On Sunday, after breakfast and coffee chat, we hit the road, destination Keyser, WV. I was excited to visit with my cousin and her family in the foothills of Appalachia. Jill retired as the Librarian at the local university in Keyser, WVU/Potomac. A mixture of newer and older areas, some quite depressed, but beautiful with the mountains as their backdrop made up the community. Not much different from any other community, really...except, it's surrounded by mountains.
Jill showed us around, and we ate at a cute breakfast spot, toured the city library where Jill works part-time, and then retreated to her home for great conversation. Jill and I have just recently gotten to know each other, having found each other on ANCESTRY. Long story, but a cousin on my dad's side. We hit it off right away the first time we met a couple of years ago. Jill is a plethora of information. A walking one-gal Chamber of Commerce. Something she and I have in common; always promoting and supporting our communities in many ways. There is a lot of Civil War history in the area. Jill shared several stories and historical facts with us. Too much to remember, but interesting just the same.
Jill's hubby, Biard, is an amazing musician we learned. He has his man-cave shed full of musical instruments, mostly guitars, along with parts and pieces to repair them with. He's been in bands, but no longer.
It's so interesting to be in another area of the U.S. Anywhere in the world, really. But, to see our own country and the differences in the geography and cultures and learn the history of each, is really intriguing.
We loved every minute with Jill and Biard, but we were on to Cumberland, Maryland, where Jill and Biard's daughter, Heidi and her husband, Kevin, live. Heidi, too, is a librarian, but does not work in that field any longer. Kevin is a professor at another university in the area.
Upon arrival to Cumberland, we settled into the B&B that Heidi got for us.
The Bruce House Inn was lovely. We had the entire main level for ourselves, which consisted of the bedroom ensuite and gathering room with a fireplace.
Once settled, we met Heidi for lunch at a trendy cafe in the historical area of Cumberland. Heidi is such an interesting young gal. Highly intelligent, active in the arts and social activism. She travels quite
often to New York City, where she has friends on Broadway. We'll travel to New York City with her someday. She knows the ins and outs of the city and will be awesome to go with. Heidi gave us a tour of the Canal Place area, shared various stories of history of the area and took us to a great little spot where several original log cabins have been moved to this location.
Both saving them and developing a cool artists' colony for tourists. Each houses an artist either full-time or on the weekends. Most were closed on this day, which was disappointing. I could have spent a lot of time there. Also, this area was up in the mountains.
Jill was supposed to have come to spend time with us in Cumberland, but a road closure for a "standoff" did not allow her to come and meet up with us and the next day, she was not feeling well. We were bummed that our time with her was so short. Heidi and Kevin did a wonderful job of entertaining us over a couple of meals and wonderful conversation back at The Bruce House Inn. Both are very delightful.
Before leaving, we asked Heidi to take us into a "holler". One, because we didn't really know what one was, and we wanted to experience this cultural difference. We came out saddened by the living conditions. Extremely poor and run down, this area was just along the edge of town, down a gravel road at the foothill of the mountain.
Our time here quickly ended and we headed east from Maryland to the Atlantic Coast.
Here are some more photos for your enjoyment.
