My video skills are still a work in progress, but I’m working on it.
This short video captures our motorcycle ride with the Mothman Harley Davidson dealership. We rode from the dealership to the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, to visit the home and statue of the legendary Mothman.”
A couple months ago the wife and I had a lot of fun riding what we called our West Virginia Cryptid & Paranormal Motorcycle Tour (links to the posts below). It was a fun trip to a few of the more “weird and strange” spots in West Virgina.
In each of those posts I tagged the West Virgina Tourism Facebook and X/Twitter pages. I thought this is something that they might want to promote for “paranormal tourism”.
Well, well, well. The West Virginia Tourism office now have their own page promoting just that activity. They are calling it the West Virginia Paranormal Trail.
They are promoting paranormal sites and providing give aways with going to these places like stickers, bennies and posters. Not all the sites listed for the WV Paranormal Trail, align with our trip. We only had 3 days, and we picked spots that we wanted to visit.
I think this is great, but I would have appreciated a note saying thanks for the idea (and a sticker or poster). Sad face (LOL)
West Virginia Cryptid & Paranormal Motorcycle Ride Day 1
Day 2 West Virginia Cryptid & Paranormal Motorcycle Ride: Mothman We Are Coming
After a very busy 1st day on the motorcycle visiting a bunch of West Virginia paranormal sites, we were ready to mount up and head out on day 2. The weather folks said this day was going to be hot a one, but we could take an early start as our first stop, “The Mystery Hole”, was not scheduled to open until 10AM.
Unfortunately, it turns out that the Mystery Hole has an issue with getting good help and was closed. So, we rode on to our next stop, the Mothman Museum.
I have visited the Mystery Hole many times, as it is only a couple miles from my childhood home. However my wife never has and I wanted to share it with her.
A great bonus to trying to visit the Mystery Hole is it resides alongside one of the most fun roads in West Virginia, US 60 also called “The Talon”. If you are ever in this area, you must ride this road. While a couple miles shorter, it does rival the Tail of the Dragon for fun.
The Talon is a wonderful package of twisty roads and switchbacks all through forest and cliffside landscapes. Low traffic levels allow you to ride at your pace and comfort but will challenge you if you want to step it up.
The downside of The Talon is that you can no longer see the New River Gorge and all its natural beauty. The state has allowed the undergrowth to get to a level where there are only a few small “blink and you will miss it spots” where the gorge is visible. Sad very sad, a great opportunity for increasing tourism missed again.
Stay Tuned for a video of the Talon/US 60.
Once we got to the bottom of the mountain, we rode alongside the Kanawha River to and through the state capital Charleston. This day the morning sun was glistening off the gold gilded dome of the Capital Building making it pop like a gold jewel in a cityscape setting. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn the camera on.
Not that much later we were getting off the motorcycle across the street from Mothman HQ. There was a large crowd at the museum. By large I mean there were at least 20 people in the gift shop and about that many in the museum proper. There were another 10-12 more hovering, in the afternoon heat, around the Mothman statue waiting their turn for photos.
By now it was early afternoon, and the weather folks were right it was HOT. We made the decision to make a direct ride to our new, unfinished but finished enough, Ohio home. We were off the road early and with a shower and air conditioning.
Click here for Day One of the West Virginia Cryptid and Paranormal Ride!
Over the holiday weekend Debbie and I decided to create a motorcycle ride out of something that is a bit unique to West Virginia, Cryptid and Paranormal activity.
Cryptid – Noun – An animal whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the Yeti.
On Day 1 we pull out of the house at 7AM only to return a few minutes later to grab something we forgot! LOL, I hope we are not the only ones that do this as often as not. After that we were soon on US Route 50 climbing up the mountains into West Virginia.
Stay tuned for some short videos on the “Twisties of Route 50”.
THE GRAFTON MONSTER: By mid-morning we are riding into the town of Grafton, WV. We planned to visit the Grafton Monster Museum, but it is closed for renovations. We also missed, by two days, the Grafton Monster Festival. Disappointed we remount and headed out to the next stop Phillipi, WV.
THE PHILIPPI MUMMIES: Turns out there are more than just mummies in Philippi. Located in the towns visitors center we discovered that “Lurch” from the TV show “The Adams Family” is from Philippi. So, a two for one Lurch and the Mummies. They even have had a “Lurch Fest” in 2023, is it an annual event?
As for the mummies, there are really mummies in Philippi. These two mummies have traveled the world and are now resting in the visitor’s center.
When in Philippi make sure you take a ride over the longest covered bridge in WV. It is also the only covered bridge on a US Highway, US Route 250.
Expect a video and short post on the bridge.
TRANS-ALLEGHENY LUNATIC ASYLUM: Located in the town of Westen, WV the asylum is one of the most haunted locations in America. They offer both history tours and ghost tours. If you are of a particular strength, you can even have overnight stays.
While we did not see any ghosts during our visit so many people belive that they have that it has been featured on many paranormal documentaries. If you are traveling on Interstate 79 through WV it should be on your itinerary.
FLATWOODS MONSTER: Located in the town of Sutton, WV the Flatwoods Monster Museum documents the local history of monsters. First spotted in 1952 and dubbed the “Green Monster” this cryptid is fully part of the community. The town has even erected a “Home of the Green Monster” sign.
We met Adam Smith, who runs the museum, and discussed a bit about the monster and how it is part of the video game Fallout 76, along with other West Virginia cryptids.
Let him know you are a Fallout fan you might get a surprise… while supplies last!
BIG FOOT MUSEUM: Located just a couple blocks from the Flatwoods Monster Museum, Big Foot is afoot. The Big Foot Museum holds a lot of background information on the Big Foot phenomenon along with several casts of “actual” big footprints. The museum also holds a large volume of books in its library collection.
At this point we needed to decide where we were going to ride to spend the night. The decision was between my mom’s and our new home in Ohio. It did not take long to decide when we looked at the weather radar, mom’s it was.
BTW we did get wet, again!
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 