"Holiday Road" - The Official Vacation Thread

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

cynodon bioengineering

Over here golf course management could be called chemical application management

[Count Walewski]

We're heading out the door early tomorrow morning for a multi-day road trip to Chicago, through West Virginia and Ohio.

Tomorrow our first stop will be Cooper's Rock State Park just outside of Morgantown, WV where if the weather cooperates (and right now it is forecast to cooperate) we will have an amazing autumn view of a river valley from atop a rocky cliff. Then we will go into Morgantown proper and I will get a chance to ride the PRT, the experimental public transit system built in Morgantown in the 1970's. It was supposed to be the future of public transit but now is just a curiosity. The PRT will take me through the WVU campus which I assume will be euphoric after a surprise takedown of Baylor on Thursday night.

After lunch we'll skip town and head towards the northern panhandle of West Virginia. We hope to see the big Hare Krishna temple at New Vrindaban (it closes at 4:30 PM so we'll need to flawlessly execute our gameplan to make it there by then) before checking into a Wheeling hotel and exploring Wheeling the next morning.

I've never been to West Virginia outside of the Eastern Panhandle (three counties that voted to stay part of VA during the Civil War) so this will be my first trip to "real" West Virginia.

[imref]

Enjoy!!

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

When some high school friends and I were trying to bike across the country we had some guy follow us in an old beater of a truck somewhere by Wheeling - I was expecting to be blown away with a 12 gauge a la Easy Rider, but it turned out that he just wanted to give us some watermelons from his garden.   

[English Natsie]

Best 'I've never been...' line belongs to Bob Hope, giving a performance for the US Embassy staff in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War...

'so we're in Moscow - you know, I've never been to this part of Texas before...' 

[Count Walewski]

Wrapped up my little roadtrip, flying home to Arlington in a few hours. Quick summary/snap judgment of some of the places I stopped:

Coopers Rock State Park: no-brainer stop if you are ever driving to Morgantown. Just 3 miles from the I-68 exit is an amazing scenic overlook of a river valley. I saw two Bald Eagles here.

Morgantown, WV: extremely hilly college town where there can be a significant change of elevation between places a block away, including on the main college campus area. The PRT is even more incredible than I dreamed. Lots of food options.

Wheeling, WV: Sad! Desolate, empty town full of beautiful abandoned buildings, including stunning skyscrapers that are now entirely boarded up. Like Allentown, PA but even more run down. Given its prime position on I-70 and its proximity to stunning natural beauty, it should have more of a tourist industry than it does. A downtown casino does not seem to have turned things around here.

Moundsville, WV: Located 20 mins south of Wheeling, a much more alive West Virginia northern panhandle town. The star attractions here are an ancient Indian mound from the Adena culture (over 2,00 years old) that is huge, and the old West Virginia state prison that is gorgeous and that the town has clearly monetized to the greatest extent possible as a tourist attraction and community center. They hold flea markets there, they have a haunted house there (that I didn't go to because it was completely sold out), and they have something called "Mock Prison Riot" there that sounds way more fun than the mock trail I did in law school.

New Vrindaban, WV: Community built by the Hare Krishnas in the 1970's. They have a big gold and marble palace that was built as a house for the founder of the Hare Krishna movement. They also have a temple dedicated to Krishna, an on-site hotel for pilgrims, a beautiful lake with swans, and peacocks that roam the entire property. Very reasonably priced gift shop. Most of the visitors are immigrants from India who come as pilgrims - they live in places like Toronto, New Jersey, or Pittsburgh and this is way closer than India. The tour guides are all white converts from the US/UK. Our tour guide (a formerly Jewish guy from New York) repeatedly quoted from the Baghavad Gita in Sanskrit and was disappointed that none of the Indian-American tour guests were able to complete the quotes.

