WV Day 7 - Abolitionists, Ales, and Antique Candies
Today I took the scenic route out of WV and went to visit Harper's Ferry. Along the way, I continued to play my little game of stopping at any scenic overlook with continuing great results.
Along the way, I stopped for brunch at Christina's Cafe in Strasburg, VA. It wasn't technically ing West Virginia, but it was only about three minutes over the border and I was hungry. Also WV has to have one of the strangest shapes of any state, it's so easy to just end up driving through other states. I think I've hit four this week just by using the highways. While at Christina's I ordered the Sexi-Mexi breakfast special, which was much better than that ridiculous name. It also provided a much needed veggie transfusion after quite a few days of unhealthy eating. It came with a spinach and mushroom empanada, a cheddar spinach quesadilla, and a baby greens salad which came with apricots and pecans and a cilantro dressing. Everything was really delicious, but the salad was the surprise start of the show. A surprising number of people at college thought that I didn't like eating vegetables because they never saw me eat a salad, but the real thing I don't like is vinegar and it was so nice to get a salad dressing that wasn't super vinegar based.
When I got to Harper's Ferry I was really blown away. The main thing I knew about the area was that it was the sight of John Brown's abolitionist revolt, but it's also a beautiful national park right on the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers. Easily in the top five most beautiful murder sites in the country! The town center also really embraces their history preserving a lot of the old colonial buildings and putting up free museum exhibits throughout the town. While I was mostly familiar with their role in civil war history, their convenient location on two major rivers played an important role during the early colonial period and the industrial revolution.
The area continues to be vital too with lots of cool shops and restaurants popping up downtown. My personal favorite was a place called True Treats Historic Candy. The shop specializes in candies made in traditional styles from the 1600s up to today. It's arranged by time period, and a lot of the candies and chocolates are made in house. It was so interesting, because every candy had a little tag on it that explained the origin of the cooking processes and ingredients so it was basically like a museum where you could eat all the exhibits. I got some chicory coffee and homemade peanut butter cups and had a really nice conversation with the woman who runs the place. She used to live right in Harvard square so we talked a lot about Boston which was nice and nostalgic.
After spending a few hours walking around the area, I drove down to the Abolitionist Ale Works in Charles Town which had been advertised in the candy store. The brewpub is only a few months old, but they're definitely worth a visit. They had a really good selection of their own beers and a few guest taps, and their pizza selection was super inventive and all just $9. For beers, I ordered a flight and got an Autumn Wheat, a Rye Pale Ale, a gose, a stout, and an English cider that was brewed with Black Currant juice. The cider was definitely my favorite but that was absolutely because of the black currant, because it's not a super common juice in the US but I loved it when I was spending time in the UK. The Rye Pale Ale was another highlight, not too hoppy with a nice maltiness and a hint of whiskey flavor. For pizza, I ordered a fig and pig. It was a flatbread with dried figs, bacon, prosciutto, and feta. It was incredible. I also ended up chatting with two older couples from Maryland the whole time about beer and traveling which was a lot of fun.
After that, it was off to Virginia to meet up with my mom's cousin (which I believe makes him my second cousin) and his family. We tried to figure out if we had met before but it was inconclusive and would have been when I was pretty young, but family is family and once we started chatting I felt like I could have easily grown up with them. It was good portent for the week to come!
Favorite Random Sightings: A Corner Mart; Star Roasted Chicken; Creations Galore!; Fear No Fish; My Pappy's Place
Regional Observation: All the West Virginia logos are done in the style of Wonder Woman logo, but with a W and a V instead of two W's. I wonder if the logo's popularity surged after the movie.
Albums Listened To: Hunky Dory by David Bowie (what a great album, but the songs are so weird. Topics include Aliens exterminating humanity, nightmares about the holocaust, and suicide, and those were just the huge hits!) I Do Dub by Mr. T-Bone; I Love You, Honeybear by Father John Misty (somehow the most bitterly cynical and sweetly honest batch of love songs I've heard in a long while); I Wanna Get Better (single) by Bleachers; I'm With You by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (just Rain Dance Maggie); Idolize Yourself: The Best of Billy Idol (just Dancing with Myself and Rebel Yell); If I Should Fall From Grace With God by the Pogues (amazing album. It's a testament to Shane Macgowan's songwriting that Fairytale of New York has become a Christmas staple despite featuring the line "you're an old slut on junk"); Ill Communication by the Beastie Boys (just Sure Shot and Flute Loop)
People's Favorite Jokes:
Cashier: How many Newfies (people from Newfoundland) does it take to screw in a light bulb? Five
Me: Why five?
Her: I dunno, the stereotype is they're dumb
A pedophile, a rapist, and a priest walk into a bar. And that's just the first guy.
West Virginia Superlatives:
Favorite Beer: Brewstel Senator Stout
Favorite Bar: 123 Pleasant St. in Morgantown
Favorite Coffee: The Old Village Roaster in Huntington; Very close Second to TipTop Coffee Shop in Thomas
Favorite Restaurant: The Bodega in Huntington
Favorite Burrito: Black Sheep Burritos and Brews in Charleston (though i think they have a few locations)
Favorite Pizza: DiCarlo's in Wheeling for good pure cheese pizza; Pies and Pints in Fayetteville or Charleston for best toppings
Favorite Open Mic: The River House in Capon Bridge
General Impression of the Comedy Scene: Hard to say, because I only really got to see other comics one night, but they were super welcoming and supportive. Material was pretty varied, but there were a lot of family stories and political stuff. The comics I saw seemed to have pretty liberal leanings but their political material had a bit more measured nuance, presumably from having to win over slightly more conservative crowds on average than most Northern comics.
Favorite Attraction: Definitely Harper's Ferry, but the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant is worth a visit if you're on the other side of the state.
Songs of the Day: Two Perfect Examples of Really Smart Songs with Insanely Catchy Pop Hooks n My Humble Opinion
