Amazing Appalachian Grazing: Grayson Highlands State Park

Armchair Travel: Coloring Fun: Guardians

The Appalachian Trail extends 2,190 miles (plus or minus a few steps) across 14 states in the eastern United States. Northbound (NOBO) hikers begin in Georgia and hike to Maine; southbound (SOBO) hikers begin in Maine and finish in Georgia.

A NOBO view along Wilburn Ridge.

Stepping stones along Wilburn Ridge provide relief for cold and muddy feet.

The American Chestnut blight (1950s) and heavy logging contributed to the bare mountain tops (balds) in this area. Wild ponies (a Virginia Highlander breed) keep the vegetation maintained on the balds.

A logbook (register) for hikers provides tracking and maintains safety along the Appalachian Trail.

Wild & Wonderful: New River Gorge National Park & Preserve

Armchair Travel: Coloring Fun: Gift of Life

The New River Gorge Bridge, completed in 1977, extends 3030 feet across the New River Gorge. Designed by Michael Baker Company, the bridge is opened to pedestrians each October during festivities celebrating the anniversary of the completion of the bridge.

US Route 19 traffic crosses 876 feet above the New River near Fayetteville, West Virginia. This view looks toward the former locations of the early 1900 coal towns of Kaymoor and Nuttallburg.

Thurmond depot, built in 1904, now serves as a New River Gorge National Park & Preserve Welcome Center. The Cardinal, an Amtrak train that runs between Chicago and New York City, stops at Thurmond station three times a week in both directions. Amtrak is a national railroad passenger system of the United States

Thurmond coaling station. This station would refuel steam locomotives with coal and also sand, used for traction along the rail lines.

Thurmond became a major hub for the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Railway to transport coal and other freight throughout the United States, but by the 1970s businesses and residents had moved from the area.

Crossing the New River in Thurmond, West Virginia.

Message in a Bottle: Thursday Doors

Postmasters in the Salvo, North Carolina area moved this 8 feet by 12 feet post office, built around 1910, to their respective properties as they served in the United States Postal Service.

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Ocean’s Storm: Thursday Doors

Edward Collings Knight, Jr. and his wife Marie-Louise shared a love for hunting waterfowl and built the Whalehead mansion in Corolla, North Carolina, as a hunting retreat.

Whalehead showcases 21,000 square feet of Art Nouveau style, along with ocean and marsh vistas.

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Ocean’s Wind: Thursday Doors

In the early 1900s, the Wright Brothers performed glider experiments on Big Kill Devil Hill and other sand dunes in the area.

Orville Wright attended the dedication of the Wright Brothers National Memorial in 1932.

The Art-Deco monument, located atop Big Kill Devil Hill, commemorates the Wright Brothers’ contributions to the world of flight.

A reconstructed hangar similar to what the Wright Brothers used to house experimental gliders and the Wright Flyer.

On December 17, 1903, Wilbur Wright flew the fourth and longest flight, which lasted 59 seconds over 852 feet (in the photo, starting roughly from the cluster of buildings in front of Big Kill Devil Hill.)

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Ocean’s Light: Thursday Doors

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse, first illuminated in 1875, used lard oil, mineral oil and by 1933, electricity to warn sailing vessels in the Outer Banks area of North Carolina.

Visitors climb 220 steps to the top of the lighthouse.

The first lighthouse on Bodie Island quickly became unusable due to foundation issues. To avoid Union observation usage, Confederate troops destroyed a second lighthouse during the American Civil War. The current lighthouse, operational in 1872, stands 156 feet tall.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse guards the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” a name given to the area because of the Diamond Shoals that stretch 12 miles along the Cape’s coast.

Largely due to shoreline erosion issues, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved 2,900 feet to its present location in 1999.

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Rest Stop: Thursday Doors

A historic caboose in Damascus Town Park welcomes visitors to “Trail Town USA,” where four trails converge: Appalachian Trail, Iron Mountain Trail, U.S. Bicycle Route 76 and Virginia Creeper Trail.

A mural greets users along a section of the Virginia Creeper Trail that merges with the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, Virginia. “Moonlight over Damascus” (blue painting on the right with moon) provides directions to the Damascus Old Mill Inn, a historic inn and restaurant.

Travelling towards Abingdon, Virginia, bikers ride the Virginia Creeper Trail through rolling hillside farms.

A barn across Laurel Creek along the Virginia Creeper Trail.

The history of Damascus includes a trail made by Daniel Boone on his way to Kentucky, and mills built along Laurel Creek. Railroads, timber and development of the Appalachian Trail have helped Damascus grow and prosper.

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Coal Miner’s Town: Thursday Doors

The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway created a hub in Thurmond, West Virginia, for the coal and lumber industries. Due to changing technology, the Great Depression, and two fires, residents and businesses moved away from the area. The post office closed in 1995.

Main Street in Thurmond, with a massive coaling station on the left of the railroad tracks. The station crushed coal for locomotive engines, and also dispensed sand for traction.

Mankin Building. Dr. J.W. Mankin, who financed the building of this three-story brick structure in 1904, managed a medical office on the second floor. His wife managed a pharmacy in the same building.

“Any amount starts an account.”

In the early 1930s, Thurmond had a population close to 500.

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Out on the Town: Thursday Doors

A mural showcases Spencer’s local business flavor.

Hamond Robey built the Robey Theatre in 1911 exclusively for showing films; remodeled in the 1920s to include sound.

F.F. McIntosh on Market Street in the town square sells hardware, furniture and appliances.

An oil derrick reaches for the sky at Spencer Heritage Park.

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Heart & Home: Thursday Doors

Hay is West Virginia’s primary crop, used as feed for livestock.

West Virginians embrace the challenge of living in the winding, rugged terrain made famous by John Denver’s hit song “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

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