Editor’s Notes: West Virginia has plenty to see
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Restless yet? Our clocks have sprung forward (you remembered, right?), and the sun has been teasing us once in a while with brilliant blue skies and the hope of warmer temperatures. Some folks are starting to make summer vacation plans, some are just excited spring is on its way. The annual Parkersburg Easter Parade is less than a month away. Things are looking up.
For me, this time of year means two things: Map out the spring cleaning/odd job plan, and figure out how early is too early to go camping.
I made a mistake one year. Who knew it would get down into the mid 20s while we were trying to tent camp in the mountains in late April?
But I was just so eager to schedule a trip. It didn't bother me to bundle into more layers than one would wear to Alaska, to sit in a lawn chair in front of a fire. Others remember that trip … less fondly than I do.
So maybe camping should wait. A little. But I can still plan for it.
In fact, thanks to another fantastic project by West Virginia Tourism Commissioner Chelsea Ruby and staff, it is easier for a lot of people to plan getaways in the Mountain State. A new, free, West Virginia Vacation Guide is available in print or digitally, to anyone who wants to learn more about traveling here.
It's a well-done guide. One of my favorite pieces in it notes that "It's trails season in West Virginia." (Woohoo!)
Local residents will be interested in the Mid-Ohio Valley/Greater Parkersburg section.
I know I've said it before, but living in the midst of it all, we forget about the treasures that surround us. We forget there are others perfectly willing to make a vacation out of visiting an area that for most of us is just part of the daily commute.
Don't forget there are some of those folks in our midst for the next three seasons. Welcome them, talk to them about the good things our region and state have to offer -- even the positive aspect of our fighting spirit and sense of community in trying to turn around the struggles about which they may have heard. Send them to some of the gems that don't make it into the travel guides.
And, for that matter, explore a part of the state you have not yet seen, because you were focused on vacations in Florida or South Carolina. The guide is not just for outsiders. West Virginians can vacation here, too -- and learn a little something about the regions of the state where life looks nothing like your own home town, a few hours away.
From the World's Largest Teapot in Chester, to Bramwell the Town of Millionaires is a 5 or 6 hours trip, north to south. From the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant to a brush with history (and the Appalachian Trail) in Harpers Ferry is also a little more than 5 hours. Of course, hitting just those compass points means a traveler would miss most of the state parks, and five of the nine regions described in the travel guide. There are months and months worth of things to see and do in the guide.
We need to share it, encourage people to use it to help them explore, and take advantage of it, ourselves. There's just too much good to focus on, here.
So, I'll ask again: Restless yet?
Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com