Have you ever wondered what West Virginia is like? I know I’m not alone in this. You can lie to yourself if you want, but most of us Americans have wondered about this often-misunderstood and overlooked state.
To be honest, we all cling to a stereotype of what West Virginia is like. Commonly propagated by the media and local lore, West Virginia is often seen as a backwoods armpit of the US, hardly visited by outsiders and ignored by many.
Although I try not to read too heavily into stereotypes (I mean, I live in Utah of all places), I’ve actually had those stereotypes reinforced by a college roommate.
That’s right, I had a college roommate that hailed from West Virginia.
I’d love to say that she was super cool, had good hygiene, mad social skills, and became a good friend.
But I’d be lying.
She wasn’t any of those. She was dirty, would often pop pimples on her face during church service, and ruined many of my kitchen utensils while she “cooked.”
Honestly, the “curry” she made for us with crunchy rice and beans, complete with boiled steak chunks and still-frozen broccoli still haunts me to this day.
During those impressionable years in college, I had a friend ask me where my roommate was from. When I replied that she was from West Virginia, he responded with “at least she wears clothes around the apartment.”
Apparently he had served a church mission in West Virginia and had several instances of people answering their doors wearing their birthday suits.
Whether or not that was true, it made an impact on me and my perception on what West Virginia is like. Not that it’s an excuse for my narrow-minded views, but this was before social media, before I started traveling and my world was just starting to expand.
Fast-forward quite a few years and my college bestie and her family moved to a town in the western part of West Virginia. I didn’t know back then, but I was destined to visit this misunderstood state.
Then at the end of 2022, I was sitting down to hash out my travel and adventure goals for 2023. One thing that I really wanted to accomplish was to reconnect with some friends, so I started reaching out. After a few messages back and forth with my friend, it was settled. I was going to West Virginia.
I was finally going to see what West Virginia is like…for myself.
What West Virginia Is Like…
As I was preparing to visit West Virginia, I took some time to mentally prepare myself. As a now-seasoned traveler, I try my best to keep stereotypes in check to experience the most authenticity a location has to offer.
Sure, sometimes those stereotypes are bang-on (and not necessarily in a bad way – have you listened to the radio in the Caribbean??). But I always like to give a location the benefit of surprising me in the best possible way.
And that’s what happened with West Virginia.
I arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina via red-eye (since it was the closest big city to my end destination) and completely exhausted. But excited at the same time. Does that make sense?
My friends picked me up, and after a brief stop for some authentic BBQ, we finally crossed into West Virginia.
My first thought?
West Virginia is Beautiful
I mean, I’d heard of the Appalachian Mountains before, but I wasn’t prepared for how green everything was. My visit coincided with the last drips of summer prior to the turn of the season and leaves, so everything was at peak color palette. And I was all for it.
I didn’t arrive in West Virginia with much of an agenda, so my friend and I spent some time just driving around to all of the beautiful national parks, virtually unknown to outsiders.
Simply stunning.
So what else?
West Virginia is full of history
Although I studied history at university and have continued learning ever since, I was pretty ignorant about West Virginia. I won’t bore you with too many details, but here is one of the fun stories that I learned while exploring the capital city of Charleston:
Once upon a time, before the state of Virginia was divided, the US was engulfed in the Civil War. A man named Abraham Lincoln was running for President and, believe it or not, many people didn’t like him.
In fact, when all the votes were counted, he received less than 2,000 votes from the state of Virginia. AND – most of those votes came from outside what would later become West Virginia.
But then Abraham Lincoln became elected President, he signed the bill that created the state of West Virginia. And ironically, the county that houses the state capital was named LINCOLN county.
And there are tons of statues of him all over. Hm.
Such a complicated history.
But those are the best stories.
West Virginia is surprising
And maybe this is why I loved visiting this state. I was constantly surprised.
Driving along the highway? Low-hanging clouds blanketed the green mountains, Middle-Earth style. Who knew that’s what did it for me?
Show up to watch my friend’s kids play football and basketball? The entire town is there, cheerleaders and all, to root for their team. I’d seen sports fans like this portrayed in movies like “Remember the Titans,” but never in real life.
Exploring the capital city of Charleston? Who knew street art was a thing in West Virginia? I sure didn’t!
West Virginia is an Instagram dream-come-true. Unique locations that haven’t been exploited, untapped beauty, historical buildings, impressive vistas…you name it! Obviously I’m not saying that social media influencers need to flock to West Virginia and start exploiting it, but rather that it’s a place with so much potential for some love!
Visit an old mine to learn more about the local economy and not-so-distant history? Experience a unique take on the lifestyle as I venture into the mine with a retired miner as my guide.
So what is it about West Virginia? Why did I love it as much as I did?
I guess this is the million dollar question, right? Why do we love the places that we do? Love is such a personal metric, that it’s often difficult to convey the meaning behind it. But I’ll do my best.
As a traveler, you’re always on the lookout for authenticity. To have your breath taken away. Oftentimes you are looking for that little bit of romanticism that makes your heart swell. West Virginia offered me all of that.
And the best part? I wasn’t expecting ANY of it.
I just wanted to visit my friend.
West Virginia was the bonus.
Isn’t it awesome that we don’t have to have a reason why we love a place? Or at least, why we don’t have to justify our reason to others.
Have you ever visited West Virginia before? Would you ever consider it? Let me know!
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