10/22 Brrrrr!
This was a challenging trip for packing as we knew there would be a wide range of temperatures between Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. Fortunately since we were driving we had room to pack extra stuff. We had brought hiking boots and jackets, knowing it would be chilly at the top of Bald Knob in West Virginia. What we didn’t factor in was a cold front that made it even colder than usual.
We awoke to temps in the upper 20s. We all dressed in multiple layers. I was grateful I had bought both a fleece jacket and sweatshirt back in Pennsylvania. I wore both and then put on a lined windbreaker for our train ride at Cass Scenic Railroad to the top of Bald Knob and back. I also brought along my sweatshirt with the broken zipper to put over my legs as we rode. Despite all of this, I was very cold!
Before we left the hotel we were served a continental breakfast. It was quite good with a lot of fresh pastries, some cereals, bagels, coffee and juice. We then made the drive down the mountain to the Cass Scenic Railroad.
At noon, we were scheduled to ride on a special train that double-headed (two steam trains) up the mountain, their Shay #5 and Shay #4. But, we went to the station early to watch the #6 Heisler engine come in to take passengers on the Greenbrier Express to Durbin.
We then watched the #5 Shay, one of our two engines, arrive at the station.
We were the first in line to board our passenger car, the open car right near the engine (as chosen by our son).
Here’s a view of the two steam engines as they pushed us up the mountain.
Since this was a 4+ hour train ride starting at noon, the railroad provided us with a bagged lunch. It consisted of a roll, condiments, cheese, ham, and turkey for a make your own sandwich, a bag of chips, an applesauce, a bottle of water, and 2 cookies, a sugar cookie and a chocolate chip cookie. We actually ate our lunch during an unexpected stop as we were going up the mountain. Something broke under Shay #4 so they had to stop the train and we ate our lunch as we watched the train crew crawl under the train to fix it. It was definitely a better meal than our dinner the night before! Although, our hands got really cold as we made and ate our lunch and our feet got cold while we were stopped.
After a little over a 3 hour ride, we reached the summit of Bald Knob.
Here is the spectacular view from the observation platform. Unfortunately the foliage peaked early this year so there wasn’t much left but it was pretty nonetheless.
Here’s a picture of our second engine Shay #4 at the top of Bald Knob.
After enjoying the scenery for a bit, the whistle blew for us all to return to our coaches and we headed back down the mountain, arriving back at the station at 5:45 pm, almost 6 hours after our departure. It was a long train day but DS and DH absolutely loved it. (I enjoyed it too, minus the cold part). The power of the engines as they pushed us up the steep mountain was impressive. It was also cool to hear their whistles signaling each other up the hill. It was a great experience, worth the detour to Cass.
It was dinner time and our original plan was to eat again at Shay’s Restaurant but after our experience the night before, we decided to head back to our hotel to see what our options were there. This area consists of the Scenic Railroad and a ski resort and nothing else but mountains, woods, and a few houses. There are no shopping plazas, restaurants, etc. There is however a massive radio telescope in the area that listens to cosmic radio waves. It is in a National Radio Quiet Zone so there’s no cell phone service for miles around which makes navigation a little challenging but there’s not too many roads to travel anyhow.
We drove back to the Corduroy Inn in time to catch the tail-end of the sunset as we got some steps walking around the resort. There were a lot of deer grazing along the paths as we walked around.
We then headed to the only open eating establishment at the resort, Tuque’s Bar & Grill. I don’t think my words can properly describe what a strange experience we had but I will try.
This was basically a bar with a small room off to the side with maybe a dozen tables. As we arrived there was a hand-written note on the door, saying “There are only two of us working tonight so please be patient.” We entered and the bartender greeted us asking if we wanted to eat at the bar or wait for a table. He said it might be a wait because the waitress just sat people at three tables. Since the other 9 tables were empty, we figured it wouldn’t be too much of a wait so we said we’d wait. The bartender told the waitress we were going to wait for a table. She huffed and said “Well, it’s going to be a while!” and then proceeded to clear a table off slamming plates and stomping around. DH said to me, “I think we should eat at the bar. I don’t think she wants to serve us.” So, we sat at the bar. The bartender greeted us by complaining that they were not usually open this time of year. He told us they didn’t want to be working but they were forced to do so. He shared this complaint with every customer who sat at the bar. He also asked “What on earth are you people even visiting here for?” We told him the train and he shook his head and said he didn’t know why they were open still.
As we waited for our food, people kept arriving at the door (since this was the only restaurant available for miles except the one in Cass). And, as each person arrived the waitress would yell across the restaurant, “You’re going to have to wait! I already have three tables and I can’t do any more than that!” At first people would wait a bit and then give up and sit at the bar. Eventually the bar was full. Every few minutes the waitress would come over to the bartender and yell “I need a break!” and storm off into some back room. People started piling up at the door and were either snapped at or simply ignored. One couple that was waiting eventually left and screamed “thank you for your excellent service!!!!” across the room to which the bartender responded, “You’re welcome!”
While the bartender was trying to serve his bar patrons and the waitress kept taking breaks, the kitchen got backed up and food wasn’t getting delivered. Some guy who was sitting at the bar started delivering food to people to try to help out. Then, a patron started yelling at him because he had been waiting for a burger and saw other people get burgers who ordered after him. The poor guy just said “Sorry. I don’t even work here, I was just trying to help.” So he gave up helping and went back to his seat at the bar. It was simply mind boggling to witness all that was happening.
Eventually we got our orders. DH ordered a Fried Chicken Sandwich: crispy marinated Joyce Farms chicken, cured bacon, cheddar cheese, house BBQ, cheddar jalapeno roll.
He thought this was pretty good. It was a fried chicken sandwich with fries, pretty basic but good.
DS and I each ordered the Wild Mushroom Burger: Wilfong Farms grass-fed beef, gruyere, caramelized onion, wild mushrooms, Tuque’s burger sauce, brioche bun
I know you can’t see it from the picture but this was just a burger with cheese. There were no wild mushrooms, caramelized onions or burger sauce. We, however, knew better than to complain! We ate our basic burger happily and then got the heck out of there! I have never seen a more rude, unprofessional waitstaff in my life. As the waitress kept imploding, the bartender actually got better and tried making peace and being friendly. For those who will inevitably ask if I complained, I didn’t initially but I’m sure many people did. I did however receive a survey a few days later about our stay and gave everything excellent ratings at the hotel but not for dining. I briefly described what happened in the survey. No one ever responded to my survey but I did get a mystery refund on my credit card for the amount we spent at the restaurant.
In terms of food, it was fine quality but the experience definitely affected our rating. We gave it a C-.
Total steps: 10,346
Up next…starting phase 3 of our trip after another quick visit to the railroad yard.
