I and my fellow pickle pals were at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center a few months ago…read morefor the annual Pickle Conference. The culinary team prepped us meals every day, but there weren't any pickles! Where's your pickle spearit? The building is quite large and daunting, reminding me of a cat that I used to share a home with growing up. The escalators worked well, but the stairs kept on malfunctioning -- forcing me to leap 17 feet downstairs to reach the Ballroom D. That reminds me: I forgot to retrieve my right leg. The parking garage, which is situated on a one-way street, made my departure rather cumbersome as the gate leading to the multi-lane carriage way was locked after certain hours. My horses almost ran my chariot into one of the KRT busses as a result. I'll be back once John Denver finally admits that he wrote his Mountaineer song about Maryland.

I attended West Virginia Is For Lovers music festival, hosted by Hawthorne Heights, at this venue…read moreover the summer. As an elder emo, I appreciated the indoor venue change complete with options for sitting between sets. It was easy enough to check in and go through security at the venue. Prices were outrageous for food and drink vendors, as you may expect from a Coliseum, and the food was not good. The "cheesesteak" came on a pita (why?) and the pizza was worse than eating straight cardboard. They did have a local beer on tap that was tasty. Overpriced, obviously, but still good. Overall, while they could elevate the food and beverage experience, otherwise I had an enjoyable time at this venue.

Today Saturday was a Beautiful Day! Extremely Windy, but warm and sunny! I took Noel, Deacon &…read moreKayla to the Capitol Complex and Cultural Center in Charleston. We walked around outside and took some pictures. Deacon and Kayla had never been here. We went in to the West Virginia History Museum (Free to enjoy) and spent about 2 hrs walk around. They gave a sheet of paper to do a scavenger hunt to find 12 items and we found 10 of them. It was a very lovely day outing that we all enjoyed.

**April 2025: Midweek Morning Visit**…read more The Capitol Building itself is really impressive (5 stars for the building itself). It's super grand and beautiful; however, the start of my visit was really rocky, so hopefully this review can make your experience more streamlined. Parking There were many spots for patrons to park; however, you need to scan the QR code to pay for parking and it asks you which parking lot (which there were no signs). We asked a someone who passed by what the lot was called and she directed us to the parking attendant on the other side of the lot. He informed us we were in the DMV lot (which wasn't clearly posted anywhere). After about 15 minutes of trying to figure it out we finally paid. Capitol Building The Capitol Dome is very prominent, but after walking up maybe 50 stairs we found out that visitors cannot enter from the front. There were a lot of buildings so we didn't know where to enter. As we walked around we saw a group of kids from buses and followed them to a side building. There was a small temporary picket sign on the ground that pointed guests to the side building, but even that side building didn't have any markings. All guests go through security and all belongings needed to go through the machine. Tours I did my research on the website and it stated that parties smaller than 10 can come up for a tour. They offer them every half hour from 9am-12pm and 1pm to 3pm. However, on my visit there were at least 300 students visiting that day for a conference/field trip and no tour guides were available. My recommendation is during the week of your visit to give them a call and ask if they have scheduled visitors. I was kind of bummed that we had to miss it, so my friend and I did our own tour. bround 45 minutes later when we were ready to leave, one of the capitol's workers was giving a tour and asked if we'd like to join so that was a plus! Gift Shop The capitol doesn't have a designated gift shop or Capitol merch - which was a bummer. The info desk representative pointed us to the Culture Center Gift shop. I was looking for some memorabilia to bring home to my family and settled on a magnet. I think when I went to the Alaska capitol they had a good assortment so I was kinda bummed. Summary The place is beautiful and I hope on your visit it'll be a smoother process than mine. Cheers!

If you're cruising through South Charleston and spot a big grassy hill tucked between antique shops…read moreand quiet streets, that's the Criel Mound. It's worth a stop. It's not flashy, but there's something grounding about standing next to a structure built over 2,000 years ago by the aboriginal people. The steps leading up are wide and gentle, and once you reach the top, you get a surprisingly peaceful view of the neighborhood. It's a quick visit. The mound itself is steeped in mystery and history. Archaeologists found 13 skeletons inside, including a central figure surrounded by others. There's a small park around the mound with interpretive signs that give you just enough context to spark curiosity. Some locals say horse races were once held around it, and there's even talk of burials that might represent alliances between different tribes. It's wild to think about how much has happened on that patch of earth, and how little we still know. The Criel Mound stands to quietly anchor the town. Kids run up the steps, people are walking dogs, and there's me, pausing to read the plaques. There is a sense of reverence here if you feel it. It's not at all a playground. [Review 569 of 2025 - 154 in West Virginia - 24130 overall]

The Criel Mound is a historic and cultural gem nestled in South Charleston, WV…read more The small park which houses it has plenty of street parking available and several interpretive signs around the mound explaining its history, importance, and what archaeologists discovered inside the mound when excavating. The mound is the second largest Adena mound in West Virginia and is believed to have been developed between 250 and 150 B.C. The Criel Mound was originally one of 50 mounds and prehistoric earthworks located in WV but unfortunately most have since been destroyed due to industrialization. It's definitely worth a visit (plan on about 30 minutes) if you're in the area.

The Marmet locks are the busiest on the Ohio River System in terms of commercial tonnage - about…read more10,000,000 tons in 2012. When they were opened in 1933 (the dam was completed in 1934?) the two original 55' x 360' locks provided 24' of lift at the dam, a recent expansion project added a 110' x 800' lock to better handle modern barge traffic which can be watched comfortably from benches in Bill Wells park. Five 100' roller type gates maintain the pond height and a three unit hydroelectric plant in the dam is capable of generating 144,000 kilowatts. According to local fishermen there's plenty of fish to be had from two platforms which is attested by the many pole holders on the railings.

