Adventure, but not so much excitement.
This is pictoral... historical... LJ thingy about what i did today. LOTS of pics, so lots of load time, but they really are pretty!
Today was a decently fun day. I could have gotten a jump on podcast editing, but instead i opted for relaxation and fun. I really wanted to go hiking or something, but the snow just recently melted so the ground is really muddy and the rivers are super high.
So first i did some shopping around town and went into a few stores I've never been in and was curious about. I went to a new thrift store in town and bought a vest (the kind like a winter jacket but w/o sleeves), a thermal shrit that was nice and thick and looked brand new, and a Gryffindor(ish) tie. All for less than $5!
After that I decided I'd like to see the Rich Mountain Battlefield.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rich_Mountain
Going in I knew that there was some dirt road involved in the drive, but what i didn't realize is that the battle wasn't just near Rich Mtn., at the bottom of it, or anything sensible like that, but at the top! Aye carumba, i would NOT want to march to the top of a fucking mountain and then have to fight! I of course realized this when I was like more than halfway up and had been driving on a muddy slushy road for two or so miles. But hey, it was really pretty.
So it seems like i'm driving forever, and I was beginning to wonder if i'm even going the right way. Then I come to a dead end. Some motherfuckers are logging... in the middle of the fucking road. and not only are they blocking it, but they're tearing it up and making the mud all squishy and ucky. Even if I could squeeze past their big... logging thing, i probably would have gotten stuck in the mud. So i said fuck it and turned back. Fortunately, it was still pretty.
When I got back into Beverly, the town nearest the battlefield, I noticed I was already at the Lemuel Chenoweth House. Chenoweth was one the important big-wigs back in the day, and there's tons of stuff named after him, and half the locals claim to be his decendents. He was also big friends with Stonewall Jackson, and he was an engineer who made crap out of wood. Crap like his house and lots of covered bridges.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Chenoweth
So thats his house, and you may not be able to see it too well, but the road on the right crosses a river, the Tygart.
Where that bridge is now there used to a slammin super-cool wooden covered bridge.
So the house is a museum/antique shop. Think of it like a museum where nearly everything is for sale. It was very interesting, and nearly everything in there is from the civil war era. There were even some letters from the colonial era.
There were also birds there.
And for some reason in the attic there was a child size coffin and pinebox with a window. creepy.
Apparently after the Union kicked ass on Rich Mtn., federal troops thought they'd charge a toll to everyone wanting to use that bridge, so they used Chenoweths house for barracks and charged locals to cross his bridge. :P I also learned from the museum guide/antiques salesman that the bridge was torn down in the 50's because it couldn't support the weight of a school bus. Evilness. Apparently the government coudn't find another place to build a bridge and HAD to tear down a historical one.
So now i had my heart set on seeing one of these awesome covered bridges everyone is always going on about. So i drove up to the town of Philippi, the site of the first land battle of the Civil War. If you want to call it a battle. From what i learned today it was more like the first Scream and Run Away of the civil war.
Confederate troops were camped out near the bridge, and it was rainy and nasty out so they bother to have sentrys or a picket line or antyhing. Apparently confederate soldier melt in the rain. The union meant to flank them and attack simultaneously from both sides, thus totally massaccreing them in their sleep. Good plan. But it didn't work. The guys that were supposed to approach from the south had a hard time with the muddy mountians, and were running late. So when the guys from the north attacked running down the hill, crossing the bridge.. RRRRRAAAAHHHRRR!! ...the confederates woke up and ran away. in their pajamas. And they ran away to Beverly, so maybe they they were same poor bastards that got their asses kicked on Rich Mountain.
But anyway, yes, covered bridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippi_Covered_Bridge
I walked around it, gazed appreciatively, crossed it on foot, then drove across it and came back again. I think its safe to say that I have now seen the Philippi Covered Bridge.
The guy at the shop/museum in Beverly told me that while the occupied Philippi, the union troops used the bridge as barracks AND a stable. with horses on one side, and men on the other.
So after that it was time to go, i had a diner date with the fam back in Elkins and I was responsible for picking up taco shells.
