Category: West Virginia

Blennerhassett Island

In May of 2023 we took a weekend to go to Blennerhassett Island in the Ohio River next to Parkersburg WV. It is about a 6 hour drive with avoiding highways. The drive over was nice weather so the top was down all the way. We drove through the heart of West Virginia across the mountains. One thing that is prevalent is wind generating turbines on the mountain tops across WV. We are big advocates of alternative energy so it was good to see the wind mills and on this drive you got up close to some of them to see the size of them is impressive.

We met our son and daughter in law in Parkersburg on Friday and went to a local brewery. the Marietta Brewing Comp in Marietta Ohio which is just across the river. It was nice restaurant that was just a short walk to the river that we strolled before heading back to the hotel across the river.

On Saturday we did our excursion to Blennerhassett Island. The only access the island is via boat. The island has a paddle wheel boat that transports people to the island. The trip on the boat is about 20 minutes from the dock near the museum to the island. On the island we had a house tour and a wagon tour of the island.

The history of Blennerhassett Island starts in 1789 when Harman and Margaret Blennerhassett buys the island and builds what at the time is a mansion on the island. they were aristocrats from Europe. What made the island famous is when Aaron Burr convinces the Blennerhassett’s to help fund and lead an uprising to take over parts of the center of the United States. The US government under Thomas Jefferson did not take this to well and sent the army to stop the plot. That is the short version. there is a documentary on Blennerhassett island that is worth watching before you go. We found it on Prime Video and rented it for $3.

The tour guide we had for the mansion was so so at best. The facts she gave was not enough to put the history of the property together. If we had not watched the video we would have gone away with a different story that what really happened. that night we ate at Da Vinci’s Italian Restaurant. If your in Parkersburg we highly recommend this place. The food was great, portions were generous and priced in the medium range.

On Sunday we departed taking back roads as much as possible. We went past Black Water Falls state park and ate lunch at the Smokehouse grill in the park. It was ok and worth the drive around the park. We plan on a separate trip back to the area around Black Waterfalls at some other time. There is alot to do just a hour drive away from Black Waterfalls state park so we plan on a very long weekend trip.

It was a great trip and if your close to Parkersburg highly recommend Blennerhassett Island.

Cacapon State Park WV/PAW PAW Tunnel Md – Nov 2020

It was exceptionally warm on Thanksgiving weekend so we decided to put the top down and take a day trip. We decided on visiting Cacapon State Park in West Virginia. It is located not far from White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. With Top Down, seat warmer and heat on it was a very pleasant temperature to enjoy the open air.

We drove through the park, which in November did not have a lot of people around but there were a few. Most likely families that rented one of cabins for Thanksgiving. The park has over 30 cabins to rent. They also have rooms at the park lodge. The current park lodge is going through a renovation. It looks to be over half done and we suspect will be ready to open sometime in 2021.

The park in total is around 6000 acres. The roads of the park have recently been repaved so the drive through the park was a very smooth and comfortable ride. A portion of the road was closed for the winter so exploring the entire park was not possible.  We found that the park has several hiking trails so we took about an hour hike past the beach and lake area, through the woods, following a stream that feeds the lake. Did not see a lot of wildlife but we did see a frog and a wood pecker along the trail.

After looking around the park we decided we had enough time to go to the Paw Paw tunnel on the C&O canal. It is actually in Maryland. The C&O canal was originally a canal going from Cumberland Maryland to Washington DC. It runs a total of 184 miles. After nearly 100 years of moving supplies back and forth between Cumberland and Washington DC it is now a walking and biking path. Most of the 184 miles is open to the public and where portions are not open, detours are setup so that you can hike or bike from Cumberland to DC if you desire. The Paw Paw tunnel is part of the C&O canal, it took 14 years to build due to complications in the digging and massive cost overruns. You can walk into the tunnel but it has been closed on the far end of the tunnel for a couple years. The tunnel is 3,118 ft long, so it gets very dark inside the tunnel. Recommend you take a flashlight. It does give you a feeling of isolation when you get away from the opening. If your claustrophobic it is probably not the place for you.

As you could imagine driving around the area of White Sulphur Springs WV and Paw Paw Md are all country roads winding through trees, creeks and homes, up and down hills. Just the type of road that makes a Top Down Day magical.