Marion, OH: the home town of President Warren G. Harding, whose house here can still be toured. Warren G. Harding died in office in 1923 of heart failure and his house was immediately given to local historical preservationists, so everything in the house is original to Warren G. Many other Presidential houses had people who lived there after the President but before it became a tourist attraction who threw out the President's stuff, etc., but not here. Marion was also the popcorn manufacturing capital of the USA at one point and the local historical society museum has a ton of old popcorn machines. Our tour guide at the popcorn museum used to live in Arlington, VA not far from where I do in the 1960's and worked at the Navy Annex. We talked about Arlington, VA at length. He hadn't heard of any of the businesses I mentioned and I hadn't heard of any of the businesses he mentioned.

Ada, OH: This small town of 5,000 people has stayed vibrant because of a small college (The Ohio Northern University, ONU). Wilson has its football factory here: all footballs used in the NFL and in NCAA games are manufactured here. I was there on Monday, the only day they do not offer tours of the factory, but I saw people stitching up footballs from the window.

Fort Wayne, IN: Built where the Maumee and St. Marys rivers meet to form the St. Joseph River, this city has a decent skyline comparable to Grand Rapids. Downtown looks nice and has parks but is full of scary-looking vagrants.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

I love these field dispatches 

I believe that Wheeling has had a precipitous population loss proportionally in line with Detroit or Camden NJ.  Dollar Stores and boil water advisory land. 

[imref]

thanks for sharing.

[English Natsie]

Always interesting to read about those not-so-obvious places to visit - thanks.

[wj73]

You have the best write-ups! Thanks for sharing.

[Count Walewski]

One more Wheeling anecdote -

So I'm a huge stickler for hotel quality. I won't stay at anything less than 4.5/5 star average on Google Maps or a 5/5 star average on TripAdvisor (TA rounds up). Needless to say, finding such hotels was extremely difficult in West Virginia. I finally found a Hampton Inn in Wheeling, WV that had a 4.6 average on Google Maps. The hundreds of reviews, almost all of them glowingly positive, all used the phrase "#1 Hampton Inn in the world" to describe the property. At first I suspected that I was being trolled, that 4chan or Reddit had decided to all post fake glowing reviews of this Hampton Inn. But as I dug into it, there were just too many of these #1 Hampton Inn reviews, on too many platforms, from too many established accounts. So I reserved.

When I called the property, they answered the call "World's best Hampton Inn, how may I exceed your expectations?". When I arrived at the hotel, they had a huge "#1 Hampton Inn in the world" banner over the front door. Everyone working there, from the front desk clerk to the cleaning lady, all wore matching t-shirts that said #1 Hampton Inn in the world. It felt like more of a cult than New Vrindaban, which I had seen immediately before check-in.

They had amenities I've never seen in a hotel in this class. A fire pit and tiki-style seating outside. A huge BBQ that any guest could use on a first-come, first-serve basis: if you didn't know how to operate a big BBQ, hotel staff would do it for you. The hotel had two minivans that would take you anywhere within a 5 mile radius, no questions asked.

In the lobby, they had a bunch of gold busts of Conrad Hilton. Turns out these are "Connie Awards" that Hilton gives to top hotels. The Wheeling Hampton Inn won the Connie Award every year from 2013 to 2019. Unclear if that's the best Hampton Inn or the best Hilton property overall, but either would be impressive.

The room was spotlessly clean. Though it wasn't perfect: the room was small, the bathroom door didn't close properly, and the bed wasn't super comfortable.

I think I figured out what's going on here. Some new management team had inherited a hotel that was a bit outdated on the inside. They didn't have the money or permission or whatever to redo the hotel rooms. So they decided to max out everything they DID have control over: the cleanliness of the rooms, the decor of the lobby, the attitudes of the staff, etc.

I would definitely stay there again (the competition all has like 2.6 stars on Google Maps with many reviews explicity mentioning bedbugs) as it's clearly the best hotel in the area even. I would also recommend business professors take their classes on field trips there.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Wheeling can't have much to feel civic pride about these days, might as well invest oneself in Hampton Inn. 

This reminds me of the Waffle House just off of I-95 after one crosses from Maryland into Delaware...kind of crappy environs but the restaurant itself is bursting with such happy vibes you leave on a ray of sunshine all sticky with HFCS and margarine.  It's great from the moment someone with stringy hair and spiderweb tattoos chirps "Welcome to Waffle House!!" as you walk in the door.   

