WELCOME TO MY 600th YELP REVIEW!!
That coincidentally comes on the tails of my six-year Yelp Elite badge!!
I can think of no better way to ring in another year of Yelp Elite status, and the start of my next "century" of Yelping, than with BRAXXIE!! :-D
For Christmas break week, our Buffalo-based fam' road-tripped our way down to West Virginia for a few days to explore someplace we had not been. We went in with plans to take our teens shopping with their Christmas money, and beyond that to just see where the "Country Roads" would take us. We snagged a brochure for Flatwoods Monster Museum at a WV Visitor Center as an option, and later decided to give it a go when we clocked it at only about a half hour from our Bridgeport WV hotel.
Flatwoods Monster Museum is in quaint little Sutton WV, a neighbor to Flatwoods WV. Legend has it that in 1952 the Flatwoods Monster appeared on a hillside in the forest, and both locals and Cryptids lovers from far and wide have been fascinated by this sighting ever since. Locals call the monster Braxxie, after Braxton County.
Braxxie's museum is in a small storefront in the heart of the Sutton village. It is free admission. It is one room with Flatwoods Monster history and art along the walls, and gift shop items in the middle and in the case up front. Gift shop items include reasonably priced tees, hoodies, magnets, postcards, and other souvenirs.
As small as the museum is, we spent quite a while here perusing all of the Braxxie history and memorabilia, as well as chatting with the museum owner/manager. He was extremely knowledgeable not only about the Flatwoods Monster of course, but about other Cryptid lore and sights in the area. He recommended we check out "The Spot" where Braxxie was sighted, as well as the West Virginia Big Foot Museum just a block away.
I'm typically not particularly interested in monster-related things, but after visiting the Flatwoods Monster Museum and learning more about Braxxie, this festive red-and-green guy really left an impression on me! Moreover, it is fascinating how something so improbable and unexplainable that happened 70+ years ago still has people talking and wondering. Braxxie is his/her own thing, unlike any other Cryptid, and perhaps that uniqueness is a big part of what keeps the story going for all this time.
Our family thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Flatwoods Monster Museum. The exhibits were well curated and interesting. The owner/manager was exceedingly friendly and knowledgeable. And we snagged some fairly priced souvenirs--indeed the whole fam' went home with Braxxie tees! And I bought a couple for gifts, too. If you are interested in monster lore, or are sightseeing in the Sutton WV area for any reason, it is well worth the visit to this quirky, offbeat roadside hidden gem. read more