The Purple Fiddle

During our trip to Blackwater Falls a couple weekends ago, Kristen and I ate lunch at a place called The Purple Fiddle in Thomas, West Virginia. Thomas is a quaint little old town with a downtown feature a number of small businesses such as an antique store, a general store, WV arts stores, etc. We spent some time looking through a few of these shops before going to lunch.

I found the food at The Purple Fiddle to be good, but nothing spectacular. Of course, I tend to choose boring foods and then special order them to make them even more boring without any kind of sauce or dressing. I had a roast beef wrap with tortilla chips and salsa. Most of their menu consisted of wraps, sandwiches, soups, etc. Kristen had a panini type sandwich and a bowl of soup. She really enjoyed both. I tried her soup, a homemade lemon pepper chicken vegetable, and agree that it was very tasty.

The restaurant had a very unique and interesting atmosphere. Located in an old building in what appears to be perhaps an old time grocery store, there are antique butcher/meat cases, shelves on the wall with a sliding ladder, and an old metal ceiling. Large windows adorn the front of the building, and a large, ornate, barn style door on the inside seperates it from whatever is in the next room over. The furniture is an eclectic mix of mis-matched chairs and tables scattered about in random order. A stage sits in the front, with old church pews lined up to watch the shows. It would appear their main business comes as an evening attraction for visiting skiers and locals. Flyers hanging throughout highlight upcoming and past musicians performing for evening shows.

This is definitely a place we will visit again. We'll probably try to go back in an evening when they are having a live performance.

Blackwater Falls State Park

A couple weekends ago, my girlfriend and I went to visit Blackwater Falls State Park. Blackwater Falls is a beautiful large waterfall located in Tucker County, West Virginia. The area has experienced a great deal of snow, and had between 2 and 3 feet on the ground at our visit. I've visited the falls before in the winter, but have never seen them this frozen. The entirety of the falls was frozen over in an amazing formation of flowing ice, with only a couple small sections of water jetting through.