A Walk Through Point Pleasant

Yesterday was magnificent. The weather was as perfect as we could expect for February and the open road called my name. Truthfully, I didn’t go far but the day confirmed my belief that the best things are often in your own backyard.

First up was a leisurely drive to Gallipolis for lunch at China One Buffet. Then it was time to ditch the car and walk off lunch just across the river in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Their downtown district is mostly along a street that parallels the river. There are some local interest museums, a few shops and restaurants, local services, a magnificent post office and a historic hotel.

Point Pleasant is a destination for many seeking the Mothman, a giant in West Virginia folklore. There’s a popular museum, a statue and even a festival dedicated in his honor. The Mothman is in the ranks of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster but many people take the story seriously while others just enjoy the intrigue.

I’ve shown you some other Point Pleasant landmarks before including the old State Theater.

This advertising mural has appeared here as well.

I also strolled the riverwalk, enjoying the flood wall murals and bridges.

This bridge is eye catching.

I’ll share more pictures and tell you a couple of interesting stories about the history of this area soon.

I ended the day at the Markay in Jackson, where my boss was in a play put on by the local community theater company.

It was a good day and made me crave more like it. I’m dying for a real road trip – the kind where I head somewhere new just to see what’s what along the way.

To say I have been struggling for the last couple of years is an understatement. I haven’t been myself and am beyond sick of dealing with it but yesterday was a lovely reminder of how life used to be. I am grateful for the opportunity and hopeful there will be more soon.

Some Bland Pictures And Plan B

Last weekend’s walk at the lake was chilly and a little dreary. The sky was white and it felt like the calm before the storm. In fact, it was the calm before the storm as six inches of snow blanketed the earth by the next morning. 

I made a number of pictures with my iPhone anyway, appreciating the starkness of the landscape and thinking the images might be interesting when transformed into black and white. 

Turns out, I was wrong. They weren’t at all pleasant that way.

However, I did fiddle with them and warmed them up to give some new life – or any life at all, really. I’m not especially fond of heavily edited photos and usually favor the documentary approach but this saved the entire collection from deletion.

The above image of the bridge turned out especially nice. 

I also liked this one of the icy water.

And this one of another bridge.

This image of the geese reminded me of a story from Fried Green Tomatoes about some ducks caught swimming in a lake when it suddenly froze over. They took off and flew away with that lake. To this day it’s somewhere in Georgia. Or so the story goes.

The sight of them all gleefully splashing, diving and taking flight made me wish for my camera with the long lens.

This exercise with the photos reminded me that circumstances are not always as we want them to be. The fact that the sky is gray doesn’t make it a bad day. It does mean we have to work a little harder to find the beauty and the good. 

And it’s possible that these bland days exist to make us appreciate the sunshine and blue skies better. Here’s to the hearty souls who can at least try to find goodness in every day.