West Virginia Archives

Scenic highway US 219 in the west Virginia mountains: Sometimes you just want to look at the beautiful scenery. The sole purpose of this excursion is to take in the beautiful views along the way. Along this route, there are no towns that particularly stand out. There is some degree of personal investment that we have in Elkins, West Virginia. So… both of us had a passing familiarity with the first segment of the route that we were going to take. From that point on, all we knew about the area was that it was mountainous and held the promise of some beautiful scenery. A Scenic Highway designation has been bestowed upon U.S. Route 219. This highway cuts through the hometown of Pearl S. Buck, a well-known American Christian who served as a missionary in China. Since none of us are proficient skiers, we decided not to detour to the Snowshoe Mountain Ski slopes even though they were open when we passed by. The scenery did not fail to live up to our expectations. This ride spends the majority of its time traveling through the Monongahela National Forest. The General Lewis Inn in Lewisburg, West Virginia was going to be our destination for the night, and we were on our way there. The distance from Elkins to Lewisburg is 103 miles, and if you didn't stop for any of the rest stops along the way, the trip would only take about two hours and fifty minutes. On Memorial Day, we were able to see this metal carving of a soldier. In the piece of metal art, a soldier kneels next to a fallen comrade. At a private residence, we observed a Bridge with an Unusually Fancy Design. Up in this part of the world, wind turbines are a very big deal. Wind turbines are said to save energy. I'm told that they cost more than a quarter of a million dollars. We arrived in Lewiston, West Virginia just before it got dark. Just the fact that you can make out the terrain and the trees in the continuing light of late afternoon made me think those photographs of the Moon were particularly remarkable.