I will start with the knock on Charleston. There's only one. It's small. That's it. It's a great place. It has a downtown on a positive trajectory. There's nice office buildings. There's a nice waterfront. There's a great Capital building. There's a good beer and coffee scene. There's just not a lot to it. A half day in Charleston is all I needed; and that was with the Vandalia Gathering going on. It's a shame because it's a great place to visit, except there's not much to visit.
After I arriving in Charleston I walked a mile or so to the state capital area for the Vandalia festival. On a humid day with little shade, that probably wasn't the best decision. After seeing a few bungalow style homes I thought I'd figured out the Charleston architecture and then there was Art Deco, there was Georgian, there was massive brick buildings. I'm not sure who thought it'd be a good idea to jam all these random architecture styles together but it actually works. It helped the humid mile long walk go a little quicker.
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When I arrived at the state capital the Vandalia Gathering was in full swing. The Gathering has been held every spring for the past 41 years and is a celebration of all things West Virginian. Throughout the day there are several music competitions from the best fiddle to the best banjo. Food stalls offered West Viriginia's finest cuisines like beans and corn bread and pepperoni rolls. The pepperoni roll is just a few slices of pepperoni jammed inside bread. It was the unofficial miner's lunch although after eating mine I'm not sure how they were able to work in the afternoon after eating so little. The best performance at the festival was an ex-miner reciting the hardships of a miner's life in a quasi poetic form. The Festival receives its name from what the founding fathers original wanted to call the mountainous area west of Virginia. Ben Franklin thought Vandalia was the perfect name.
Festival or not the West Virginia State Capital complex is worth checking out for just the impressive setup and beauty of the buildings.
Festival or not the West Virginia State Capital complex is worth checking out for just the impressive setup and beauty of the buildings.
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After leaving the Festival, I drove into Charlestons City Center which features a mix of microbreweries and coffee shops to compliment what seemed to be a growing commercial core. Black Sheep Burritos and Brews, Taylors Books, and Pies and Pints Pizzara offer a glimpse into all things cool in Charleston. The place I really wanted to check out for dinner, and confirmed by my AirBnB host as a great spot for West Virginia dining, The Grill, was unfortunately closed for the Memorial Day weekend. I have a reason to return to Charleston.
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