It was already a warm day when we pulled the motorcycle out of the garage at 7:30AM. The weather forecast called for a heat advisory and temperatures reaching 98. That is 98 Fahrenheit which would, for us, not include the extra degrees of pavement heat! But we had more of West Virginia paranormal to explore!
Ohio River Scenic Byway
We were soon on the Ohio River Scenic Byway headed north to Moundsville, WV home of the Indian Burial Mound and the WV State Penitentiary. The Ohio River Scenic Byway runs 452 miles alongside the Ohio side of the river.
The road, for the entire distance we traveled, was in great shape. As far as “river scenic” I would have to say NOPE! The trees and brush have grown to the point that you only get a short glimpse of the river and that is mostly around the areas that have a bridge.
However, if you are like me and consider industrial views as scenic you are in for a treat. This part of Ohio and West Virginia are heavily dotted with industry. Electrical plants with cooling towers rising, to what looks like a thousand feet. Miles of stainless-steel pipes and trestles moving “stuff” back and forth between the plants and the river. It is quite spectacular.
West Virginia Penitentiary
Crossing the river back to West Virginia we were soon at our first destination, the WV Penitentiary. From its start and up until it was closed this was always one of the most dangerous prisons in America. Until capital punishment was ended 94 men met their end at the end of a rope or in the electric chair. Many more died at the hands of fellow inmates.
Closed in 1995, it is now not only a tourist destination it is also a training center, and a film location. Because of all the death and violence many people claim that the prison has a large and heavy paranormal presence.
The penitentiary has been on many paranormal TV shows as well as movies. Movies were filmed here as far back as 1955 with stars like Robert Mitchem, Jimmy Stewart, Kurt Russel and others. One of my favorite TV shows, Netflix’s Mindhunter also filmed in this prison.
Well, this day we did not see any ghosts, although I have not checked all the footage, but maybe if we do the overnight tour?
Indian Burial Mound
Directly across the street from the Penitentiary is the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex. It is the site of one of the most famous and the largest of the Adena Burial mounds.
Unfortunately, the complex was closed that day. The mound has been here since about 250 BC, so I imagine that I have some time to stop by in the future! It is quite a bit larger than one would imagine so I am looking forward to checking it out.
The Trip Home
Boy was it a hot day! We rode for a bit and then stopped a Quaker Steak and Lube in Wheeling, WV. As always, never had a bad meal at one of these restaurants. Before we got back on the bike, we put our cool vests on. These vests are the water evaporation type, you soak them then put them on. Today they lasted about 150 miles before they were dry!
Normally we would wet them down again but today we were only an hour or so away from home we just packed them away in the tour pak.
This 3-day adventure was well worth the time and was an enjoyable ride!
Click Here for Day 1 Click here for Day 2
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 