As a city on a river, Charleston has a handful of bridges that ensure the two sides are able to…read moreconnect. While the upriver Chuck Yeager Bridge carries both I-77 and I-64 over the river, this one is downriver from the city and is simply named the South Side Bridge. Perhaps one day it will get named after a worthy West Virginian. In the meanwhile, the South Side Bridge was built in 1936 by the Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company and was updated in 1990. The bridge spans 1146 feet with a main span of 420 feet and is 38.7 feet wide. It is a Parker through truss bridge. It brings I-64 over not only the Kanawha River but also Kanawha Boulevard and MacCorkle Avenue and a railroad line. My two crossings of the bridge today were easy and smooth thanks to low weekend traffic. As there are signs on the bridge that note the "exit only" lanes, it is likely much more challenging during rush hour. There is no toll here which is a positive. [Review 566 of 2025 - 151 in West Virginia - 24127 overall]

The 1148-foot South Side Bridge opened in 1936 and carries Dickinson Street over the Kanahwa River…read morein the middle of Charleston WV. It is a through truss bridge with clearance enough for a Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star doing 500mph to miss the water and the deck. According to an April 2010 item in the Charleston Gazette this is the bridge Chuck Yeager famously flew under in 1948 - a year after breaking the sound barrier: one pass, heading west, to impress/scare the locals and then back to work. No more, no less, the general was just having a little too much fun. Yea Chuck!

This marker is along a curvy road at the peak of the hill. It is set back from the road a little…read morebit and needing some clearing. There is some space to pull over to stop and read the marker. The marker reads, "White Oak Fuel Company built the Oakwood Mine Complex in 1902. In 1915, 21 miners died when gas in the mine exploded. A year later, the original wooden tipple was upgraded to a multi-story steel structure. New River Company ran the mine after absorbing White Oak Fuel, a subsidiary, in 1936. Peak output was 515,936 tons in 1940. The mine shut down in 1965." The maker was erected in 2012 by West Virginia Department of Abandoned Mine Lands and the West Virginia Department of Archives & History. [Review 19615 overall - 89 in West Virginia - 586 of 2023.]

While I was home on a quick One Day visit my daughter Noelle Teel and I had to play tourist and…read morecheck out the West Virginia State Capitol Complex. It was such a lovely day and we enjoy walking around the complex enjoying the day. The architecture is lovely. The statues are great..there are fountains and gardens with trees and squirrels and located on the banks of the Kanawha River. This is the only capitol that is modeled after the Capitol Building in Washington DC and the dome is a gorgeous Shiny Bright Gold that you can see gleeming in the Charleston Skyline...and on a sunny day...it's absolutely amazingly beautiful!!

Okay so this might be the first *slightly* positive yelp review I've posted…read more I definitely believe West Virginia is a great state for a certain type of person... I am not that person. My experience is limited to a town I completely forget the name of, Spencer, Charleston, and Morgantown (yes the guy writing this review is a complete narcissist) Charleston is a great representation of the state- confusing. You see people sporadically herded together smoking cigarettes in small circles down one street yet, none of them are speaking to each other. Nobody really looks at or acknowledges you, yet you can't help but notice the confederate flags, Trump signs, and country backdrops. It's almost like the missing piece of the puzzle between the South and the North- All the 'glory' of the country, yet devoid of southern hospitality. Even the bums wouldn't talk to me. Morgantown is a bit of an anomaly, there's the college town vibe with little hipster-y joints around town set against the slight implication of the spirit of the coal industry. Don Knotts was from there, and downtown there's a statue of ol' Barney Fife which is pretty cool in my opinion. I would even consider going back, it was very easy to assimilate with the younger, fitter looking people than the average West Virginian. Still there was a general lack of friendless until people were like piss wasted. Spencer gets an honorable mention. I went because I have a couple friends from here, and I had nothing else to do. They can tell you about meth and corruption, they can tell you about incest and nightmares, but me? I can tell you about the stares I got. Whoooo boy I actually think everyone I passed just kinda looked at me in that unfamiliar, "You're not from around here are ye" look. It was a look that didn't make me feel welcome, but didn't make me want to leave. I mean I spent like four hours and ten miles I wasn't prepared to spend getting lost in the Kanewha forest, and I really needed something to eat. I wasn't gonna let a bunch of blurry eyed hicks stop me from looking like a pig in a small town pizza joint. West Virginia exists because it seceded from a state that was seceding from the union yet- none of the people I came in contact with seemed to really agree with that decision.... Thank God I'm White. Amen.

Today, while taking a Sunday drive up the Kanawha River towards Cedar Grove, we stopped in Belle,…read moreWV to visit the 1810 National Historic Home of Samuel Shrewsbury Sr. The Stone House is well built and preserved. Located along the Route 60 Mid-Land Trail, it is very easy to locate near the DuPont Plant. There is a private small parking lot. The 2 Story home is closed normally to the public and only opened on special occasions. There is plenty of signage available telling about Samuel Shrewsbury from Bedford VA and the Salt Industry that brought him to the Kanawha Valley. Please stop if you are in the area and appreciate the beauty of this well constructed 214 yr old home! I was able to enjoy with my husband, Tony Vanoy, Daughter in law Kayla and grandson, Deacon. Only wish we could have went inside!!!