A Slice of West Virginia

On the way home from our last trip to Virginia, Amy and I stopped by Tamarack on Monday.  I'd seen the signs each time I drove through West Virginia--and believe me, I've driven through the state plenty of times.  It is a long drive to Richmond, and always seems longer on the way home since we don't want to leave Virginia.  We've stopped at a couple places including The Cheese Shop and a NPS Visitor's Center for the New River Gorge.  This trip though we made a stop in West Virginia (though we know better than to buy gas in the state) at the cultural/crafts center at Tamarack.

TAMARACK: 
The Best of West Virginia

Tamarack’s striking, peaked red roof and attractively landscaped grounds draw half a million visitors annually into a welcome respite of visual beauty, Appalachian sounds, and distinctive aromas.  (from the official Tamarack website)

Before you enter there are several signs that tell you about the local area.

The third sign might have been my favourite because it included a detailed map of the area.  Yeah, I love maps, what can I say?  ;-)

While I was noticing the signs my wife pointed out the giant flower sculptures out front.  Our eyes are drawn to different things, ;-).  I did like the tree near the flowers though, especially the bark.

The entrance is rather distinctive.

Once inside we saw many different crafts, though we were looking for the restrooms first of all, so we ended up spotting some rather interesting trash cans.  I had to text a picture of one to my sister-in-law, since she's gone through a phase of taking pictures of trash cans and had seen these ones on a previous trip.

The bear one was the first one that I saw and photographed, but I think that the chicken one was really clever--I wasn't sure it was a trash can at first.  The opening for trash is in the middle of the nest, right where a laid egg would be deposited.

After all of this cleverness I was disappointed to see a rather mundane trash can at the other end of the food court.  But I did find a book that my other sister-in-law might appreciate (as her name is Casey).

After looking at the trash cans we started looking around and investigating what there was to see.  I decided that the food looked good, but was too expensive to justify.  I did find a handy map that showed the complete layout of the center.

The arts and crafts were fun to look at.  According to the website:

Wood, Baskets, Pottery, Glass
Tamarack has countless unique items on our retail floor that are all crafted by West Virginian artisans right here in West Virginia. You could spend an entire afternoon looking through our fine craft inventory, and still not have seen everything we have on display!

I wouldn't agree that we could spend the whole afternoon there.  We spent about 40 minutes, and it was interesting, but I ended up just buying a couple post cards.  I didn't feel like buying expensive souvenirs from a place when we were just passing through.  And we saw fun things, but unless you were seriously shopping I don't think you'd want to spend too much time there.

Now if we'd been watching any of the artisans at work it might have been a different story.  I've enjoyed doing that at places like Jamestowne and Colonial Williamsburg.  The wood furniture was very pretty--so I had to get a picture of my pretty wife sitting in one of the rocking chairs.

But it was fun.  If you're ever driving through West Virginia you might want to take a few minutes and stop by to browse through Tamarack.  You'll likely enjoy the walk, and for more than just getting to stretch your legs.

~Matt