Italy in Mid America

We had been planning a vacation in Italy starting on October 12 of this year and had spent a lot of time planning the trip. We had the airline tickets, reservations for hotels in Rome, Sorrento, Florence, and Venice. All was set and then came September 11. We thought about it and even were leaning to continuing with the trip but finally decided that we wouldn’t feel right being out of the country at such a time. We cancelled all the Italy reservations deciding to spend our money at home and started to plan a trip through Mid America instead. It is just as well that we cancelled the Italy trip as on October 11 I was scheduled for some ultrasound tests and had another doctors appointment set for October 22 to go over the results. So the trip would have been cancelled anyhow. As it turned out I was diagnosed with bladder cancer and was in the operating room on October 25. Since I had 11 days between the tests and the results we decided to get away anyhow. The doctor said it was OK to travel.

The trip I had originally laid out would have taken us through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, to St. Louis and then a return. With the medical problems shrinking the time line we knew we could get to Kentucky but then the trip would have to start a backwards loop.

October 13 Saturday High Bridge to Wheeling, West Virginia

The ride across the PA turnpike was uneventful but beautiful. The fall colors were in full swing and the section before the last tunnel was an absolute wash of red and brown. There was no place to stop here so no pictures were possible. We pulled into Wheeling in the afternoon and visited Oglebay Park in Wheeling. This is a spectacular park with Wilson Lodge as the centerpiece. Oglebay Park is famous for the Christmas light displays which serve as a local charity fundraiser. The park is said to be decorated with spectacular lights and the funds are raised by charging a fee to drive thru the park past the displays. Locals explained that traffic leading up to the park after Thanksgiving in the evenings is a crush. There were no rooms available this night but the price would have been outside of our budget. We took in the downtown of Wheeling and I was saddened by the decay that had taken place here. I traveled a lot in the 1970’s to this area and downtown Wheeling was always a bustling place. We made reservations for the Country Jamboree Talent Show for the evening and walked across the first suspension bridge built in the US across a part of the Ohio River to Wheeling Island. For dinner we selected a local Italian Restaurant which was filled with students from a local college on homecoming weekend. The girls were dressed in gowns getting ready for the dance in the evening and we felt underdressed. The talent show consisted of two one hour sets. The first part trotted out three new acts and after the intermission, the house band played very well. The three acts were good but we felt that the wrong one was chosen as the winner. The winner was a hot blonde with pants designed by either Sherwin Williams or Cook & Dunn. She did have stage presence not only in her looks but also in honoring America and all the victims of September 11. How can a patriot loose as the New England Patriots were about to show in the 2002 Super Bowl. We thought another act had better musical talent. The Country Jamboree in Wheeling has been a very long running program on Saturday nights. I remember as a kid tuning in on the AM dial and picking up the broadcasts.

October 14 Sunday Wheeling, West Virginia to Charleston, West Virginia

It had rained during the night and when we went out we were blessed with a huge rainbow across the sky. To keep within the Italian theme of our trip we went to mass at the cathedral in Wheeling. The frescoes and the stained glass windows in this old style cathedral building were spectacular. We then drove to Moundsville to visit the Fostoria Glass Museum but found out that the museum would not open until 1:00 Pm. We drove the 12 miles back to Wheeling and went to the casino on Wheeling Island to see what that was like and hopefully not to lose too much money. As it turned out I dropped $30.00 but mom lucky as she was walked out $50.00 to the good.

The Fostoria Glass Museum was a disappointment. We thought there would be more of a display especially since this area was famous for its glass industry. We found the Indian Burial Mound Museum to be a lot more interesting. Moundsville is also home of the West Virginia Penitentiary Museum which is right across from the beautiful burial mound. The penitentiary is no longer in use but they offer tours of the old prison like at Alcatraz. One of the highlights according to the AAA book was a display of “Old Sparky”. We skipped this visit as Alcatraz in 2000 was enough of prisons.

We then left Moundsville at around 3:00 pm and headed across to Ohio to follow the Ohio River south along Route Route 7. Further down the river was the Hiram Dam and locks where I wanted to get some pictures and below Sardis was a ferry back to Sisterville, WVA. When we got to the locks there was a tug pushing barges getting ready to go into the locks but at the time it was raining very hard and thus my picture opportunity was lost. The ferry ride was also in heavy rain. Sisterville appeared to be an old river town which had turned its attention to tourism. There were many Bed and Breakfasts in evidence. The ride through West Virginia to Charleston along Route 2 and then on interstate 77 was very scenic as the sun had come out finally and the colors were spectacular as we wound thru the mountains. We pulled into Charleston at around 7:00 Pm.

