Day 16, May 1, Exploring Charleston, WV

This will be an abbreviated entry, text wise, for yesterday's activities. Sorry for the delay.

After a little persuasion from my wife, we got out to explore the city a bit more. We were shuttled by the hotel, over to a local attraction called the Capitol Market. Capitol Market is like a combination -- Atlanta readers will know what I am referring to here -- of the Auburn Curb Market and the Krog Street Market. It has three halls. Hall 1 has fresh produce, an array of spices, and other home grown/home produced food items. Hall 2 has many crafts and specialty items featuring West Virginia made crafts or West Virginia subjects; items such as books about hiking in West Virginia, waterfalls of West Virginia, and the real story of the Hatfields and McCoys. (I couldn't resist that last one; I had to buy one to read later.) Hall 3 was a food hall and contained a very popular brunch spot, based on the long waiting line. Fortunately, we had already eaten.

Here are some Capitol Market photos.

(Entry to Capitol Market)

(Patrise views some of the Capitol Market offerings.)

(I just couldn't resist!)

(Another view of Capitol Market's Hall 1)

(Note Charleston in the middle of this colorful, West Virginia attractions map.)

(Note Pipestem Resort State Park at the bottom of this colorful, West Virginia attractions map.)

(Lot's of flowers and plants outdoors at Capitol Market. A horticulturalist's dream.)

(Patrise would have bought several of these plants and flowers, if we were close to home.)

After leaving Capitol Market, we decided we would wander through downtown on foot, slowly making our way back the hotel, but seeing sites along the way. It was a Sunday, so most business and shops were closed and there was very little street activity visible. We took note of a lot of the architecture, although neither of us is a student or expert on architecture styles.

Here are some downtown photos. (Several buildings are boarded up and/or are for lease or sale.)

(Capitol Street looking east)

(One of several buildings for sale or lease in downtown Charleston, WV)

(Downtown Charleston on Sunday, May 1 about 2pm)

(Judicial building and former post office in downtown Charleston)

(Across the street from the Judicial building is this establishment. Hmmmm????)

(Old Woolworth Building on Capitol Street)

(Note the architecture styles of these downtown buildings)

(Capitol Street looking west)

(View of the Greater Kanawha River, seen from Kanawha Boulevard. The street used to be called Front Street.)

We returned to the hotel, but had not seen the capitol building. (Hint: it's not on Capitol Street.) So one of the hotel clerks, Vin, offered to shuttle us over to it, so that I could get a couple of photos. Here are the last photos from Charleston, WV.

(it has taken three days to get this edition posted..crazy schedules and spotty wifi...Sorry about that folks. Yesterday's post should follow shortly hereafter.)