say "windshield tour", I mean we literally toured the whole town because it took us forever to find anything worthwhile. The town is situated on the Kanawha river; we drove over that bridge twice trying to find a town, but the view was terrific.
We split a delicious pepperoni roll that we got at a gas station - they make them fresh there - and we split a Peppy from Biscuit World. (Biscuit World :lol:) A Peppy is a cathead biskie sandwich filled with pepperoni and melted yellow cheese goober. Both were pretty tasty but the pepperoni roll wins. It was a lot better than ones I've had at Deep Creek - and remember, this one came from a gas station.

Last night for dinner we hit the Mexican place by our hotel, where we spent $25 and had an enormous fajita salad and a chile relleno (Monello), soft carnitas tacos (me), and a pitcher of Dos Equis. The portions were enormous. We ate leftovers for breakfast and there's still some left.

West Virginia is very scenic, at least this part of it, with the mountains and adorable little towns. I often wonder if the people who live in these beautiful places appreciate them, or do they wish they lived in some asphalt jungle?
 
PeoplesElbow

PeoplesElbow

Well-Known Member
vraiblonde said:
West Virginia is very scenic, at least this part of it, with the mountains and adorable little towns. I often wonder if the people who live in these beautiful places appreciate them, or do they wish they lived in some asphalt jungle?
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Most people, other than kids, would never want to live any where else.

You may be too far south but try to find some D'Annunzios Itallian Bread and Oliverios Itallian peppers in the grocery store.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...h_Bread_Company-Clarksburg_West_Virginia.html

http://www.oliveriopeppers.us/

Nothing compares to either, both are from Clarksburg.
 
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Monello

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
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vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
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Patron
We geezed all day today and tonight went to dinner at a place called Roni's. That is pronounced like "peppeRONI's", not Ronnie's. I'd link but, get this, they have no website. :shocking:

Anyway, it's this old school #### kicker bar filled with old school #### kickers, but the food is hipster ironic. For example, the fried mushrooms we had for appy are chunky 'bellas house made with a beer tempura batter. A number of local micros on tap. Like that.

These are the places I live for. I go on TripAdvisor to see where the good restaurants are, but they always come back with schmintzy places where I have to put on makeup and act right. Monello and I both like the casual local joints where local people hang. I can't deal with some uberfoodie's gastropub.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
And for those who don't know the Greenbrier actually has a government facility built into the bottom of it that was meant to house members of Congress and other government officials during a nuclear war. Closed down now.
 
Ken King

Ken King

A little rusty but not crusty
PREMO Member
glhs837 said:
And for those who don't know the Greenbrier actually has a government facility built into the bottom of it that was meant to house members of Congress and other government officials during a nuclear war. Closed down now.
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As a government facility, but open for tours. :yay: Jim Justice knows how to make a buck.
 
Blister

Blister

Well-Known Member
PeoplesElbow said:
Most people, other than kids, would never want to live any where else.

You may be too far south but try to find some D'Annunzios Itallian Bread and Oliverios Itallian peppers in the grocery store.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...h_Bread_Company-Clarksburg_West_Virginia.html

http://www.oliveriopeppers.us/

Nothing compares to either, both are from Clarksburg.
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Maybe they wouldn't want to live anyplace else, but many of them do. I've met and worked with lots of people from WV, western PA, and OH. They all talk about how great it is where they are from, but they don't go back, because they don't want to work for 10 bucks an hour. Until somebody figures out a way to replace the coal and steel jobs, it will always be a great place to visit, or be "from."
 
Ken King

Ken King

A little rusty but not crusty
PREMO Member
Blister said:
Maybe they wouldn't want to live anyplace else, but many of them do. I've met and worked with lots of people from WV, western PA, and OH. They all talk about how great it is where they are from, but they don't go back, because they don't want to work for 10 bucks an hour. Until somebody figures out a way to replace the coal and steel jobs, it will always be a great place to visit, or be "from."
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Or retire! :yay:
 
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