What a memory making time this was with WVNan and her family! Last July we took a side trip from our vacation in New England and traveled south to West Virginia to visit one of my favorite FReeper FRiends. Nan opened her home to us and took time out of her busy life to show us her little corner of the world - "Wild and Wonderful West Virginia". Thank you, Nan, for everything (including that yummy Banana Split Pie that I have not yet been able to replicate!), and thank you to Mr.WVNan for the lip-smackin' West Virginia taste treats that he prepared for us. (You’ve got a great cook there, Nan!) ;-)
We arrived in Point Pleasant late in the evening after having a nice dinner in Columbus with my dear FRiends, dutchess, her husband, and dollycali. We enjoyed some great food, good conversation and lots of hugs. Spending time with these two special ladies again and getting to meet Mr.D. was a real treat. Thank you all for driving so far to have dinner with us.
After the flight from Boston to Columbus, the dinner with my Ohio FRiends and the three hour drive to Point Pleasant, we eventually arrived at Nan's house quite road weary and ready to call it a day. Nan showed us to her comfortable guestroom and we enjoyed one of the best night’s sleep we had on our entire vacation.
The next morning what a treat awaited us! Talk about a fabulous bed and breakfast! We awoke to the wonderful aroma of coffee, sausage, eggs, biscuits, gravy and hashed browns being prepared by Mr.WVNan. This was my second time experiencing a real down-home West Virginia breakfast prepared by Nan's very own personal Chef. I told my husband that he wouldn’t get a better breakfast ever, anywhere. It was sooooo good! (However, I am still not believing that was “possum sausage”. LOL.) ;-)
A Real West Virginia Breakfast
Mr.WVNan's brother, Mr.WVNan, jkphoto, Mama_Bear
Nan in Her Kitchen
Our first day in Point Pleasant, Nan took us on a drive through the West Virginia countryside along some of the prettiest country roads I’ve seen anywhere! Lucky Nan, she travels these roads daily, but for us, this was a real treat. Living in the arid California Central Valley, the lush green countryside and the winding roads lined with wildflowers was a little corner of heaven that we are not accustomed to.
West Virginia Wildflowers
We drove past these pretty white churches where Mr. and Mrs.WVNan are Pastors.
These little white churches dot the countryside around Point Pleasant and American flags were displayed on the porches of many houses we passed. This display of reverence for "God and Country" was everywhere we looked. As Nan said, "arriving in Point Pleasant is like stepping back in time to the 1950's".
This is the pretty church where WVNan is Pastor...
After our tour of Nan's church and her country roads we went to her son’s photography studio, which my husband was especially anxious to see. We spent time there visiting with Nan’s very talented son, the two professional photographers happily talking shop. We practically had to pry to the two away from each other as they discussed promotions, backgrounds, suppliers, props, photo techniques, and on and on....as only two photographers can. LOL.
Nan's son is not only a top-notch photographer and father of Nan's sweet little granddaughter, Emma, but he’s also a great fiddle player. In fact, he's been playing fiddle since he was just a little guy. We didn’t get to hear him play in person, but later that evening Nan showed us some video’s of some of his performances. Talent certainly does run in their family! Mr.VWNan is also an accomplished musician. Here is a sample of some of Nan’s son’s music. I have posted a link to this before, but if you've not heard this song and your internet connection can handle large downloads, please click on the link below and listen to this song.
This is a beautiful song, one of Nan's favorites,
featuring her son on the violin.
The next day we were treated to a tour of Point Pleasant by a delightful little lady named "Katy Ulen". Katy is a character out of history (portrayed by Nan) who often gives guided historical tours to the passengers on the riverboats when they dock in Point Pleasant. The Delta Queen did arrive on the day we were there, but Katie wasn’t scheduled to give a tour for the passengers during this visit.
Instead, she gave us a PRIVATE tour. Here is our very own WVNan as “Katy Ulen”. Isn’t she the sweetest thing?
Katy's House in Kentucky
We enjoyed learning about Point Pleasants’ rich history from Katie’s perspective. I wish you all could have been there to hear her sweet lilting voice as she told her stories and described to us what took place many years ago on the very spot where we were standing. As you can see from these historical markers, Point Pleasant played an important part in American history.
Finally, a trip to Point Pleasant wouldn’t be complete without a search for “Mothman”. He certainly wasn’t hard to find! We found him hanging out in the middle of the street downtown, and in the Mothman museum and on t-shirts in shops up and down Main Street. He is very popular in Point Pleasant.
Sorry, this post got so long. I tried to keep it short, I really did. LOL. I hope you all enjoyed this vignette of our visit with WVNan.
Thank you again, Nan, for welcoming us into your home and taking the time to show us your West Virginia.