Lorraine accepted her new job with HPE and was initially told that she would be going to Boston for new employee orientation after Labor Day. We decided to leave Orlando and quickly drive up the east cost to Pennsylvania hoping she would be close to Boston. Our intent was to leave Pennsylvania after the new employee orientation and head to Phoenix where she will be based since she will be supporting the Central and West area of the US. Unfortunately, she was later told she would not come to Boston until October. However we were on our way and stopped to see family and then visited West Virginia.
Maryland (Aug 30-31, 2018)
Stayed at the Washington DC/Capitol KOA. They have a daily shuttle to District of Columbia but we didn’t take it. Instead, we had lunch with Lorraine’s son, Matthew on Wednesday. We went to the G&M Crabcakes – the best crabcakes anywhere. The crab chunks look like an inch in diameter with very little filling.
On our second day, we went to Cheesecake factory with Matthew and did a little gambling. Unfortunately we didn’t make a lot of money but still walked out with money in our pockets.
Matthew made his momma proud and got a haircut and shave. Here is a recent picture of her handsome son.
Allentown, PA (Aug 31 – Sep 3)
We left on Friday morning to head to Allentown to see Mike’s family and friends. Unfortunately, we were parked on I-78 for 1.5 hours due to supposedly a five car accident. When we finally staring moving, we only saw a semi truck on the side of the road with minor damage.
We bought uncooked crabcakes to bring to family and they enjoyed them. These crabcakes are great.This is what it looked like after Paula cooked them. Yum.
Once we got moving, we checked in to the Allentown KOA in New Tropoli. It has been raining heavily for days and the campground and too much water. We pulled into a site (not backed in) which is very muddy. We wished is was more sunny because being next to the river would of been great.
Pittsburgh, PA (Sep 3-4, 2018)
Dry camped in a 24-Hour Walmart to visit Mike’s Nephew, David and have lunch. We also had to pick up a case of Yuengling beer since we can’t get it west of the Mississippi.
Charleston, WV (Sep 4-Sep 6, 2018
Our next stop was in Charleston, WV – the capital. We stopped and saw the State Capital which was awesome. We have found that the east coast Capitols are majestic with all the marble pillars which come are usually from out of the country. (Also we found that you when you are talking about the Capital of the State it is spelled with an “a” but if you are talking about the building it is spelled with an “o”. Still learning.)
The West Virginia State Capitol is a massive building and the way it was built was interesting. They started first with the west wing in 1924-25 and then the east wing in 1926-27. They left the center (rotunda) to be built last in 1930-32 which then connected the two wings. It finally was operational in 1932 and it “only” took $10 million to be completed. The dome is 293-foot tall and is 4.5 feet higher than the U.S. Capitol building. It was restored from 1988-1991 with gilded 23.5k golf leaf applied on top of the copper and lead roof. The capitol has nine different types of marble which include: Tennessee, Imperial Danby Vermont, Belgian Black and Gold, Italian Brown, Pink Georgian from France, and verd antique marbles. The exterior walls of the wings and main unit are made of Indiana select buff limestone. It is amazing to see all of this construction material since now most construction material could not compete with this.
In the front of the capitol is a replica of the liberty bell which was presented to the state “in commemoration of a 1950 U.S. savings bond drive.” It is “identical to the original Liberty Bell in size and tone” and is “one of 53 cast in France and given to the U.S. government.”
This is the view from the other side of the Capitol outside which has a magnificent statute of Abraham Lincoln.
Here is a link to the poem by Vachel Lindsay, called Abraham Walks at Midnight. We have never heard of this poem and reading it was enlightening. Here is the first stanza:
The chandelier in the dome weighs 4,000 pounds and has the lighting power of 15,000 candles. Every four years before the Governor’s inauguration, the the chandelier is lowered to the ground floor for cleaning.
The east and west wings contain the Legislative Foyers and were large. One had a picture of the rotunda area being built and the other one with it complete. The flowers, plaster coffers, in the ceiling represent native red oak, magnolia and sugar maple (the state tree).
The House of Delegates and Senate Chambers were similar to ones in other capitols.The desks are hand carved from black walnut. It is amazing to see these desks that have been in these chambers since the Capitol has been built. Each chandeliers are 1,500 pound fixtures with 10,000 pieces of crystal and 3,000 pieces of glass beading.
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The Supreme court has five justices in West Virginia and it is located on the third floor. We were lucky that the Security Guard unlocked the court for us to be able to go in. He was also our tour guide for this chamber pointing out many original aspects of the chamber. He explained that the white marble was Belgian and that floor was recently restored to the original lay out. What was interesting was that in this chamber there was no low bar separating the house from the justices this was intended, according to the designer, that “nothing stands between the people and its highest court.” Apparently, the designer, Cass Gilbert, also designed the U.S. Supreme Court based on the West Virginia Supreme Court.
Another note was the “Stonewall Jackson” statue who was a Confederate general, was the first statue erected in the Capitol in 1910. Interestingly, this has not been removed from the Capitol.
Lorraine couldn’t resist coming close to the Black Bears and had to pet one. Luckily this was the closest she was ever going to get.
Outside were we many memorials, also called Statuary. We mentioned the Abraham Lincoln previously. In addition to that, there was the West Virginia Veterans Memorial which recorded more than 11,000 West Virginians who gave their lives in World World I, World War II, Korean War and the Vietnam War. It was dedicated in 1994. In a sense it is similar to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. which was built in 1982 with the black granite and names etched on it. The statutes are in a circle around the black granite and are very impressive.
Next to this memorial also is the West Virginia Female Veterans statute which is dedicated to all female veterans. The etchings on all sides was amazing as it was etched from what appeared to be photographs.
Also there was a memorial of Booker T. Washington, who spent his early life in the area and made major impacts across the country. The write-up on his memorial was exceptional.
Next was the Mountaineer Solder which carries a U.S. Flag and musket, which is “representing the home guard that answered President Lincoln’s call to arms in 1861. This statue was dedicated in 1912.
Soldiers and Sailors Monument which was commissioned in 1927 as a memorial for the 32,000 West Virginians who fought for the Union during the Civil War. On one side of this is Lincoln’s full Gettysburg Address.
The Coal Miner Statue was also displayed which of course provides tribute to the coal heritage. 
The final step was visit the West Virginia State Museum. This is free and there is a scenic path laid out in the basement which takes you throughout the history of West Virginia. Here is a layout of the exhibit.
Here are few pictures.
And we had to show how big this Ship Wheel was compared to Mike.
Hopefully this video of this military man comes out. It was amazing to see the movement and hear the voice from it.
That wraps up our visit to the State Capitol. Look at the next post to see where we ate.
