Main Street—Franklin, WV

Franklin United Methodist Church
Star Hotel and Restaurant
The Korner Shop Café
Bowman’s Hardware
Pendleton County Court House
Kimble Funeral Home

We see  an old couple hanging out on their porch.  We wave rather than head over and talk to them.    Time for gas.  Wait.  Where’s my purse?  Shit.  Looks like somebody forgot her purse at the Kac Ka Pon in Wardensville, WV.

The Main Street where I, Ann Heppermann, left my purse in Wardensville, West Virginia.

After Moorefield, we keep heading down 200 South.  Wait wait wait, stop the car stop the car.  Why? Hang’em High Taxidermy Studio.

Kara jumps out of the car and takes a picture.

The window of the Hang'em High Taxidermy Studio on Main Street in Petersburg, West Virginia.

South Main Street in Petersburg, West Virginia turns back into 220 South and we’re winding around again next to the Monongahela National Forest.

Huh, turns out we’re still on Main Street, not quite sure where though.  A thunderstorm bursts onto the scene.  The cows are getting wet.  Time to slow down.

Our plan is to go to Hinton, West Virginia and stay in a hotel on Main Street.  We keep winding and driving, looks like we’re following the Potomac River.

Potomac River Road and Main Street in West Virginia.

Main Street in Moorfield, West Virginia.

We decide it’s already time for pie and head into O’Neills Casual Dining and Gourmet Coffees.  James and Kara have iced coffee and a piece of peanut butter pie.  Jesse runs up and down Main Street in Moorefield taking pictures. There’s a VFW Hall with only one truck out front.  Moorefield’s Main Street also has a lot of houses.  People aren’t really out today.  Looks like it is going to rain.

A VFW Hall in Moorefield, West Virginia.

A school building on Main Street in Moorefield, West Virginia.

A man walks down Main Street in Moorefield, West Virginia.

A tree on Main Street in Moorefield, West Virginia.

So far it’s been pretty slow going today.  It’s a nice way to travel but not incredibly efficient. We’ve gone about 60 miles in five hours.  I wonder how long it would take us if we actually devoted our lives to visiting every single Main Street in the United States.  Probably a decade or more.  We need to drive a little faster at some point.

West Virginia

We’re on our way to West Virginia.  There is no cell phone service.  Our biggest fear right now are coal trucks barreling down the road, ready to take out our little overstuffed Subaru.  We’re really climbing now.  Apparently Virginia is the top of the roller coaster and West Virginia is the descent.

We pull onto Main Street in Wardensville, WV.

We decide to have lunch at the Kac Ka Pon restaurant.  First time for sweet tea, pulled pork and pickled beets.

The Kac Ka Pon restaurant on Main Street in Wardensville, WV.

After lunch, I head over to the Wardensville Cemetery.  There are confederate flags everywhere to commemorate fallen Confederate soldiers.

Noah Funkhouser CO1 18 VA CAV CSA
John J. Keller b. 1817 d.1887
JM Lockart b.1827 d. 1920

The cemetery on Main Street in Wardensville, West Virginia.

Kara’s parked the car at the Barr’s Market on Main Street and is inside talking with the cashier.  Outside it’s the Pepsi Soda Machine Challenge.  Both are broken.  Both lose.

The young woman’s family bought the place two months ago.  “Things are good here.  We’re doing well.”  The produce tells a different story.  Garlic, with green shoots, mold on the peaches.

A woman walks in and can’t afford the ice cream.  “Oh, don’t worry.  You can pay for it later.” The woman puts it back anyways.

A house on Main Street in Middletown, Virginia.

We were on a Main Street and didn’t even realize it.   All of the flags are out for Memorial Day and line the street.  We pull over to the side of the road at the Quick Pick gas station.

Unleaded gas $2.31

“Espresso, coffee, chicken, curry rice, Indian Grocery.”

Jesse gets out of the car and takes a few pictures.

An abandoned structure on Main Street in Middletown, Virginia.

A storefront on Main Street in Middletown, Virginia