October 15 Monday Charleston, West Virginia to Pleasant Hill, Kentucky

At breakfast we were sitting across from an elderly woman who was complaining about no electricity or heat in her house. She related that there had been a terrible storm the previous afternoon and that about 3000 families were out of power south of Charleston. We then drove over to the state capitol complex to take a tour of the capitol. West Virginia has one of the most impressive state capitols we have seen. We took a guided tour which was very interesting. The main hall of the capitol has the portraits of all the past governors which included one of the Rockefellers. One of the governor portraits looked just like a riverboat gambler. The capitol has a statue of Lincoln on the Kanawha River front with an inscription from Vachel Lindseys poem “Lincoln Walks at Midnight” to commemorate the fact that West Virginia became a state by presidential decree during the Civil War.

We then resumed our Italian theme by heading for Milton, WVA which is the home of Blenko Glass. This company was the subject of a special on PBS and wanted to see it in person now that we were not going to see the glass works in Venice. Blenko was a spectacular place to visit. You can walk into the factory and see the glass blowing taking place. It was a production line but instead of machinery moving the glass it was the people that went thru a dance like process. It seemed orchestrated. One person we saw was reading a magazine but then all of a sudden another worker showed up with a blow tube and an object on it and the reader would then do his part and then resume his reading. It was amazing almost like a machine with humans as the moving parts. Mom spent oodles in the store. The lady in the store said that they do not concern themselves with breakage. The broken glass gets recycled as raw material for something else. Good policy. Blenko Glass is still run by the Blenko family having passed thru many generations. One of the heads of the company during the early 1900’s had close ties to Eugene Debs the socialist activist. There were letters in the display cases. It seemed a strange mix of an industrialist connected to a socialist/communist.

From Blenko we headed to the Lexington, Kentucky area to spend a night at Pleasant Hill. Pleasant Hill is a Shaker Museum site which houses overnight guests in the dormitories as a means of raising funds for the maintenance of the museums. We got into Pleasant Hill in the early evening and had a chance to walk thru the grounds before sunset. The grounds are beautifully kept. We ate an excellent country style dinner in the dining hall. The sleeping quarters were excellent inclusive of a TV. They did not separate men from women however as the Shakers did. During the night the wind howled and you could hear heavy rain.

October 16 Tuesday Pleasant Hill, Kentucky to Cave City, Kentucky

We were looking to spend a whole day at Pleasant Hill and also take the river boat ride at Pleasant Hill but it was a cold, windy and rainy morning. We walked around the village and did all the indoor activities including the gift shop and left around 1:00 pm. The lady in the weaving demonstration was a character. She had worked in the local textile mills but then when they shut had come over to Pleasant Hill. In the winter she gets into her RV and heads south for the season. We learned more about the Shakers and their ingenuity. The woodworker was a friendly chap but the cooper was not that willing to answer any questions in depth.

There were other historical sites in the area we wanted to see but the weather was not conducive to walking around even with raingear so we headed off to Cave City to visit Mammoth Caves National Park in the morning.

October 17 Wednesday Cave City, Kentucky to Nashville, Tenn.

We arrived at the Mammoth Cave NP and signed up for one of the shorter and easier cave tours that lasted about two hours. The tours range from easy to very strenuous (including crawling on your belly). I was up for that (not) but mom did not want to try that. I also purchase a Golden Eagle Pass which will give me some breaks for NP entrance fees. Our cave tour started out by a bus ride to a locked steel door entrance to the cave. The tour guide explained that the entrance here was man made and the door was kept closed to protect the atmospheric environment inside the cave. The tour was not too strenuous and was worth the time and money. The entire complex of caves is huge. There is a cave complex nearby which is the 5^th largest complex in the area. This cave is suspected to be connected to Mammoth Caves but since it is in private holdings, the owner is not too anxious to have the connection located and loose his status of #5. Mammoth Cave is a nice place to go get away from it. There is a nice motel like lodge and the restaurant at the complex was excellent. We wouldn’t mind spending a couple of relaxing days here.

