Saturday, September 5
Following our visit to Cranberry Glades (yesterday’s post) we headed toward Cranberry Mountain Nature Center near Marlinton.
We were disappointed that it was closed, due to the virus, but noticed some pretty mushrooms in the yard.
Someone – at Cranberry Glades – told us about the Falls of Hills Creek, so we decided to check that out before traveling southeast.
Falls of Hills Creek is a series of three falls that cascade 20 feet, 45 feet and 65 feet.
It was a beautiful afternoon for walking – this time on a blacktop trail.
Cerwin noticed this tree with most of its roots going around a rock. I guess it decided to grow where it was planted.
A man on his way back from the 65 foot falls, told us it is a very difficult walk. There was also a warning on this sign (below) at the 20 foot falls.
We decided to be smart and turn around. We may have tried it fifty years ago.
This tree also fascinated us. It had fallen over and had most of its roots exposed – but still had leaves on the top.
We saw this pretty momma and her fawns after leaving the falls – on our way to Locust Creek Bridge – six miles south of Hillsboro.
The Locust Creek Bridge is the last surviving covered bridge in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
We chose to see the bridge because it took us to another area of West Virginia.
It was built in the 1870s; rebuilt inside “sometime after 1904”; and renovated in 2002.
It served as the Route 31 bridge across Locust Creek until 1991, when a modern bridge was built beside it and the covered bridge was restricted to pedestrian traffic.
The bridge is 113.75 feet long and 13.5 feet wide.
We decided to stay on this road instead of retracing our drive back to Hillsboro – to see where it would take us. We traveled deep into the country.
Eventually we were on a one-lane road, traveling through mountains and by a few houses and farms. Cerwin thought we may never come to a main road. 🙂
Later when I told Cerwin that the drive from the bridge to Route 219 was 12 miles, he said, “It seemed more like 50 miles.” 🙂 Meanwhile – I loved it.
After getting to Route 219 (a familiar road to us by this point of our trip), we had to go north for many miles to get Route 39 so we could travel southeast to our motel for the evening.
Because of all the mountains in West Virginia, there are many times when you cannot take a close route.
We arrived at The Inn at Warm Springs, Virginia, at 5 PM – about the time we had scheduled.
The Inn has been a landmark in Bath County, Virginia, since the late 1800’s—not as an Inn but as the first County Court House and Jail.
We stayed in the Carriage House. You can see a bit of the brick between these two.
The Carriage House was the original garage – first for carriages and then automobiles. The building is now used to house four sleeping rooms.
The flower and herb garden was between the Carriage House where we slept and the main building and dining room. As we walked by here on the way to enjoy supper, the hostess was gathering tea leaves to use in garnishing meals for their guests.
There were several dining areas. We were seated in this beautiful room toward the front of the building.
They had a busy schedule for the evening, so our choice for supper was immediate or 8:30 PM. I like to be in bed by 8:30, so “immediate” was an easy choice.
Our fresh bread arrived in a bag.
Herb bread and corn meal muffins.
Cerwin doesn’t like trying new foods, so chose the House Burger and fries. I enjoy new tastes, so chose two appetizers: Gazpacho and Gnocchi.
Cerwin’s meal.
The Gazpacho was cold tomato and cucumber soup. I love cold soups, and this one was delicious. The garnish was fresh sage (I think).
I had never heard of Gnocchi (pronounced “nocchi”). These (a kind of dumpling) were served with bacon and cream. The soup (with a bit of tang) and gnocchi were a fabulous combination.
This was probably my favorite meal on the trip because I had never tasted either item.
Our room (#23) in the Carriage House was delightful and comfortable.
Just before settling in, I discovered that I left one of my bags at our first motel. I called and Will assured me that his cleaning lady found it. We made plans to get it the next morning. The bag included our charge cords and headphones. I use headphones to listen to several devotionals and the Audio Bible if Cerwin is still sleeping when I wake up.
Going back to Mingo wasn’t a big deal, because, as you can see by the map, we traveled a lot of miles over many roads, but didn’t go very far from where we started our day on Saturday. It was only an hour-and-a-half drive back to our first motel.
I will tell you about Sunday – Day 3 – in my next post.