WV Day 4- Communes, Craft Beer, and College Art Galleries
I started today in the town of Elkins. I spent last night in the Brewstel there, a combination Brewpub and Hostel which is basically the coolest thing a traveling 20 something could want. Unfortunately the brewpub was closed on Wednesday nights and even I'm not ready to start drinking before noon (unless it's a mimosa and then all bets are off) so I didn't get to try their original beers, but I read online that they are very good and I can at the very least vouch for them as one of the coziest hostels I've stayed at.
In Elkins, I got coffee at the Kissel Stop, where I stayed for a bit to knock out some writing. The coffee was great, and the atmosphere was very welcoming. It was a very cold morning though, so I also got some hot oatmeal with brown sugar, walnuts, and raisins and it absolutely hit the spot, even taking the spotlight away from the coffee a bit.
Warm and caffeinated, I decided to drive up to Morgantown for the day, because I only got to see the one bar there last night, but I'd heard it's a really fun college town, and also the hometown of the legendary Don Knotts. Along the way, I made a pit stop in historic Arthurdale. Arthurdale is the first collectivist community founded under the New Deal and completely supervised by Elanor Roosevelt. The sustainable community was intended to help revitalize the area and provide food, work, and housing for the impoverished. As the years went by the settlement was no longer profitable for the government to support so the program ended, but the community remained and the sense of renewed spirit in the region led many of the locals to consider it more of a success than it might appear on paper. The tour staff were unfortunately all being used up by a big school group, so I couldn't get the official tour of the community but just driving through it was still cool to see a lot of the preserved old fashioned signage and buildings.
After that I did make my way to Morgantown. I was told by a friend that the Pesto Cream Cheese at the Blue Moose Cafe was one of the greatest things in the world, so I made sure to make that my first stop. I think they might have been a bit hyperbolic, but it did make for one of the best bagels I've had outside of New York. The coffee wasn't half-bad either.
After that I went to the Morgantown Brewing Company. I tried a flight all ten of their beers, a light lager, an blonde ale, an IPA, a British Pale Ale, an Amber Ale, a Pumpkin ale, a Scotch Ale, a porter, a coffee porter, and a stout. My favorite was unexpectedly the British Pale Ale. It wasn't as hoppy as an IPA, and instead tasted just lie a strong flavored, fuller bodied lager. The stouts and porters were also quite good, but less unexpectedly to my tastes, and the Scotch Ale had a real nice smokiness to it.
I decided to sober up in the most fun and slightly childish way possible after that. I went to a 50's style diner called Tailpipes, where I ordered a peanut butter cup milkshake and played X-Men Pinball for close to an hour. The milkshake was sublime, the Perfect balance of peauntbutter and chocolate, and the pinball was really fun too, with different X-Men themed challenges. The coolest thing to me was that if you unlocked a battle with Magneto, actual magnets would get activated in the machine and mess with your ball in unpredicatable ways. It was a hoot and a half.
Properly sobered up, I decided to take in some Nature while there was still some sunlight at Cooper's Rock. It's a beautiful state park with an overlook that gives one of the most incredible views I have ever seen. I may have cheated by driving up to the top instead of hiking, but knowing my out of shape ass I might have missed the sunset otherwise.
After the brief but majestic nature sojourn, I returned to Morgantown to see the West Virginia University art museum. It was very small, but made up in quality for it it's lack of quantity. There were artists from far and wide, though they did have a nice focus on artists from the region. I really loved this odd painting called Plain Jane by a guy named Walter Quirt but there were lots of great drawings, paintings, and sculptures. The other highlight for me was works by an artist named Blanch Lazzell, who made a mural for the local court house that was saved an preserved in the museum. She also dabbled in everything from impressionism to cubism, and I was super impressed by her range of talents.
After that I went to Big Bear Burritos and Brews. Similarly to the Black Sheep Burritos and Brews, the namesakes that weren't wild animals did not disappoint. I had the special burrito of the day which was cheesy chicken and bacon burrito on a honey wheat tortilla with a delicious avocado mash balsamic glaze. For brew, I got a honey a porter which was a nice, dark yet sweet counterpoint to the burrito. I did not like the special potato salad side though, try as I might to enjoy it because the waitress kind of hyped it up. It might be the only potato based dish I don't like which is kinda impressive in its own way.
From there, I went back to my hostel and finished watching Mindhunter on Netflix. It's a pretty good show, with an excellent finale, but I will definitely be glad to not be thinking about serial killers for a while.
Favorite Random Sightings: Fancy Paws; Gold 'n' Guns; Chico's Fat; Rug Ratz; The Elegant Alley Cat; Joe Mama's
Regional Observations: I guess after going from Philly to New York to Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, I'd gotten kind of use to seeing big sky scrapers, but it seems like no where in West Virginia do the buildings really get all that tall. I'm sure that's one reason the light pollution is more minimal and the views are generally unimpeded and incredible.
Albums Listened To: His Band and the Street Choir by Van Morrison; His Best: Chess 50 Anniversary Collection by Howlin' Wolf (what a legend); Hit Me by the Skandalous All Stars; Hokey Fright by the Uncluded (One of the stranger albums I own, a collab between indie folk artist Kimya Dawson and underground rapper Aesop Rock. It's out there); Hold the Phone by Maddie Ruthless; Hold You Up by the Gaslight Anthem
People's Favorite Jokes: I didn't get any today so here's one from the internet
In the men's bathroom, an accountant, a lawyer, and a cowboy were standing side by side using the urinal. The accountant finished, zipped up, and started washing and literally scrubbing his hands, clear up to his elbows. He used 20 paper towels before he finished. He turned to the other two men and commented, "I graduated from the University of Michigan, and they taught us to be clean." The lawyer finished, zipped up, and quickly wet the tips of his fingers, grabbed one paper towel and commented, "I graduated from the University of California, and they taught us to be environmentally conscious." The cowboy zipped up, and as he was walking out the door, he said, "I graduated from Texas Tech University, and they taught us not to piss on our hands."
Two Very Different Songs of the Day:
Listen to the way he says carburetor. Van Morrison doesn't give a shit about anything or anyone
Two totally different voices
