Mountain Getaway | Canaan Valley, Autumn 2017

November 7, 2017 Shyla Yoder

Lindy Point, Black Water Falls, Davis, West Virginia

Wayne and I love to take long weekend trips and we try to do it once a season. This year we couldn't getaway in the peak of Autumn but we made it for the end and that wonderful glistening bronze color, like sunset accompanied by fall rain. We are both West Virginia transplants (from Ohio) so we have spent our recent road-trips discovering local places.

This time, we chose Canaan Valley in the northeast region of the Allegheny Mountains and visited the cute little mountain towns of Thomas & Davis (rated the best towns to view fall in West Virginia).

DAY 1 | Thomas, WV

We left Friday afternoon, bags packed, thermoses filled with apple cider and ready for an adventure! We arrived at Canaan Valley Resort in time for a 7pm dinner at the Hickory Dining Room (which was delicious) and a cozy night in by the fireplace.

Saturday morning we set out to explore the little mountain town of Thomas, nestled just a few miles from its sister town, Davis on a one lane road by the river.

Coffee was the first stop. Tip Top coffee, I assume named after this old coffee company (see picture of canister), served up one of the most delicious latte's I've had in West Virginia as well as cortadas, pour over coffee and delicious pastries. We enoyed frittatta, a pumpkin scone, a latte for me and flat white for him by the window for a long sip on that cold morning and then ordered two more drinks to go!

There is a wonderful assortment of galleries, antique shops and markets in town that we enjoyed perusing with drinks in hand. My favorite was ELLA & Company - a sweet young creative who curates her favorite antiques and tableware that she sells and rents out for weddings as a designer and wedding planner. (If you're getting married here, this is your girl!). Wayne may or may not have rolled an old Maytag ringer/washer from her store down the street into his truck before we left Sunday (auctioneer life).

It turned into a rainy afternoon that we decided to use nestled up on the couch by the fireplace and then return to town for the evening.

Mountain Getaway | Canaan Valley, WV | Autumn | Loveshyla.com

Mountain Getaway | Canaan Valley, WV | Rainy Autumn | Loveshyla.com

EVENING | Siriani's & The Purple Fiddle

Siriani's Pizza Cafe in Davis came highly recommended and did not disappoint! We had delicious pizza (our own personal pies) & parmesan wedges in a super fun atmosphere (a hundred year old steam ship office that was used to make travel arrangements for the many immigrants who came to the area for work during the coal and timber booms of the late 1890's and early 1900's).

After dinner we headed over to the Purple Fiddle for live music (one of the places Davis is most well known for). This venue hosts live music every night of the week during busy seasons and every weekend-night year round - It is apart of the Mountain Music Trail. Revelation Hill delivered wonderful bluesy/ rock and roll tunes, both acoustic and electric, as locals filled up the venue into the night. It was so good for the soul!

A fawn in the backyard of Canaan Valley Resort.

DAY 2 | Black Water Falls

Sunday morning arose with an extra hour that we gladly accepted with Daylight Savings and another slow morning. This time we opted for a full breakfast at the Bright Morning Inn in Davis, serving up delicious homemade specials to guests and public alike. It seemed like a locals favorite and we could see why! On the board as we entered the cozy B&B was Pumpkin Walnut Pancakes drizzled with maple butter sauce (I took that!) and a savory breakfast skillet (he took that). Can I say..... IT WAS AMAZING!

We headed out to Black Water Falls to do some hiking and view the falls. What a beautiful experience. Hiking is one of our favorite things anytime of the year, but especially in the fall. We were told to go to the main falls as well as Pendleton and Lindy point. Pendleton is just a little ways up the road from the falls and what a view of the valley! We could see the river for miles. Lindy point felt like a secret trail behind the lodge that few knew about.. We took a short hike into the woods from the trailhead to an amazing view (and a sit on a rock that scared Wayne a bit - see last picture).

Other local attractions include Seneca Rocks (see our summer trip here this summer) & Dolly Sods (we hope to trek on our next trip).

EVENING | Scenic Route & Dinner in Parsons, WV

Davis, WV had lost most of it's leaves at it's elevation by this point (we saw remnants of the 8 inches of snow they were said to have got the Sunday prior!) but foliage was still very colorful closer to home. So, we took a long, scenic route to enjoy the rest of the season's color and stopped at the little town of Parsons, WV for dinner at CJ's Pizzeria (I got the calzone!! and he got the loaded baked potato!).

I hope this filled your hearts with beauty and put a little bug to get outdoors in you!

Happy Adventuring Friends!