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I've hit that Waffle House, but I used to always stop after the Delaware Memorial Bridge to gas up at the Exxon station.  I'd hit the Dunkin or the Crackerbarrel for breakfast.  I think there's a McD there and maybe a Wendy's? 

[Natsinpwc]

We’re taking the Auto Train north early in December. We did not pay for the priority offloading of our vehicle since we will not be in a super hurry and the price of everything else was so high.  But have read conflicting advice about when to arrive for the fastest offloading of the vehicle. Some say first in first off. Others the opposite. And another I read said it’s a mystery. Any advice on that from those of you have have used it? Any other recommendations welcome also. We got a full bedroom for the trip. The roomette seems small.

[imref]

We’re taking the Auto Train north early in December. We did not pay for the priority offloading of our vehicle since we will not be in a super hurry and the price of everything else was so high.  But have read conflicting advice about when to arrive for the fastest offloading of the vehicle. Some say first in first off. Others the opposite. And another I read said it’s a mystery. Any advice on that from those of you have have used it? Any other recommendations welcome also. We got a full bedroom for the trip. The roomette seems small.

We've been on the auto train four or five times.

WRT to off-loading, if you are in a hurry than priority access is worth it, otherwise it can take up to an hour to get your car. There's a small cafe in the Lorton station and plenty of space to hang out and wait. I've never seen any rhyme or reason to off-loading. We used to try and arrive early as when we rode there were multiple dining times and you got assigned a time at check-in, so the earlier you arrived at the station, the better the chance you had of selecting a preferred dining time.

We've never had a room and have only sat in the coach sections. I know things have changed since we last rode it. They eliminated the dining car for the coach passengers in favor of a cafe with food/drink for sale. We used to enjoy dinner and breakfast in the dining car as well as free snacks, drinks, and movies in the lounge car. Unfortunately those are now gone.

One thing to note is that travel time varies. We've had trips where we were early, and some where we were an hour or more late due to congestion on the tracks.

No matter what, it still beats driving to/from Florida.

[Natsinpwc]

We've been on the auto train four or five times.

WRT to off-loading, if you are in a hurry than priority access is worth it, otherwise it can take up to an hour to get your car. There's a small cafe in the Lorton station and plenty of space to hang out and wait. I've never seen any rhyme or reason to off-loading. We used to try and arrive early as when we rode there were multiple dining times and you got assigned a time at check-in, so the earlier you arrived at the station, the better the chance you had of selecting a preferred dining time.

We've never had a room and have only sat in the coach sections. I know things have changed since we last rode it. They eliminated the dining car for the coach passengers in favor of a cafe with food/drink for sale. We used to enjoy dinner and breakfast in the dining car as well as free snacks, drinks, and movies in the lounge car. Unfortunately those are now gone.

One thing to note is that travel time varies. We've had trips where we were early, and some where we were an hour or more late due to congestion on the tracks.

No matter what, it still beats driving to/from Florida.

Thanks.  That is helpful.  Having sold our house in Myrtle Beach we don't have a stopover place so need to get a hotel.  In figuring mileage/gas for the vehicle and hotel and meals it only seemed a couple hundred more to get a room. Figure it will be easier to sleep.  We have no appointments when we arrive.  Seems like we will have to wait in the station in Sanford for a while on this end.  Need to get a good book. 

My wife flew up and back in September.  That is actually the cheapest now but of course we cannot schlep stuff back and forth without a car. 

[imref]

Thanks.  That is helpful.  Having sold our house in Myrtle Beach we don't have a stopover place so need to get a hotel.  In figuring mileage/gas for the vehicle and hotel and meals it only seemed a couple hundred more to get a room. Figure it will be easier to sleep.  We have no appointments when we arrive.  Seems like we will have to wait in the station in Sanford for a while on this end.  Need to get a good book. 

My wife flew up and back in September.  That is actually the cheapest now but of course we cannot schlep stuff back and forth without a car. 

