Mountain State Matters

Photo: Erica Peterson

This idyllic picture of West Virginia life appeared today in The Independent, a British newspaper.

I’m conflicted about this article.

West Virginia is, indeed, idyllic at times. It’s a much quieter, slower life than can be found in any metropolitan area. The state also really needs to beef up its tourism, and with this article I can see hoards of Brits descending on the tiny town of Monterey, WV that the author chose to profile and taking a trip on the Cass Scenic Railroad.

One big problem is that there is no Monterey, WV, at least not one that Google Maps recognizes. And considering that Google Maps recognizes every small town in WV that I’ve ever been in, I have to come to the conclusion that Google Maps is right. Monterey is in Virginia.

Does it really matter? No. Monterey is near the WV/VA border. There’s probably no discernible difference in the cooking, which the author, Katharine Doyle, enjoyed. There is a distinct difference in the WV and VA landscapes, but that’s a topic for a different post.

After ordering what the “white-bearded mountain man in the corner” is eating, Ms. Doyle strikes up a conversation with waitress Dana.

Dana soon came over to my bar stool to fill me in on an agonising decision: whether to stay with her unemployed West Virginia beau through the bitter winter, or head back to the warmth of the Florida keys.”Sure, he’s cute,” she said. “He’s even got steel-blue eyes. But there’s not much for a computer guy to do in West Virginia. Matter of fact he’s out cutting wood for the winter today.” This is West Virginia: an unvarnished, what-you-see-is-what-you-get sort of place.

He’s even got steel-blue eyes? That sounds like a deal-maker to me. Does anyone talk like that? Not anyone I’ve ever spoken to, neither in West Virginia or anywhere else.

That being said, the article did accurately describe some of the West Virginia landscape, as well as give a shout out to Colorado poet laureate John Denver.

At a gas station, we’d picked up a John Denver CD, which we played over and over as we wound through little mountain communities of trailer homes and broken-down cars, where some families still do not have running water.

West Virginia is quiet and idyllic, but there’s a lot more to the state, even for tourists. Ms. Doyle’s version of West Virginia is bordering on geriatric.

Whitewater rafting certainly isn’t quiet. The state’s numerous fairs and festivals aren’t either. If Ms. Doyle had wanted to dash her vision of “quiet West Virginia,” I would have suggested that she check out amateur wrestling night, which goes on throughout most of the state. Or snake handling. Or a small town’s only bar on a Saturday night.

Photo: Erica Peterson