Take a Back Road: Morgantown – Washington – Wheeling

Part III

Crossing into West Virginia itself is taking a walk through history. Agricultural southwestern Pennsylvania gives way to West Virginia’s historical industrial core. Ghosts of railways past dot the roadside. Heavy equipment sits along the way covered in vines and weeds, less and less likely to ever be used again. Present day do no justice to the past. But in the ruins of industries past rests a sanctuary.

North from Wheeling, on West Virginia Route 88, a short drive will take you through the hills past Oglebay Park, through the college town of West Liberty, and then to West Virginia’s oldest institution of higher education, Bethany College. Indeed, Bethany is so old that it continues to operate on its charter, signed on March 5, 1840, giving it all degree-granting powers of the University Virginia. Their campus is without equal in West Virginia (sorry Davis & Elkins!), it is the belle of the ball. Chris and I like to collect collegiate t-shirts so we swung through the bookstore to pick up some stylin’ shirts. From Bethany we took the short trip over to Wellsburg and headed south on West Virginia Route 2 to head back toward Wheeling, following the Ohio River.

When approaching Wheeling from the north, the first neighborhood you arrive in is Warwood. Warwood retains many of the structures that define its industrial history. Here we made a quick stop for a geocache on one of the Wheeling area’s greatest treasures: the trail system. In Warwood the trail lines the Ohio River. I recall when I was a college student, my favorite view of Pittsburgh was on the Allegheny River from a kayak or a shell. Here you get the benefits of the historical view without risking getting wet or negotiating larger watercraft!

But what really puts Wheeling on the map for us is pizza. Yes, pizza! DiCarlo’s Pizza is a landmark, a tradition, just a real establishment! Their square pizzas are baked with just the sauce and then toppings are added cold after baking. It doesn’t sound like much, but hooks nearly everyone at bite. Some folks hypothesize that it’s the water in Wheeling that makes it so addictive. I really don’t care, but don’t you dare lay a finger on my pizza!

From Wheeling it’s time to head home. It would be so easy to hop on I-70 then I-79 to get home, but it would be so boring! Instead we continue down West Virginia Route 2 toward Moundsville, then turn onto U.S. Route 250 toward Cameron. En route to Cameron, the terrain changes and so does the road quality. Roads intended for a handful of heavy vehicles each day, if that, are getting pulverized by the equipment that extracts natural gas from the Marcellus shale. While I am not against natural resource extraction, the effects have not all been positive. I’m looking at you, Chesapeake.

Cameron is the next stop, and it is a unique and even surprising place. Stay tuned!