We got to Kenova, WV at 11:00 and immediately drove to Mile Marker 0 to make our journey on Highway 60 official. If at all possible, I'm going to try to get photos of "welcome to" signs and mile markers at major places. We never could find the beginning marker, nor mile 1 though. I'll also try to snap some pictures of the state's iron historical markers.
We drove out to Virginia Point Park to see where the Ohio and Big Sandy Rivers converge. This picturesque spot is where three states meet and is also a busy area for river commerce. On the way back into town we stopped at the famous Dreamland Pool that has been in operation since 1929. Stars of the Big Band Era such as Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra once performed here. |
Back out on Highway 60, we started making our way east. We didn't get very far because we saw a funky ice cream place called Austin's Home Made Ice Cream and did one of many, many u-turns to go back to it. As we scanned down through their long list of flavors, we both said in unison, "CINNAMON!" And that's what we ordered.
At mile marker 4, we spied a huge neon sign of a clown telling us we were at the historic Camden Park. We whipped in the parking lot so I could capture the big guy. | Next stop was Old Central City, an antique paradise and farmer's market. Once a busy manufacturing town from 1893 to 1909, it joined Huntington and now is a re-vitilized antique district. |
In Huntington, we stopped by the Visitor Center which is in the former B&O Railway Station. Becky obliged me with a Route 60 snapshot. We loaded up on brochures and maps before stopping outside to check out the #10 Steam Locomotive. Across the street we made a quick drive-thru of Harris Riverfront Park.
While waiting on the light to change to get back on the Trail, we immediately noticed that the road had lots of standing water. What we didn't know was that in the hour that we sat in the car and were in the student center, 1.5 inches of rain had fallen! The farther we traveled, the slower traffic became and it finally stopped us dead in our tracks.
We thought that there might have been an accident because of the weather and seeing a news crew cameraman walking up the sidewalk with a tripod over his shoulder. Four lanes of traffic were funneling down to one lane which happened to be the one we were in.
Finally we saw two tractor trailers stopped in the lanes to our left and right and we were forced to weave in between them and then through the parking lot of a car dealership! Here's why . . .