To counteract two nights at the ultra-white-glove Greenbriar Resort, Casino and Money-Vacuum, >>>>I am looking for something a little more real: a really poor coal town, a landscape destroyed by strip mining, a watershed corrupted by slurry run off.
Any suggestions?
My god, aren't we the condescending godamnyankee today? Do you want to stay away from canoe trips and banjo players? How about checking out the environment destroyed within the footprint of New York City and reporting on that?
However, if you want to see a thing of beauty, perhaps you can go to Sugar Grove, WV and find the church. The last time I looked, it was finished with an interesting variant of pebble dash stucco. The pebbles were green glass from crushed 7-UP bottles.
Or, take a ride on the Cass railroad. It has Shea's!
And, you could check out the Green Bank Observatory. It has the largest steerable radio telescope in the world. This was rebuilt in 1998 after the first one collapsed. The older telescope is an interesting story in itself. I bet you didn't know that the Navy Bur. Docks had the expertise to build radio telescopes in WV.
Then, you could work your way west and travel up US 220. There is lots of nice scenery, including Seneca Rocks.
Steve Stokowski
Stone Products Consultants
Building Products Microscopy
10 Clark St., Ste. A
Ashland, Mass. 01721-2145
508-881-6364 (ph. & fax)
http://members.aol.com/crushstone/petro.htm