We skipped the Corvette assembly plant tour in Bowling Green and drove to Nashville, Tenn. for the evening. We inquired about the possibility of staying at the Grand Old Opry Hotel for the night but the room was in excess of $150 so we declined even though they had rooms available. This was the second time we visited the Opry Hotel.

The interior atriums are spectacular and we took an indoor boat ride to replicate the gondolas we would have used in Venice and also had a dinner in one of the more reasonable restaurants. There are other restaurants in the hotel where you can empty your wallet and bank account. The fountain displays were also nice to watch. The real time to visit this hotel is before Christmas when it is decorated to the nines. We did this in 1997 as part of the teacher’s convention weekend break.

October 18 Thursday Nashville, Tenn to Chattanooga to Atlanta, Ga.

We were headed to Atlanta to visit with mom’s sister Kathy in the evening. At Chattanooga we drove over to Lookout Mountain and took the inclined railway to the top to visit the Lookout Mountain Battlefield. The incline is an interesting ride. The ascent at the top is very steep. Lookout Mountain battlefield was a fascinating visit.

I purchased two books at the gift shop relating to the battles for Chattanooga. I hope to read them to fill in my gaps of the Tennessee campaigns.

After Lookout Mountain we drove over to Racoon Mountain Reservoir and hoped to take a tour of the underground electrical generation plant but the tours were shut down. We suspected that September 11 had something to do with the shutdown but there were no specific signs.

October 19 Friday Atlanta, Ga to Charlotte NC

We were on the way to Charlotte to spend the night with a very good friend. Since we had all day we drove up to South Carolina and toured Pendleton which is an old scenic town with a very picturesque town square. The square has an excellent restaurant which is housed in the Farmers Hall. Great food. We wanted to drive through the campus of Clemson University but decided to skip it as Clemson was preparing for the homecoming weekend football game on Saturday. The outskirts of Clemson were crawling with cars so that was enough for us. We took the scenic route US 11 through South Carolina and stopped at Table Rock visitor center. This is a very pretty place. If ever we get spare time from retirement we will come back and loose a couple of days. Prior to getting to Charlotte we drove into the Cowpens Battlefield site. Another bit of irony. When you visit a battlefield in the South that is below Yorktown, Va. You expect that battlefield to be from the Civil War. The battle of Cowpens however was from the Revolutionary War.

October 20 Saturday Charlotte, NC to Lexington VA

Our friends in Charlotte are great fans of church and garage sales as well as flea markets. One of the local churches was holdings it big annual sale this Saturday so we had to get up early to get in line for the fun. I couldn’t believe it. There was a big line to get into the church hall for the sale. Ken explained that you have to get there early for the good stuff. Ken is a collector and re-seller of tins and other memorabilia so he was out to get some more inventory. He succeeded. I bought one of those electrical contraptions for 50 cents which activates a switch when you clap your hands. It is called the clapper. It was old but it did work.

We left Charlotte in the afternoon. I wanted to get some of the road behind me although many times I have driven the Charlotte to High Bridge route in one day.

We got a little north of Lexington and called for motel reservations in Staunton. Staunton has a great restaurant called The Mill and it was my intent to go there for dinner. It wound up that every motel in Staunton was booked. After all it was a beautiful weekend and the leaves were in full bloom in the Shenandoah Valley. No wonder the leaf peepers were out occupying rooms which rightfully belonged to us seasoned travelers. Luckily there was a motel with vacancy at the exit I had stopped for gas above Lexington. I wouldn’t even think about going into Staunton for the restaurant.

October 21 Sunday Lexington Va to High Bridge, NJ

Nothing of import to report on this day. The road was mostly flat, the weather was great. All in all it was a great trip. It was somewhat subdued with all that was on our minds during this trip. The events of Sept. 11 was weighing on us. The cancelled trip to Italy which had been so thoroughly researched and anticipated. And of course the medical situation I found myself in.

We will have to go back to West Virginia and Kentucky at another time. In West Virginia I learned about the Cass Railroad and the New River Gorge which I want to visit. There is also a beautiful restored grist mill called Glade Mill. These are supposed to be great fall visits with the leaves. Kentucky also has a lot of history and interest. I would love to get to Louisville two weekends prior to the Kentucky Derby when there is the fabulous fireworks show called Thunder on the Ohio.

Oh well one trip will have to be in the fall and the other the spring.