Two weeks ago, I set out to visit three counties from this year's list of twelve I wanted to visit, in three days. By the time I got to Lewisburg, in Greenbrier County, the third, I was fried. I napped in the motel for about two hours, had dinner at a Shoney's across the parking lot, checked out the internet and went to sleep early. I had planned to leave for home in the afternoon, but left early the next morning, feeling like I hadn't really explored Greenbrier.
I felt lousy, all sinusy and fatigued, from the end of October until.. now. I'm not perfect, but much better.
I decided to visit Greenbrier County again, and stay two nights, giving me a half day and a full day. I had to wait for the January weather to improve, so I left Tuesday, January 24, which looked reasonable. I drove a back way, shorter, but taking possibly an extra hour, through Grafton, Philippi, Elkins and Marlinton. This looked shorter, but U.S. 219 from Elkins to Marlinton goes up and down mountains, twisting and turning. Although the speed limit is 55, there are at least a hundred signs recommending slowing down to 15, 20, 35, or 50 around the curves. The road was clear, but heavily graveled and salted, and I could see snow in the mountains surrounding the road. A day earlier, U.S. 219 would have been covered in ice and snow. There are ski resorts in the mountains. It was a beautiful ride, but I might not be tempted to do it again.
I arrived in Lewisburg, the county seat of Greenbrier County, just after 2 P.M. The weather was just above freezing, but sunny. I looked for a few historic sites, and walked the historic downtown business district. Lewisburg advertises itself as "The Coolest Little City." That meant to me that there was an independent bookstore, always a plus. Unfortunately, the bookstore was closed for inventory this week and will reopen on Friday.
My hotel room is in the front of the hotel and there are trucks parked out front. They started revving up and making noise at 6 A.M. today. I slept a little after they were gone, but arose around 7. I had an itinerary: I wanted to see more in Lewisburg, then visit The Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, 12 miles to the east, see the town of Ronceverte (Greenbrier in French, supposedly) downstream from Lewisburg on the Greenbrier River and south on U.S. 219. From there, I planned to visit Alderson, with an interesting history, farther downstream from Ronceverte.
The weather forecast last night called for a winter weather watch, with possible snow and ice. This morning, the weather said there would be only rain south of I-64. My motel is a block south of I-64, and every place I planned to visit was farther south.
The temperature was again just above freezing, but with torrents of rain all morning. I got soaked. I found the public library on the edge of downtown Lewisburg, and was shocked to see that it is a palace. I sat down in the reading area with the Charleston Gazette-Mail, and was dismayed to find out that the West Virginia Senate had passed a bill to allow people to carry weapons on college campuses. 27 of 28 Republicans in the Senate voted for it; all four Democrats voted against. The measure was opposed by the presidents and student bodies of every college in the state.
I spoke with the head librarian, Ann Foss, and asked her how they got such a beautiful library in a county with one-third the population of Monongalia County, where the library is well- run and they try, but the building is a dungeon? She said it took five years of work by a dedicated group of volunteers, who cajoled wealthy donors into coughing up dough (my words, not hers). It got me wondering if we could do that in Morgantown. Near the library is a cemetery, where 95 unidentified Confederate soldiers, killed in battle in Lewisburg in 1862 are buried in a common grave shaped like a cross.
I headed out twelve miles east to the Greenbrier Hotel, on the edge of the mountains that separate Virginia from West Virginia. I got a visitor pass at the entrance by just giving the guard my name and phone number. It's quite a splendid place, built by the B&O Railroad early in the last century and expanded several times. It is now owned by our Governor, Jim Justice, and the upkeep alone explains why his coal companies can't pay their fines for environmental damage, and why their retirees find their promised health insurance cut off every other month. I glanced through the shops, where I saw a beautiful flannel shirt, but once I glanced at the $158 price tag, I made a note to find something similar at T.J. Maxx.
I drove back to Lewisburg, taking the truck route that skips downtown to head south on U.S. 219. I found the mall, with just a handful of stores on the outside open; the interior closed. There was a construction project going on at one end, but I don't know what it's about. There was a shopping center farther south with a Kroger store advertising that it was in Ronceverte, but it's a few miles north of there. I pulled into Wendy's in the Kroger parking lot for lunch as it was close to noon, and I didn't see anyplace else to eat. They used to have salad bars, but not anymore. I had a wretched chicken sandwich (skip the fries) with an unsweet iced tea. I walked into Kroger and bought an organic Bosc pear for now and a Cliff''s Bar for later.
I was close to Ronceverte, so I stopped there and walked around in the rain. There is a B&O (now Chessie system) station there, although the trains don't stop. I saw a mile-long freight come by laden with coal. The commercial center of town is nearly dead, but the residential section on the cliff above doesn't look too bad.
Alderson is off Route 63, southwest of Ronceverte on another country road. It's not just a song. Alderson is on the railroad tracks and the river, with an actual AMTRAK station, where trains stop three times a week. It was about 1:30 by the time I got there, and I saw an old gas station with an orange "Gulf"" sign. "Visitor Center" was painted on the front window. I went in and found "Fruits of Labor" coffee shop and bakery, created to help people in recovery. It had stopped raining, and was up to 40 F. Still, I was chilled and soaked, so I ordered mint tea and a chocolate chip cookie, and sat for a half hour, chatting with the staff and some other customers. Alderson was the home of Bricktop, the famous cabaret singer of the early 20th century, whose mother had been a slave. They had a walking tour map, so, refreshed and drier, I took the tour. There is a historic bridge across the Greenbrier River, separating the part of the town in Greenbrier County from the part in Monroe County. The story is that there was a lion who somehow got loose in the town, scaring the residents. Now there is an abstract sculpture of a lion next to the bridge.
It's eleven miles north on route 12 back to Interstate 64, then a short jaunt back to Lewisburg. Driving in on 219 yesterday, before I-64, I saw a dealer selling classic cars. It was 3 P.M. and I could have used a nap, but I decided to check out the cars. I told the man who greeted me that people my age used to go to the car showrooms when the new models came out when we were twelve, thirteen and fourteen, and imagine ourselves in the latest models. Rich people my age, like Jay Leno and Bruce Springsteen, have garages full of classic cars. I told him I just wanted to look, and he let me. Best bet for me would have been a 1990 Mazda Miata (with a cassette player!) for $17,000.
I came back to the hotel then, read a bit and tried to sleep. A guy in a semi pulled into the lot, backed up, causing his truck to make those obnoxious beeps and waking me up. I slept a little more, went to dinner at Shoney's at the end of the parking lot, and, as usual at buffets, I ate too much.
I'm driving home tomorrow, about 180 miles. The weather forecast is not good, but I'll be careful and take the faster route.
I had energy all day today, and did everything I planned to do, without flagging. So maybe Barry is back!
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