Lewisburg Main Street

The phrase, “Wonderful West Virginia,” is used by their tourism department, but the phrase is not an exaggeration. The state truly is wonderful with modern highways, scenic vistas, and historic sites. Our trip ran from Beckley to Lewisburg, in the southern part of the state. Beckley is served by Amtrak’s Cardinal route with a stop in Prince, which is several miles away along the winding river and is no longer a town. When you get off the Interstates, you have more opportunities to get to roadside observation points with grand vistas. This isn’t a mountainous region, but it has large rolling hills.

New River Gorge

Hwy 19 Bridge over the New River

The New River flows through a deep gorge and is one of the oldest rivers in the eastern US. The bridge over the river is spectacular when viewed from the nearby park. Lower down the river you can see the remains of numerous abandoned coal mines. Deep mining was abandoned for mountain-top strip mining when the huge equipment became available at a much lower cost for fewer workers.

Lewisburg Street

Lewisburg Academy Park

Concert Hall

From there we drove east to Lewisburg. The town is cute, touristy, lined with old storefronts, sidewalk cafes with hanging flower baskets, and underground utilities. Andrew Carnegie gave libraries to towns across the country. One of the small Texas towns I lived in had one. But Lewisburg has a Carnegie Concert Hall. A museum house is located next door.

Greenbrier Hotel

Greenbrier Hotel - the Grounds are Huge

Our last West Virginia stop before heading to Virginia was the Greenbriar Hotel and Golf Resort. In 1778 it opened as the White Sulphur Springs Hotel. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad bought the property and opened a hotel in 1913 that is still the centerpiece of the facility. When we were there the public rooms were still decorated in the flowery style of the 1940’s. The hotel was commandeered by the Army for a hotel in WWII and was used from 1942 - 1948, when it was returned to private hands. Gaming was introduced in 2009 when it was sold again. In 2013 the facility was expanded to include an NFL training camp. The cheapest rooms in the former attic currently are $460/night. We did not stay there. The resort includes 11,000 acres with golf, tennis, a casino, and a medical center.

Old Stone Presbyterian Church

North House

Fire Station at Greenbrier

Next time I will give you a tour of Shepherdstown, WV in the northern part of the state that is only a day’s drive from Washington, DC.

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