Wheeling, W.Va.

On our trip to West Virginia, we spent a lot of time in Wheeling.

At one time, this was a bustling city and it has the old, gorgeous buildings to prove it.

This is the Capital Theatre. The city is working hard to renovate it and use it for cultural arts.

This was one of Chris' favorite buildings. The second picture below is a close up and shows some more detail.

Chris was also impressed with the National Road bridge at the edge of town. It was the first federally funded highway.

We walked across the bridge one evening and explored the structure and the river below.

For me, I particularly liked what I think are Italianate homes. One side would be a shop with the shopkeeper's home on the second floor. The second half of the building would be rented out.

This was my favorite building.

This is the gate seen in the middle of the building. It leads to a backyard.

There was also a neat market area called The Centre Market. It had neat architecture and so did the surrounding buildings.

Part of the market is seen in the left corner. In the back in a business district.

We also saw Independence Hall, where West Virginia broke from Virginia and joined the Union in the fight during the Civil War.

While in the area we checked out Wheeling's Sternwheeler Festival. Sternwheelers are boats with wheels in the back.

We got to go on one boat and talk with the captain. He has worked on boats most of his life and has traveled up and down the Ohio and parts of the Mississippi.

Here I am talking to the captain on his boat.

The boat we visited, is the third from the left.

This is a pretty cool city, filled with history and beautiful buildings. It would be worth a trip to check out. We didn't even begin exploring the city's many trails, so that would certainly be something to check out.

In a later post, I'll write about Oglebay, a large municipal park in Wheeling. (It's pronounced Ogle-bee.)