Music & Rails of West Virginia Itinerary
3 Days July 22-24, 2020

day 1 - Today, you travel to Elkins, WV. On arrival, check into your first class hotel for a two night stay. Tonight, dinner is included in a Timber Baron's Mansion. You dine at either the Graceland or Halliehurst Mansions. Both elegant homes built in 1890's at the height of the timber era. Enjoy an evening of entertainment at the Randolph Art Center. Here you enjoy refreshments while browsing their exhibits, then sit down for an hour or more of great local entertainment performed by some of the finest musicians in these high-up hills. (d)

day 2 - This morning you board the Cheat Mountain Salamander's climate controlled passenger cars for a 2 1/2 hour ride through the wild, high mountain wilderness of West Virginia. A photo stop is made at the High Falls of the Cheat River. 18 feet tall and 150 feet across this beautiful location is 5 miles from the closest road. After High Falls your train follows the tumbling Cheat through another 21 miles of scenic wilderness.

This is unspoiled and uninhabited forest, with gorgeous tree topped mountain vistas, where hardwoods and evergreens grow to the edge of boulder strewn white water rivers. This one-way train ride ends at remote Cheat Bridge where your bus is waiting to transport you to the eastern side of Cheat Mountain and the town of Durbin. On arrival in Durbin, you enjoy a Plated Lunch at The Station Two Restaurant. After lunch you will also have time to shop for souvenirs at the Rail to Trail Store before your next train ride.

This afternoon the coal fired Durbin Rocket is bellowing smoke and anxious to start another exciting mountain rail expedition. Built in 1910 this steam locomotive pulls an authentic 1920s-era coach car and vintage wooden cabooses along the free-flowing Greenbrier River. This 10 -1/2 mile scenic ride runs through the Monongahela National Forest.

Your evening entertainment begins with a meal at The Gandy Dancer Dinner Theater. In a beautiful dining room you enjoy a very nice meal followed by the Mountain Memories Show Band and a musical variety show that is filled with high energy familyfriendly comedy and music. It's an unforgettable evening at West Virginia's largest dinner theater. (B,l,d)

day 3 - After breakfast, you depart Elkins and stop in Weston, WV at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Enjoy a morning tour of The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, constructed between 1858 and 1881. It is the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America, and is purportedly the second largest in the world, next to the Kremlin. It was designed by the renowned architect Richard Andrews following the Kirkbride plan, which called for long rambling wings arranged in a staggered formation, assuring that each of the connecting structures received an abundance of therapeutic sunlight and fresh air.

The original hospital, designed to house 250 souls, was open to patients in 1864 and reached its peak in the 1950's with 2,400 patients in overcrowded and generally poor conditions. Changes in the treatment of mental illness and the physical deterioration of the facility forced its closure in 1994 inflicting a devastating effect on the local economy, from which it has yet to recover.

Continue travel to Grantsville, MD for dinner at the Historic Penn Alps Restaurant. Then you will then have free time to visit the Artisans Village. Imagine yourself back in time when the local artisans of a community supplied the crocks, dry goods, wrought iron tools, and decorative elements of the household. Just as well-wrought goods were handed down as heirlooms in earlier times, you will find treasures and memories to keep for yourself and others. The beautiful grounds and relaxed atmosphere bring visitors back annually. Depart for home. (B,d)