Mother's Day is my day and so today we set out to do what I, and we, love to do best, EXPLORE!!! We headed south, may have stopped at about 1000 convenience stores, and ended up at a National Monument, the Nuttalberg Tipple. This town was a bustling mining town with homes, a coal mine, a store, boarding house and the coke ovens. The town, and remaining ruins, stand among the most beautiful scenery above the Ne River. We drove down this seriously skinny . Very steep road that was surrounded by gorgeous rocks and amazingly splendid waterfalls. Every which way we turned we saw something beautiful. We seriously thought we were in a tropical oasis with the way it looked. Abandoned rail bridges marked the skyline and we were I. Heaven. Once parked, we took a very short hike up to the tipple. As we walked we passed ruins of what must have been homes. We also got to climb the front stairs of the boarding house which had been hidden for many years under the growth of the local foliage.
The tipple itself was in amazing condition. Some parts hung low and exposed the mechanics. The wind was blowing so you could hear the creak of swinging metal upon metal. The conveyer shoot seemed to stretch on forever. I imagine that because his is a national landmark that there has been some restoration and cosmetic help to these places as they looked really good. However right above the tipple, which for those of you that do not know is how the coal got into the trains, there was old machinery just sitting there. It was rusted and mangled and very cool.
We followed the trail along the top of the area. There was another trail that took us up and into more of the town, but we continued straight as we had further destinations to get to. We did get to see the store which was cool to see because 1 it was a very solid foundation building and had trees growing right in he middle and 2. I think the history of paying miners and hen making then give back heir hard earned money to the store run by he mine is so unbelievably crafty and crappy. Well played Mr. Mine Owner. Our last stop on our hike included a derobing to make sure there were no more ticks on us(yep we found one on my shoe and one on Carolyn prior to the check).
We then headed back up the hill only to be pleasantly thrilled yet again with the beauty. We drove some back roads until we got to 79.
About an hour later and about ten minutes too late we pulled into the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Though we were unable to tour due to our late arrival, we did get some amazing outside shots of this ginormous institution FYI, we will be back!!
And so, after dinner in Morgantown and some word games on the way home, I have concluded his was the best Mother,s Day a girl could have asked for Abandoned? Check!! Family? Check! Fun? Check!!! Perfection.
The tipple itself was in amazing condition. Some parts hung low and exposed the mechanics. The wind was blowing so you could hear the creak of swinging metal upon metal. The conveyer shoot seemed to stretch on forever. I imagine that because his is a national landmark that there has been some restoration and cosmetic help to these places as they looked really good. However right above the tipple, which for those of you that do not know is how the coal got into the trains, there was old machinery just sitting there. It was rusted and mangled and very cool.
We followed the trail along the top of the area. There was another trail that took us up and into more of the town, but we continued straight as we had further destinations to get to. We did get to see the store which was cool to see because 1 it was a very solid foundation building and had trees growing right in he middle and 2. I think the history of paying miners and hen making then give back heir hard earned money to the store run by he mine is so unbelievably crafty and crappy. Well played Mr. Mine Owner. Our last stop on our hike included a derobing to make sure there were no more ticks on us(yep we found one on my shoe and one on Carolyn prior to the check).
We then headed back up the hill only to be pleasantly thrilled yet again with the beauty. We drove some back roads until we got to 79.
About an hour later and about ten minutes too late we pulled into the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Though we were unable to tour due to our late arrival, we did get some amazing outside shots of this ginormous institution FYI, we will be back!!
And so, after dinner in Morgantown and some word games on the way home, I have concluded his was the best Mother,s Day a girl could have asked for Abandoned? Check!! Family? Check! Fun? Check!!! Perfection.