Rebecca’s guidebook

Charleston, WV, has four distinct districts: the Capitol Street District, the East End, the West Side, and Bridge Road. In the Capitol Street District, you'll find several nice restaurants and bars, as well as Ellen's Ice Cream and Taylor Books, recognized as one of America's great independent book stores. Hale Street is one street over from Capitol, and that's where you'll find a variety of little art galleries and curio shops. You can spend a lot of money or a little on dining in this part of town. Check out Noah's, Pies & Pints, the Rock City Bakery, Adelphia's Sports Bar, The Block restaurant, Graziano’s Pizza, and several others. Mediterranean and Indian food can be found on Summers and Lee Streets. The Peanut Shop across from the public Library has been a city fixture for at least sixty years. At the end of Capitol Street on the mountain side, you'll find the Capitol Street Market, with all the stuff you would expect at a market, and then some. Nearby is Charleston Bread, a great local bakery. On the river end of Capitol Street is the Levee, where there's an amphitheater and boat docks, and free concerts every Friday evening, a series called Live on the Levee that starts Memorial Day Weekend and goes through Labor Day Weekend. Bars along Kanawha Boulevard serve the late night crowd with live music and those ever popular favorite beverages. Every third Thursday from March through November, we do Art Walk downtown, from 5:00 p.m. through 8 p.m. It’s a social event, and an opportunity to visit art studios and shops that sell art and collectibles. Just across the South Side Bridge, up on the mountainside above town, is the Bridge Road Shopping District. It offers several restaurants and shops. You might enjoy Lola's pizza, the Bridge Road Bistro, the South Hills Market, and a little convenience store called the Bridge Market. Interior design shops, custom-designed jewelry, a yoga studio—all there. The Carriage Trail connects that part of the city with the downtown. You'll find walkers on that trail every day of the week. The East End may look a little shabby to the first time visitor. I like to think of it as an emerging neighborhood. There's a great little restaurant there, the Bluegrass Kitchen, that features live music--not necessarily bluegrass. Next door is Little India, serving Indian food, natch, and upstairs, there's often some sort of music jam featuring local musicians. Around the corner on Elizabeth Street is the famous Empty Glass bar, famous because it features live music seven nights a week. It's especially fun, we think, on Friday evenings from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m., where there's a free jazz jam. Several locally famous musicians routinely show up to play together, and it's always a great time. Brace yourself; it's not a fern bar. More like a local treehouse. You can cross Washington Street and visit Tricky Fish, an urban beach joint sans beach, and around the corner on Elizabeth Street, there's the Red Carpet, known locally as La Rouge Carpay, a true local hangout. Again, not a fern bar. A couple of blocks to the East from the Washington/Elizabeth Street businesses, the West Virginia State Capitol Complex offers a State History Museum, and displays of art and collections, as well as an Archives Library and Reading Room. The Main Building features tours of the magnificent Beaux Arts building. The capitol grounds are lovely, and host a big statewide free folk festival each Memorial Day Weekend, The Vandalia Gathering. On Charleston's West Side, the Elk City District is in revival. You'll find Books & Brews there, a couple of local coffee shops, a record shop, a pleasant little Mexican restaurant with al fresco dining, and a couple of other shops with local flair. Look for Kinship Goods. The outdoors is always present. Everywhere you go in Charleston, you can look up and see tree-covered hills. Innumerable creeks are splashing down to the Great Kanawha River which runs right through town. Kanawha State Forest with its network of hiking and mountain bike trails is less than a 15-minute drive from Camp Katherine, and just down our road, beyond the recent Road Closed sign, you'll find that the Appalachian jungle is reclaiming what was once our through "street." It's beautiful, but look out—there are gaping holes where the road once was. Nearby South Charleston is developing as a center of small, independently owned international restaurants. It also has great antique shops. The City of Nitro also has several big antique malls. There's more, but this will get you started on thinking about what to do and see. Eating, shopping, walking/hiking, riding mountain bikes (bring your own) There's enough to keep you busy if it's busy you want to be. Chillin' is also good at Camp Katherine. There's great fun to be had just over the mountain in Fayette and Greenbrier Counties. Ask if you want to know more.