On the Road Again

I want to thank you all for your suggestions on our plans to visit Ontario. Very helpful! We have actually been to Niagara several times, and have visited the Canadian side briefly, but I would like to see the falls again, and check out those gardens on the Canadian side. 

We just got home this evening as it got dark, after a weekend with our oldest son and his family on the other side of West Virginia. The drive used to take 5 hours, but due to some new road construction we can now do it in an hour less. 

It was a great time. Our daughter-in-law's family was there so it was quite a gathering! It was nice to see here mother and sisters again, as it's been quite a while since that has happened. So lots of good food, laughter, conversation,  then gifts!

One big Christmas tree!

Laden tables and counters, as these women are great cooks. There were about 30 people there, from 8 months to 84 years old.

Granddaughter Grace clowning it up with her Christmas tree hat.

Friendly deer this morning, investigating the scraps George put out for them. 

My son got a breadmaker for Christmas and has already made some delicious bread.

We looked through a box full of old German steins collected by my ex-husband's father. George thought i could sell them in my booths, but his son and daughter kept 5 of them and I am pretty sure other family members will want the rest. This one was my favorite. It's actually a deep, dusty blue in color.

We hated saying goodbye. Daughter-in-law Sandy was sick this morning, unfortunately,  so we did not get to see her again before leaving. Apparently she caught the norovirus that's going around in their area.  She was fine yesterday, but the virus struck hard during the night. Fingers crossed that we didn't bring it home with us.

The fog was fascinating up in those mountains!

(Along Route 48, there are many windmills.)

Looking down into the valley below Thomas, WV.

In the small town of Parsons, look at that fog hanging low against the hill.

On the way home I saw a post on Facebook Marketplace for a free stake-sided Radio Flyer wagon. Amazing! Really free? Yes, it was. The only problem was that it was an hour north of home, which meant adding 2 hours to our trip. But Larry was game,  so we took the twisty Route 14 through beautiful Wirt County, WV, to pick up the wagon. I made sure to take some barn photos for Tom!

Of course there were also other old buildings that caught my eye. I was shooting through the van windows, so please pardon the odd streaks and dots and such.

I think this is the old Beulah church below. That's the new one above.

An abandoned general store outside of Palestine,  WV.

This place made me happy! I have been fascinated by it for years, and one day stopped to ask about its history. What you see in the first photo is the building as it looks now. 

This is how it looked for many years.

It was fast falling into disrepair. I learned tgat once there had been quite a mansion across the road, and the owner of that home built this building as a dance hall for his many daughters, who all lived to dance! But it stood empty for many years. The mansion was torn down, but the stone gate posts were still there last time I checked. While this building lost a lot of its original character when it was restored, at least it is now occupied and loved again.

Another abandoned structure in Palestine, WV. This looks like it was a motel or rooming house. Back in its heyday Palestine was a busy oil and gas drilling location, but today I don't think there is even one business there.

We picked up the wagon from two of the nicest people, and I found out that the wife was a potter! So I had a quick look through some of her stock and bought a coffee cup for Larry,  and a WV ornament for our tree. 

And finally, home, just as the sun was setting. 

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

Those Who Wander

...often find interesting people and places.

We took a wander on Saturday after delivering that pedal car and a set of glassware to their new owners. It was a chilly, damp day, but perfect for a drive through the countryside. We chose to travel north on Route 14 to the little town of Elizabeth, WV. It has been some years since we've been there and I remembered a thrift shop, a little restaurant with great pies and a pretty small town on the banks of the Little Kanawha River.

 The drive along 14 is always beautiful, in any season. This is rural, farming country. Few industries or job opportunities here but for those who want to farm, the wide river bottoms offer ample space--but farmland here is seldom for sale. I think Wirt Countians are happy to stay where they are, surrounded by hills and water and far from cities and noise.

Elizabeth, we found, has changed a good bit since our last visit. The biggest change is that the downtown area had a major fire so the quaint old buildings I remembered were gone, razed to the ground. This was one place that was for sale, this bare site in the middle of town.

The thrift shop I'd wanted to visit had been in the old building so it was gone too. The two diners I remembered were closed, and instead of pie I had to satisfy myself with pizza. Not a great substitute.

The town still offers plenty to see. Like the old hotel on the banks of the river,

and the museum (also closed when we were there) next door.

The hotel seems to be in the process of renovation, and I hope that one day it will be open for visitors.

Beautiful old homes line the streets; the house that held the funeral home once owned by the family of a friend is also for sale, as the company that bought them out ended up closing down the business.

On our way back down Route 14 we stopped to take photos of an old building that I was once told was a dance hall, built by a local wealthy oil-and-gas man for his daughters.

The house, apparently, was across the road from the dance hall, but all that is left is the steps and a man made of old exhaust pipes and mufflers to guard the entrance.

The small community of Palestine seems to be slowly dying out. I remember an elderly man, the one who told me about the dance hall, who had a junk shop and auto repair business here, but now it is all closed.

Not far away was a small old home with its swinging bridge across the creek still in good repair.

As we left Palestine we passed what must have been the general store, but long since closed. It is sad to see these places dwindling away when once they were thriving and full of busy people. Times change. I suppose, and people follow the two-lanes out to bigger and better roads and places, but I have to wonder if they left the best behind.

More of our trip in my next post.



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