More Travel Diaries//

Fall Train Ride Along the Potomac
Seneca Rocks | Exploring the West Virginia Mountains
A Rainy Morning in the Caribbean - Our Honeymoon Part 1
St. Lucia On A Boat - Our Honeymoon Part 2

See the >> TRAVEL << page
for photo journals of travels around the world

St. Lucia On A Boat

July 6, 2017 Shyla Yoder

St. Lucia Blues On A Boat | Honeymoon | Travel Guide

Day 2 of our honeymoon we decided to take a boat excursion. We rode into Castries and boarded a boat with other tourists to go whale watching. It was a beautiful blue day!

Even if we didn't see whales the boat ride would have been fun enough! We found a spot at the bow and let the wind blow through our hair waiting for whale spottings. The colors were stunning...

We came to group of whales and saw several for the next half hour! Many came up for air in twos like this. Later we saw a few dolphins that came right up to the boat; they were very playful.

We came across a beautiful cove called Marigot Bay that was only available by boat. (Pictured above). It was beautiful! The cost to stay for the night there was $2,000/ a night.

St. Lucia is a small island, 14 miles wide and 27 long, covered mostly by mountains as well as a volcano and surrounded by gorgeous beaches. You can see the largest peak called the Piton's behind us in the picture below. The Islanders are happy, friendly people, many fisherman and banana farmers. They adapt the same "Rastafarian" demeanor as Jamaican's and other Carribbean's. Many of our boat drivers wore shorts in bare feet and tied their long dreads up in cloths above their heads. We enjoyed our interactions with all of them! Wayne especially - he made a friend of the one with a trinket stand on the beach by the time we left. If you see him, ask him to show you the video of Ivan. Ya mon.

See the Rest of Our Honeymoon here:
A Rainy Morning in The Caribbean

A Rainy Morning in The Caribbean

June 27, 2017 Shyla Yoder

Wayne and I have returned from our honeymoon, so happy to arrive to our little brick house in the holler. We made a trip home (to Ohio) last weekend to open our gifts with our parents but the trailer was loaded Sunday afternoon and we've returned again to the Yoder residence in West Virginia. It seems it's time to start establishing our home.

There are so many feelings about this new stage of life. I spin around and realize, this is what I have dreamed of for over a dozen years. It is full of bliss and dreams and comfort. We had a beautiful wedding surrounded by people that we love intensely, who have supported us in the years leading up to now. I want to say thank-you and so many things, though I'm not quite sure where to start. So, I thought I might just share snippets - This morning I'll start with a quiet, rainy one like today in West Virginia from our honeymoon.

It was a stunning day in St. Lucia like most every one; clad with the fuchsia colors of the tropics, birds singing their songs in a vibrant symphony, and air filled with the breeze from the ocean - the sound of waves crashing making it's way from the ocean below the mountain that our cottage was nestled in, through the porch to our bedroom.

We woke up most mornings around 6 o'clock after the sun gently rose around five. Because the sun set and rose so early the hour didn't seem so tiring and Wayne and I are morning birds - albeit that doesn't mean it's always easy to get up - the time of the day is the most precious in our eyes. There's nothing like waking up with the dawn and getting a start on the day before the world awakes. Often we made coffee and sat on the porch before reading or going down to the beach for a morning swim and then breakfast on the restaurant veranda.

This morning, in particular, it was Sunday, we decided to have breakfast on our porch. It was a large one, with a rocking chair each, a hammock in the middle and plenty of room to sprawl out and gaze down at the ocean, while still being completely private. We were on our second carafe of coffee when Wayne went down to get us some breakfast. He came back with fresh fruit, pineapple and melon, yogurt, cold cuts, a few baked goods - banana bread and berry toast and fresh mango cocktail. Most mornings we had a display of whatever freshly squeezed juice we preferred - pineapple, orange, mango, grapefruit... and an array of nut, granola and fruit toppings for containers of homemade yogurt. As well as a variety of breads, pastries, and fruits and cold cuts.

Monday morning, our last morning, we ordered off of the menu. I got coconut pancakes and he a Florentine omelet. Everything was absolutely delicious!

After breakfast on the porch this Sunday morning, we walked down to the beach for a swim and then decided to hire a taxi to go into town for the day.

We visited the volcano and took a dip in the mud/ mineral bath, an overflow of the sulfur-rich volcano. This was one of the things Wayne most wanted to do and he was a happy child after we slathered ourselves in the rotten-egg smelling clay and inching his (not mine) way in the 115 degree mineral bath to detox. He said it felt amazing!!

Afterwards, we found a local restaurant in Soufriere (Sulfur in the Air) near the dock. It was a mesmerizing little place, painted green and red, booths beside wooden windows open to the water; quiet besides locals chatting at the bar. It started pouring so we took a seat by the window and enjoyed a bowl of shrimp and rum cocktails with a hodgepodge of local foods including fish steak, sweet potatoes, mac and cheese and vegetables.

It rained the rest of the afternoon, only one of two days that it rained and was well accepted on a Sunday afternoon in our cottage.