The Weekender
The hubby and I went for a little "stay-cation road trip" this past weekend. The intention was to go take the tour of the historic Moundsville Penitentiary in Moundsville, WV. But, after driving 3 hours to get there, we found that it was closed for the season.
Now this was kind of "my bad" since I just looked at the hours they were open on weekends and how much it was going to cost us to take the tour. I neglected the rest of the words on the main page of the website where it said that they were closed from October to April.
I was a little pissed and a lot disappointed. I was really looking forward to it.
But just across the street was the Grave Creek Mound Museum, which was another place we have wanted to visit, and it was open. So in we went. Of course, to follow the trend of the day the actual Mound site was closed because of the cold weather and possible icy conditions on the stairway to the top of the mound. So all we could do was look around at the stuff inside the museum. It was interesting and educational and free, so really there aren't any complaints.
As we made our way through the gift shop at the museum we noticed one of those racks with all the little travel pamphlets on it and decided since our big plans to tour the old prison were foiled, we might as well see if there was anything else in the area to get into.
I spotted a little brochure on a place that was being billed as "America's Taj Mahal". It was called the Golden Palace and it was less than a 30 minute drive from where we stood. So off we went, because we only had about 50 minutes before it was said to close for the day.
As we made our way out the winding country roads, finding ourselves further and further from civilization, we started to wonder if we were on the right track. Then we spotted the sign pointing us in the right direction, letting us know we were going the right way. From the sign it was another 4 miles or so. And when we got to the place, we didn't really know what to say.
The palace was a little run down looking but still quite marvelous. Something you really have to see to believe. I bet it would have been a little more breathtaking if the sun had been glistening off of the gold leafing. But instead we were being battered with snow flakes. We quickly made our way to the palace entrance and found that we were just in time for the final tour of the day.
We were also the only white folks there, well aside from the tour guide. The palace was built in the 70's for a Hare Krishna Swami who's name I won't butcher. You can check out the website or the Wikipedia page if you need to know the who's and what's and such. It was certainly interesting.
After the palace tour we drove down to the Hare Krishna community, which is on the same property but kind of hidden out of view from the palace. It was a collection of cabins and two large buildings and a couple of small lakes or ponds. One of which was called the Swan Lake which was home to three or so actual swans. At the end of the Swan Lake there were two giant statues of two Krishna saints. They were something to behold.
On the complex was also a small enclosure which was home to a few peacocks and peahens, the two which we could see were albino and absolutely beautiful. I am curious about the commune having the peacocks and the swans, as they were also images present in a lot of the palace decor. There was also large statues of an elephant and a pair of cattle.
We didn't go into the temple, because I just didn't feel right about going in where we aren't sure we're invited. We are not practitioners of the religion, which I'm still kind of confused as to what it is exactly, and there weren't any clear indications that outsiders were welcome to come and explore. So we just wandered around the Swan Lake area and then got back into the car and left.
I do want to go back and visit this place when things are in full bloom, as they have a rose garden that I can imagine is quite amazing to behold. It's shaped like a peacock, of course. Which makes it more intriguing.
And since we didn't manage to get to tour the old jail at Moundsville and it's only 30 minutes between it and the palace, I figure this summer we'll be making a trip back up there to see them both.
Aside from these few stops, we also drove over to the Cabela's store just past Wheeling, WV and had a tasty wild game lunch and enjoyed looking at the animal and fish displays they have there. We also made a stop in at Wheeling Island and had a beer while we blew about $14 in the slot machines. After that we found ourselves a hotel and settled in for the night.
Sunday we slept in, took our time getting motivated and took the scenic route back towards home. We stopped for a few hours to visit his grandparents before arrving back at our humble abode last night.
All in all it was a fabulous trip, despite the couple of tourism disappointments. My hubby and I always have such a great time exploring the world around us together.
Now this was kind of "my bad" since I just looked at the hours they were open on weekends and how much it was going to cost us to take the tour. I neglected the rest of the words on the main page of the website where it said that they were closed from October to April.
I was a little pissed and a lot disappointed. I was really looking forward to it.
But just across the street was the Grave Creek Mound Museum, which was another place we have wanted to visit, and it was open. So in we went. Of course, to follow the trend of the day the actual Mound site was closed because of the cold weather and possible icy conditions on the stairway to the top of the mound. So all we could do was look around at the stuff inside the museum. It was interesting and educational and free, so really there aren't any complaints.
As we made our way through the gift shop at the museum we noticed one of those racks with all the little travel pamphlets on it and decided since our big plans to tour the old prison were foiled, we might as well see if there was anything else in the area to get into.
I spotted a little brochure on a place that was being billed as "America's Taj Mahal". It was called the Golden Palace and it was less than a 30 minute drive from where we stood. So off we went, because we only had about 50 minutes before it was said to close for the day.
As we made our way out the winding country roads, finding ourselves further and further from civilization, we started to wonder if we were on the right track. Then we spotted the sign pointing us in the right direction, letting us know we were going the right way. From the sign it was another 4 miles or so. And when we got to the place, we didn't really know what to say.
The palace was a little run down looking but still quite marvelous. Something you really have to see to believe. I bet it would have been a little more breathtaking if the sun had been glistening off of the gold leafing. But instead we were being battered with snow flakes. We quickly made our way to the palace entrance and found that we were just in time for the final tour of the day.
We were also the only white folks there, well aside from the tour guide. The palace was built in the 70's for a Hare Krishna Swami who's name I won't butcher. You can check out the website or the Wikipedia page if you need to know the who's and what's and such. It was certainly interesting.
After the palace tour we drove down to the Hare Krishna community, which is on the same property but kind of hidden out of view from the palace. It was a collection of cabins and two large buildings and a couple of small lakes or ponds. One of which was called the Swan Lake which was home to three or so actual swans. At the end of the Swan Lake there were two giant statues of two Krishna saints. They were something to behold.
On the complex was also a small enclosure which was home to a few peacocks and peahens, the two which we could see were albino and absolutely beautiful. I am curious about the commune having the peacocks and the swans, as they were also images present in a lot of the palace decor. There was also large statues of an elephant and a pair of cattle.
We didn't go into the temple, because I just didn't feel right about going in where we aren't sure we're invited. We are not practitioners of the religion, which I'm still kind of confused as to what it is exactly, and there weren't any clear indications that outsiders were welcome to come and explore. So we just wandered around the Swan Lake area and then got back into the car and left.
I do want to go back and visit this place when things are in full bloom, as they have a rose garden that I can imagine is quite amazing to behold. It's shaped like a peacock, of course. Which makes it more intriguing.
And since we didn't manage to get to tour the old jail at Moundsville and it's only 30 minutes between it and the palace, I figure this summer we'll be making a trip back up there to see them both.
Aside from these few stops, we also drove over to the Cabela's store just past Wheeling, WV and had a tasty wild game lunch and enjoyed looking at the animal and fish displays they have there. We also made a stop in at Wheeling Island and had a beer while we blew about $14 in the slot machines. After that we found ourselves a hotel and settled in for the night.
Sunday we slept in, took our time getting motivated and took the scenic route back towards home. We stopped for a few hours to visit his grandparents before arrving back at our humble abode last night.
All in all it was a fabulous trip, despite the couple of tourism disappointments. My hubby and I always have such a great time exploring the world around us together.
Comments