Oh and I bought a new printer at Walmart.
Today was a decently fun day. I could have gotten a jump on podcast editing, but instead i opted for relaxation and fun. I really wanted to go hiking or something, but the snow just recently melted so the ground is really muddy and the rivers are super high.
So first i did some shopping around town and went into a few stores I've never been in and was curious about. I went to a new thrift store in town and bought a vest (the kind like a winter jacket but w/o sleeves), a thermal shrit that was nice and thick and looked brand new, and a Gryffindor(ish) tie. All for less than $5!
After that I decided I'd like to see the Rich Mountain Battlefield.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rich_Mountain
Going in I knew that there was some dirt road involved in the drive, but what i didn't realize is that the battle wasn't just near Rich Mtn., at the bottom of it, or anything sensible like that, but at the top! Aye carumba, i would NOT want to march to the top of a fucking mountain and then have to fight! I of course realized this when I was like more than halfway up and had been driving on a muddy slushy road for two or so miles. But hey, it was really pretty.
So it seems like i'm driving forever, and I was beginning to wonder if i'm even going the right way. Then I come to a dead end. Some motherfuckers are logging... in the middle of the fucking road. and not only are they blocking it, but they're tearing it up and making the mud all squishy and ucky. Even if I could squeeze past their big... logging thing, i probably would have gotten stuck in the mud. So i said fuck it and turned back. Fortunately, it was still pretty.
When I got back into Beverly, the town nearest the battlefield, I noticed I was already at the Lemuel Chenoweth House. Chenoweth was one the important big-wigs back in the day, and there's tons of stuff named after him, and half the locals claim to be his decendents. He was also big friends with Stonewall Jackson, and he was an engineer who made crap out of wood. Crap like his house and lots of covered bridges.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemuel_Chenoweth
So thats his house, and you may not be able to see it too well, but the road on the right crosses a river, the Tygart.
Where that bridge is now there used to a slammin super-cool wooden covered bridge.
So the house is a museum/antique shop. Think of it like a museum where nearly everything is for sale. It was very interesting, and nearly everything in there is from the civil war era. There were even some letters from the colonial era.
There were also birds there.
And for some reason in the attic there was a child size coffin and pinebox with a window. creepy.
Apparently after the Union kicked ass on Rich Mtn., federal troops thought they'd charge a toll to everyone wanting to use that bridge, so they used Chenoweths house for barracks and charged locals to cross his bridge. :P I also learned from the museum guide/antiques salesman that the bridge was torn down in the 50's because it couldn't support the weight of a school bus. Evilness. Apparently the government coudn't find another place to build a bridge and HAD to tear down a historical one.
So now i had my heart set on seeing one of these awesome covered bridges everyone is always going on about. So i drove up to the town of Philippi, the site of the first land battle of the Civil War. If you want to call it a battle. From what i learned today it was more like the first Scream and Run Away of the civil war.
Confederate troops were camped out near the bridge, and it was rainy and nasty out so they bother to have sentrys or a picket line or antyhing. Apparently confederate soldier melt in the rain. The union meant to flank them and attack simultaneously from both sides, thus totally massaccreing them in their sleep. Good plan. But it didn't work. The guys that were supposed to approach from the south had a hard time with the muddy mountians, and were running late. So when the guys from the north attacked running down the hill, crossing the bridge.. RRRRRAAAAHHHRRR!! ...the confederates woke up and ran away. in their pajamas. And they ran away to Beverly, so maybe they they were same poor bastards that got their asses kicked on Rich Mountain.
But anyway, yes, covered bridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippi_Covered_Bridge
I walked around it, gazed appreciatively, crossed it on foot, then drove across it and came back again. I think its safe to say that I have now seen the Philippi Covered Bridge.
The guy at the shop/museum in Beverly told me that while the occupied Philippi, the union troops used the bridge as barracks AND a stable. with horses on one side, and men on the other.
So after that it was time to go, i had a diner date with the fam back in Elkins and I was responsible for picking up taco shells.
Oh and I bought a new printer at Walmart.