The Mysterious South

Today we drove through the low mountains and mists of West Virginia, with tendrils of fog rising out of the hollers to join with the clouds even through the rain. The scenery was eerily beautiful, and even more evocative as we listened to Ishiguro's The Buried Giant on Audible. In Ishiguro's new novel, the mist carries forgetfulness, and it did seem as though time had stopped still in the landscape surrounding us. However, if anything, the scenery brought back memories rather than obscuring them. Maybe 15 or 20 years ago I spent time in remote West Virginia at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory during two summers, and that quiet and dark (literally) time came back full force. It's so beautiful here, but there's still that mysterious sense that the social landscape of Deliverance is hiding out there in the physical landscape that is so reminiscent. Because of the rain, I didn't get any photos of the drive or of the campsite at Fort Boonesboro State Park in Kentucky, but maybe this one of the camper in the dark is a good representation of my mindset, if nothing else.

 

Because we got here in the midst of a rainstorm, we decided to go out to dinner rather than try to cook out or do a reprise of each course needing to be cooked separately. We took a chance on Hall's Restaurant, which is right on the river. The food was OK, but the setting was very special and the service was outstanding.

I don't really understand how the photo makes it seem sunny, given that it was pouring rain just on the other side of the railing. But they are clearly set up for rain and we were able to eat outside in spite of the weather. Here, the husband is sitting about 25 feet above the water level, and the restaurant has photos inside of 2003 when the water was flooding the restaurant above this level. YIKES! We thought we had it bad in Eldred. There are marks on the wall inside the restaurant showing the height of all the various floods, and the highest (in the 70s) is just a couple of feet below the ceiling! However, since the restaurant was originally opened in 1783 as Holder's Tavern, there is history to uphold and the restaurant has been rebuilt again and again.

In spite of driving through nasty weather for the entire day today, we managed to have an interesting and enjoyable day. Traveling is always a surprise!