The Wonders of Wheeling, West Virginia (With a Couple of Stops in Ohio & Pennsylvania)

 

(Wheeling, West Virginia overlooking the Ohio River)

Following my first official business trip to New York last April, I mentioned that I would be traveling to Wheeling, West Virginia for my first ever business conference.

This morning, I came back from that conference. My stay in Boston will be brief as I will head down to NYC tomorrow morning for the Juneteenth weekend.

I would be remiss if I didn't share a few words about my experiences. Not about the conference, mind you. What happened there could have taken place in any city.

Rather I just wish to give you my general impressions of the area.

To get to Wheeling by air, one must fly to Pittsburgh. From Pittsburgh, it is about a 75-to-90-minute drive to Wheeling. Before arriving in Wheeling, our group stopped for lunch at a Dairy Queen in Washington, Pennsylvania. Although technically part of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area, it could be easily mistaken for the rural South for all of the Christian religious symbols visible to the naked eye. Yet amid the religious symbols, there was a vape shop directly across the street from the Dairy Queen. 

Not long after we would cross into West Virginia. Our arrival in Wheeling came less than 48 hours after flash flooding killed 8 people after 5 inches of rain fell in the space of 30 minutes. There was a great deal of mud on the roads and sidewalks. Here is an image from Fox Weather of the flooding on Saturday night on National Road. Below it is an image of the sidewalk I attempted to navigate only to get a great deal of mud on my shoes.

In the back of the Fox Weather picture, you can see a sign which reads TJ Sports Garden Restaurant. I stayed across the street from that establishment at the Hampton Inn. TJ Sports Garden Restaurant is very distinctive because of its mural of athletes who either are from West Virginia or went to school there. With regard to baseball, the mural included 19th Century legend Jesse Burkett, 1960 World Series hero Bill Mazeroski and the Niekro brothers.

All things considered, I am grateful we didn't arrive sooner. I am also grateful that we left today as more rain is expected to come and with more rain comes more flooding. But people are quietly carrying on going about their business with some raising money for those who lost loved ones or sustained property damage. 

Amid the sudden loss of life and residue of destruction, there were some wonders to behold. On Monday night, a group of us had dinner at the Alpha Tavern. Off in the distance, someone noticed a deer grazing in the grass on a residential street.

As one might imagine, the pace of life in Wheeling is much slower than in Boston or New York. When we checked in for the conference yesterday morning, the security guard took 20 minutes to check us all in and repeatedly asked us to say and spell our names. Let's just say that process could not happen in Boston or New York without a lot of commotion. 

Downtown Wheeling has a great deal of charm. Our company's HQ is located directly across the street from the Capitol Theatre. Many of the buildings are well preserved nestled in the heart of Appalachia. One can look across the street and see Ohio. 

This morning, we actually passed through Ohio on our way back to Pittsburgh International Airport although not by design. As a result of a couple of missed turns, we ended up in Steubenville, Ohio which was the birthplace of Dean Martin (and just completed celebrating the Dean Martin Festival), Rollie Fingers and the 1970's band Wild Cherry. I would have enjoyed it more had we not all had a plane to catch back to our respective homes. Nevertheless, it was my first time back in Ohio since August 1999 when I attended ballgames in both Cleveland and Cincinnati while passing through Toledo and Columbus. 

As with most of these trips there were some annoyances and inconveniences. After landing in Pittsburgh, my luggage arrived late and damaged with a broken handle. Fortunately, a JetBlue representative was kind enough to give me a $35 discount for my next trip. When that will come to pass is anyone's guess.

Despite our detour into Ohio, we made it to Pittsburgh International in a reasonable amount of time. What was unreasonable was the TSA shooing us from the check-in gate which was intended for first-class passengers only. We had to go across the street to "Alternate Check In". It isn't clear that "Alternate Check In" is intended for everyone except for first-class passengers. 

 

But these annoyances and inconveniences, like most annoyances and inconveniences were temporary. The same cannot be said for those in West Virginia who not only have to deal with the aftermath of last Saturday's flood but might have to deal with far more carnage to come. 

I do hope I will get a chance to go back to West Virginia. I can see why John Denver described West Virginia as "almost heaven" in "Take Me Home, Country Roads." At this point, I am not certain such an opportunity will come to pass. If it doesn't come to pass, then I am glad I had the opportunity to see a different part of America and take in as much of it as I could. But I am also glad to be back home in Massachusetts.