MILES
428
STOPS
5
ORIGIN
NoVA
DESTINATION
Columbus
DRIVE TIME
7.5 hrs
TOTAL TIME
12 hrs
🛑 Stop 1: We decided our first stop would be at the Cumberland Visitor Center and start of C&O Trail. We parked at Canal St. walked around Cumberland and promptly continued our drive. It gave me a chance to revisit the starting point of my 2023 C&O Canal adventure and show Ari where the terminus of the GAP and beginning of the C&O were.
🛑 Stop 2: Our next stop would be our first hike of the trip. We headed to Coopers Rock State Forest in WV to do the Raven Rock overlook hike. This was ChatGPT’s first suggested outing. It was a great initial “familiar hike” to get things going. The out and back hike took us to an overlook over the Cheat River Canyon. The views were spectacular, clear skies all around, a theme that would permeate throughout the next few days.
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Cheat River Canyon
I brought along my Kodak Retina IIIc Camera along for the Drive and tried to shoot at least a few images during our stops. This is a stiched panorama of three film frames of the view from Ravens Rock of the Cheat River Canyon.
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Overlook Selfie
Another frame from the Kodak retina IIIC. Ari taking a selfie on the overlook.
🛑 Stop 3: After the hike we stopped for lunch in Morgantown, WV. ChatGPT recommended the Mountain State Brewing Company. Since I like beer and I had a designated driver, we thought we’d give it a shot. Sadly, neither the beer or food was good; the first, and quite honestly, one of the only disappointing stops of the trip.
🛑 Stop 4: Our next stop took us to downtown Cambridge, OH and the Guernsey County Courthouse. This was another recommendation by ChatGPT and it proved to be an interesting quick stop along the way. The goal here was just a quick stop to stretch our legs, nothing more. We parked along the courthouse and spent about 20 minutes walking around the courthouse before continuing to our final destination, Columbus, OH.
🛑 Final Stop: ChatGPT gave me several options in Columbus and the Short North Arts District seemed the most enticing, especially since there was a park nearby where we could take a stroll after we checked in into our hotel. After settling in to the Graduate in Columbus, we walked around Goodale Park and High St. There was lots of activity along this strip, definitely a university town. Ohio State University had a football game on Saturday that contributed to the activity in and around our hotel.
After a long drive it was super nice to be greeted by a friendly face. Sebastian, from côte d'ivoire, one of the hotels valet attendants was the brightest encounter we had in Columbus. Sadly, most other people we interacted with, including our server at the TownHall, were just uninterested. I was a bit surprised by this since most everyone I spoke with prior to the drive said people in Columbus were super friendly. We must have come across the handful that were not. Despite that, our few hours in Short North were pleasant. Before we departed we stopped by the The Lox for coffee and a bagel and my faith in people was restored. The staff was super friendly and aligned to what I had heard people in Columbus were like.
As we departed, High St. was being closed to traffic for a pedestrian only event that was slated to have live performances, hands-on arts activities and local vendors. This became another theme along our drive west, we either encountered something happening at various stops, or drove off as something was about to take place.