After having a great breakfast it was time to continue my
journey across Potts Mountain and into West Virginia and to the Valley of the
Sweet Springs.
The Old Sweet Springs Inn in Sweet Springs, West Virginia
open as a resort in 1839. Built to take advantage of the natural mineral
springs of the area, the 110,000 square foot hotel has 5-presidents, George Washington, James
Madison, Franklin Pierce, Martin Van Buren and Millard Fillmore along with the
Marquis de Lafayette, Queen Victoria Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The Resort closed in the 1930’s and the
elegant hotel was turned into a tuberculosis sanitarium in 1941 and finally was
a home of the aged from 1945 until it closed for good in 1993. As I walk around I wonder what it would have
been like to stroll the grounds back in the day when presidents were enjoying the
elegance of this historic resort. Today
the stately old hotel still stands proudly beside of Route 311, abandoned and
unattended.
From Sweet Springs it was back on Route 311 to the tine
resort town of White Sulphur Springs.
Unlike the abandoned Sweet Spring Resort, The historic Greenbrier Resort
is thriving. With its elegant accommodations, casino for the guests and world class
golf course, the famed White Lady is a jewel of the Greenbrier Valley. I did make a quick stop at the Greenbrier and
it was already obvious that plans were well underway for the upcoming stop on
the PGA tour, The “Greenbrier Classic.”
Staying off of the interstate I decided to stay on Route
60 and just piddle along and I am glad that I did as just west of Lewisburg I
saw a sign for the Herns Mill Covered Bridge.
I am a sucker for history and these old covered bridge are getting rare
and people these days seems to be satisfied to let them pass into history. About a mile and a half down a narrow country
road I found the bridge which was built in 1884. While I was walking around taking some
photos, a local farmer came by on his tractor and stopped to talk with me and a
couple from Connecticut who had followed me down the road off of Route 60.
For the next 30-minutes we passed the time talking to our
new farmer friend about the history of the bridge. He explained that it was a Queen post truss
and was about 10 and a half feet wide and 53-feet long. The bridge gets its
name from S. S .Herns Mill that once operated nearby. The bridge was built to provide access to the
mill for locale residents. The bridge has been reinforced and is still handling
vehicle traffic today.
After stopping on the side of Route 60 for a few Mail
Pouch Photos, I continued west on 60 through the towns of Rupert and Rainelle
before arriving at the New River Gorge Bridge. The 3,030 foot long steel arch
bridge spans the New River Gorge in Fayette County, West Virginia. For many
years it was the longest steel arch bridge in the world, and is the third
highest bridge in the world. The Bridge opened in 1977 and each October it is
closed to vehicle traffic for the annual Bridge Day, where base jumpers from
around the world come and jump off the bridge parachuting into the river 876
feet below.
After spending about an hour and a half at the New River
Gorge Bridge the sun was getting low in the western sky and it was time to head
home. Opting to expedite my departure I picked up the West Virginia Turnpike in
Beckley and 90-minutes later I arrived back home. Another enjoyable day trip
has come to an end.