Our trip to Watoga

Idyllic Lake Watoga

Watoga State Park is located in the south eastern part of our fair state, or as my mother so eloquently put it "in the middle of nowhere." Not entirely true, in my experience visiting WV State Parks over the years (have you been to Twin Falls? THAT is as close to nowhere as I have been), but I can see from whence her sentiment comes. It took us something like 4 hours to get there from Morgantown. Hitting the road at 5 pm, we didn't have much daylight left, and the sun set on us somewhere after Weston, but not before giving us the gift of a fantastic double rainbow!

Rainbow, captured by Delia from the backseat of the car!

We took I-79 as far south as we could and then took Rt 19 to Summersville. It got a little hairy right around there, as the road signs directing us to Marlinton didn't jibe with what I had gleaned from Google Maps... and a recent iPhone update wiped out all my presets and data - ahh technology! We took out along State Road 55, which isn't particularly well marked, and ended up driving in a big circle around Muddlety WV. When I zoomed past the gas station where we filled up our tank 45 minutes prior, I almost cried. It was really quite lucky, because were it not for that neon landmark we might have driven on into the depths of the wilderness for hours before realizing our mistake. After a quick map check we were back on 19 and certain of our route once again.

About two hours later we found the lonely sign directing us into the park. Mom, Zoey and Seester were already there in spite of the harrowing journey they took down Rt 33. It was late but we made time for some sweet catching up around the fire that Trisha expertly kindled from coals the previous occupants of Cabin 7 left in the hearth for us.

The Park Office, Keith and Trisha

In the morning after a pancake and bacon breakfast we took a nice long walk up the park road to the office to officially check in. The building was quite breathtaking in it's State Park kind of way. It looked to be a lodge maybe at one point but now there are no rooms in it to rent, only a restaurant and gift shop that were both closed for the season. A fellow traveler we met in the office told us about a little cafe in Hilsborough just up the road, run by the very same woman who keeps the park restaurant in season. We made plans to visit the Pretty Penny later in the day.

"The C.C.C. Worker"

This statue commemorates the boys of the Civilian Conservation Corps, who built Watoga State Park and most of the other facilities of the West Virginia State Park System. There is a museum of C.C.C. history in the park too, which we never made it down to see.

Corn Maze!

Sunday we took Delia to the Corn Maze at Cole Farms in Jane Lew WV. It is a few minutes south of Clarksburg on I-79, incredibly easy to find. When you get off the highway at Jane Lew, there are signs pointing you in the right direction, you can't miss it.

They have a Haunted Maze on Friday and Saturday nights, and a Family Maze Saturday and Sunday during the day, which is what we did. It was super fun! Sponsored by the local 4-H and FFA clubs, they had a concession stand featuring homebaked cookies, coffee, cider, and HOT CHOCOLATE! Admission to the maze is $7 for all, and includes one pumpkin from the Pick Your Own Pumpkin patch for kids under 10. As usual, the folks who checked us in didn't offer that option to Delia, because she looks like she's about 14, and we didn't argue.

She picked a couple of pumpkins out at the Farm Stand which is in the barn across the road, they sell the produce that Cole Farms grows. Tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, corn, all kinds of squash, and of course, PUMPKINS! Delia got two small ones for $1.50 each. They had a few huge beautiful pumpkins, but they were $15 and up, so we just stuck to the little guys.

I got two luscious green tomatoes and we fried them up for dinner.

It was a nice way to get out and enjoy the crisp Fall weather. Also, the drive down I-79 is pretty spectacular in it's own right, the leaves are at about 60% of peak color right now. We literally "Oohed" and "Aahed" all the way down the highway.