Traveling West Virginia: Johnny Shar's Big Dipper

While in Moundsville, WV earlier this week, we stopped in at an ice cream place I'd been to before. Not just any ice cream place, though! The exterior gives a hint at what's inside Johnny Shar's Big Dipper:

 Memorabilia of the circus and carnivals is the decor for the restaurant, and there is so much to see. Even if you only have one eye, like this weird creature standing in the roller coaster seats.

I haven't seen a bumper car in years. Larry said he rode in many a one of them in his younger days, but I think I only had the experience a couple times. I completely recall the fun of it though!

The front windows offer a view of the Grave Creek Mound, the largest Adena burial mound in West Virginia. Even though it was showering, visitors were making the trek to the top while I sat comfortably inside eating my double-dip cone.

Fun mirrors! We had some great laughs playing with these. There is a toy museum upstairs. I have not yet been up there but hope to do so on my next visit. Some places just need more than one visit to take it all in, you know?

The view in the opposite direction of the Mound is of the WV State Penitentiary, now a tourist attraction with daily tours and special programs. I visited there years back because my grandchildren wanted to go, but have no desire to go back. The place is just sad to me. All those wasted lives.

Lots to see here! If you want to go, just travel to Moundsville via WV State Route 2 or Ohio State Route 7 and follow the signs to the mound and penitentiary. Johnny Shar's is right across the street. Don't miss it!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Grand Storytelling at Grand Vue

What a time we had! 10 storytellers, children from two schools, parents, teachers and general public, all joined together by stories atop a high windy ridge in beautiful Marshall County. Organized by Rich Knoblich with the assistance of Judi Tarowsky, the first-ever Grand Vue Storytelling Festival was all things a festival should be: fun, relaxing, inspiring, amusing, entertaining and educational.

We started off at the Moundsville-Marshall Public Library with a program called an olio--a concert that gave a taste of things to come the following day. I am no stranger to this library as I have been there several times over the years to tell stories for summer reading, for ghost stories, book talks and a writing workshop. The staff is always welcoming and they know how to set things up for a good program. Each teller shared a short story and the selections ranged from folktales to tall tales to stories from history.

We were at it again the following morning. It was a windy day, which kept us all comfortable in the outdoor shelter even though the temperatures were in the high 80's. The best comments of the day:

*One 5th grade boy sitting in front of me turned to his friend and said, with his face alight with pleasure, "I thought storytelling was going to be boring!"

*A teacher stopped me to tell me that she remembered hearing me tell stories over 12 years ago at a conference in Charleston--and could even tell me what story I told. When I asked her if she ever retold it she replied, "Oh yes, but not nearly as good as you!" Oral tradition, passing it on in the time-honored way (and I bet she tells it pretty well!).

A group of 5th graders who said, "We're all going to be storytellers!"

After the storytelling we went down to the town of Moundsville (home of the infamous West Virginia State Penitentiary, now closed and the site of tours, including ghost tours) for ice cream at this very cool place.

I mean cool in every sense of the word: The Big Dipper, it's called, and the dips were generous, the ice cream delicious and the decor totally rocked.

One of our group mentioned that his great-grandfather had been a warden at the penitentiary, and that every summer his grandmother used to stay with him, and get banana splits at an ice cream place. He ordered a banana split--and then we learned that this was the very place where his grandmother had bought her banana splits! Back then it was called the Marshall Dairy, I believe.

 Now that is a banana split! One day I will have to try one of those again. It's been years.

Moundsville has so much to offer, and I need to carve out time to take advantage of its many attractions. I've already toured the penitentiary with two of my grandchildren and hiked to the top of hte highest Indian mound east of the Mississippi River, but there is more to see. Like the Marx Toy Museum, the Circus Museum housed on the upper level of the ice cream shoppe, the zipline at Grand Vue Park, and the paranormal museum downtown.

Talk is already underway about a repeat of this small but successful first effort. Even if I am not selected as a teller, I will be there, I hope, as a listener and as a tourist in Moundsville. And yes, I plan to try the zipline too!

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Man's Inhumanity

Our visit to Moundsville was...interesting. The penitentiary at Moundsville was West Virginia's primary penal institution from 1866 until it closed in 1995. I admit the prison has never been on my list of places to visit--I just could not see the point in visiting the site of such brutality and pain. My visiting grandchildren, however, had seen television shows about the prison and the fact that it was one of the "most haunted places in America." They begged to go, so I added it to our itinerary.

The penitentiary offers daily tours and even overnight stays for those so inclined. In October special ghost tours are conducted that are extremely popular. The tours aren't too expensive ($5 for kids and under, $8 for seniors, and $10 for adults) and last about an hour, ending in a memorabilia room and the gift shop.

The building itself is stupendous. It's built of cut stone, 5 feet thick at the bottom and 30" thick at the top. Prisoners cut the stone and built the place, an irony that I doubt few of them missed. Guard turrets dot the walls--in the beginning guards also walked along the top of the walls, but when two guards fell during one bad winter, that practice ceased. A small section, labeled the Wagon Gate, was built prior to the Civil War and actually held prisoners on the second and third levels.

Looking up into a cell block--4 tiers of narrow cells piled on top of each other.

Our tour guide told the stories of prisoners who painted, murdered, created gangs, read, cooked, gardened, were isolated from the other inmates. Over and through all his stories ran a strong theme--how cruel one human can be to others. To see those tiny cells and realize that live beings were trapped in there for hours, days and years. To note the poor, barren conditions, the unforgiving surfaces, the ancient machinery and amenities. To hear about the things that were done--the weapons made, the murderous attacks, the escapes, the danger these men posed to each other. Most of us have seen TV shows about prisons and inmates. I think those shows cannot possibly mirror the reality of life in a 100-year-old-plus prison.

Grace and Clayton in lock-up. A game for visitors, but imagine living every day in such a space.

Survival at all costs seemed to be the dominant, driving force behind the men imprisoned in those tiny cells. But why? What did they have to live for? Many of them had no hope of parole. Many who did get out returned a short time later. Many had nothing waiting for them on the other side of the bars--except freedom. Was that enough? Evidently so, but I left wondering if I could have survived in such a place. I doubt it, but then my survival instinct has never been put to such a test.

The inside of a typical cell. Prisoners were allowed to choose their own paint, but could not use solid black or dark brown walls because it limited the guards' visibility into the cell.

The white area below the guard tower is the site of a famous escape attempt. Four prisoners who worked in the greenhouse located on the spot dug a 4-four high tunnel under the prison. It was to be a major escape, but they got frightened and escaped alone. All four were soon captured and returned to the prison, and I'm sure faced the wrath of fellow prisoners who were to have escaped with them.

The prison was an official US Post Office address, complete with its own post office. This is the postal window.

The final end for some prisoners.