We set out West in West Virginia this morning, driving through the forested hills that we’ve really come to associate with the state. It makes for pretty driving, even on the busier roads.
After about an hour we drove through the center of Charleston which is the capital of West Virginia. You could tell it was the capital from the shining gold dome on the top of the State Capitol building!
After another hour we reached Huntington which is a city poised at the very corner of West Virginia where it borders both Ohio and Kentucky. We were heading for a special dining spot which wasn’t open yet so we stopped at Huntington mall to do a little shopping to pass the time. Very succesfully, I should add!
Shopping stowed in the boot we turned north and followed the Ohio river for a few miles until we reached today’s highlight. Hillbilly Hotdogs! This hotdog restaurant is more of a them park than a restaurant, slthough the range of weenies is substantial. It’s an ode to the glory of hillbilly living with the food served out of an old schoolbus and the whole place covered with all sorts of redneck treasures (?) and cute signs. It’s become nationally famous since it featured on a popular American dining tv show called “Diners, drive-Ins and Dives” and we can attest to its popularity. The place was packed when we arrived and we queued for almost an hour to place our order and get our dogs – a “Taco Dog” for me and “Chuck’s Dog with Everything” for Neil. We just loved it!
To occupy people in the queue they passed along a texta marker and invited everyone to write their name or message anyhwere theyliked on the walls etc. My contribution..
We finally made it inside the bus to place our order and then waited patiently at a table outside until they hollered Neil’s name to ‘Come ‘n Git It!”
After enjoying our tasty hot dogs we took a little look at the Weddin’ Chapel. They really do have weddings here!
After lunch we finally croosed the river into Ohio ( our 46th state!) and drove along the Ohio River for a couple more hours. You don’t really see all that much of the river, but it is a substanbtial one.
Eventially we arrived in Marietta. Established in 1788, Marietta is the oldest city in the state of Ohio, and the first official American settlement territory north and west of the Ohio River. Known as the “Riverboat Town”, we had originally planned to visit the Ohio River Museum here but our long queue at Hillbilly Hot Dogs meant we were later arriving in Marietta than planned so we skipped the museum and just headed for a scenic viewpoint above the town where we could see the river. We also drove through the old part of town with it’s lovely old buildings before heading to the Hampton Inn where we’ll spend tonight.