We found it far cheaper for the four of us to take the auto train than to fly and rent a car.  Plus we really enjoyed the experience. Coach passengers upstairs were by and large families or students, and were friendly. Lower-level passengers were mostly retirees. About the only complaint we ever had was that on a few trips the bathrooms would smell pretty bad by the end of the trip and the smell wafted into the passenger cars.

[imref]

We’ve spent the last week in Sonoma and Napa valleys. I’d move here (Sonoma) in a minute if I could afford it and didn’t have family ties on the east coast. Beautiful country, incredibly friendly people, and amazing wines.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

We’ve spent the last week in Sonoma and Napa valleys. I’d move here (Sonoma) in a minute if I could afford it and didn’t have family ties on the east coast. Beautiful country, incredibly friendly people, and amazing wines.

see much fire damage?

[Count Walewski]

I'll never understand why all the people in Arizona live in the southern part of the state and the north is sparsely populated.

[imref]

see much fire damage?

Not really.  A little evidence of the 2020 fire here and there.

[Count Walewski]

I'm in my hotel room in Houston - I only have the weekend here and it's raining but I hope to make the most of it. Tonight's agenda: Houston beef ribs.

Tomorrow, likely the Johnson Space Center.

[Natsinpwc]

I'm in my hotel room in Houston - I only have the weekend here and it's raining but I hope to make the most of it. Tonight's agenda: Houston beef ribs.

Tomorrow, likely the Johnson Space Center.

Bang some trash cans for us.

[Five Banners]

Bang some trash cans for us.

And a selfie by the foul pole in right

[Count Walewski]

It's 55-60 degrees in Houston this weekend, which is unseasonably cold. My wife and I did not pack sweaters so we're mostly limiting ourselves to indoor attractions. Downtown Houston, where we're staying and where Minute Maid Park is, is completely deserted on the weekends. The lack of zoning laws is very evident: there are low-slung buildings and parking lots all over downtown Houston. It's a very sprawling city: everything is at least 20 minute away, it seems, even if it seems right next to you on the map. There is a nice park with walking trails along the Buffalo Bayou, which runs through Houston like a river, from which you can take great photos of the Houston skyline. 

Yesterday I visited the Johnson Space Center, home to NASA Mission Control - the place astronauts were talking to when they were talking to "Houston", though it is in fact 45 minutes outside of Houston in the suburb of Webster, TX. There is a museum there called Space Center Houston. It's mostly lame but they have a few really cool things: a replica of a space shuttle that you can go inside of (I don't believe you can go into any of the real space shuttles on display in other museums), one of the 747s that used to carry the space shuttle that you can go inside of, and several authentic Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space capsules that you can view. From the Space Center you can take a tram ride to the actual Johnson Space Center, which is a federal office park home to dozens of administrative buildings used by NASA to this day. The big attraction there is the Apollo 11 mission control room, which is the actual mission control room used for the Apollo flights, restored to what it looked like in 1969, down to there being ashtrays everywhere. The seats that tourists sit in today were used by the astronaut's families in 1969.

Today I visited Houston's Natural History Museum, whose main attractions are dinosaur stuff (they have three T-Rex skeletons) and Ancient Egypt stuff (they have multiple replicas of actual Ancient Egyptian tombs, including Tutankhamun's). Bizarrely, as my wife and I entered the museum, a museum employee came up to us and, unprompted, boasted to us that the museum is larger than both the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington DC and the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. I had not told him that Chicago and Washington DC are the two metro areas I've spent most of my life living in.

Yesterday I went to The Pit Room, the legendary local BBQ place. At 5 PM there was already a line out the door and it took me a half hour to get to the counter and order my food: it was a market-style place like Hill Country BBQ in Penn Quarter. I had a beef rib which was great. The other food that Houston seems to be really proud of is fajitas: the locals believe Houston does fajitas better than anyone else, the way New Yorkers think they do pizza or bagels better than anyone else. Fajitas are more expensive here and I guess they use more premium ingredients.

All I have left to do in Houston is actually attend the wedding I'm ostensibly here for. The groom told me that he will serve the best tacos in Houston at the reception dinner, so we'll see: I've abstained from tacos thus far to prepare myself.