For those of you who may not know this, I'm a bit of a seasonal living junkie. As I've gotten older, I'm realizing more and more that life goes by way to quickly and we need to be sure and savor every moment of it. That's why I look for little ways to celebrate every season. I love the Paper & Glam seasonal Living lists, and there are countless others such as the Fall Bucket List on The House of Plaidfuzz's blog. Each of these give you simple ways to enjoy one of my favorite times of year, FALL!
As I look all around my neighborhood autumn is beginning to touch everything, so I had asked my husband if he, my mother-in-law, and I could go for a nice drive in the country. I love doing things like that because it doesn't cost anything, and it is great quality time together. He, of course, agreed and asked me to plot out a route that I would like to take.
Well, as I began to do a little research, I discovered that just over the river, in Ohio, route 26 is lined with covered bridges! I love old covered bridges, so I immediately knew this is what I wanted to do. I shared it with Studhubs, and he was on board. So last Saturday we loaded everyone up in the car, and we were off!
We actually missed the Hills Covered bridge, but we did come up on this adorable mail pouch barn that is on the route. The barns are really popular in this region because it was a popular form of advertisement used from 1890-1992 for the West Virginia Mail Pouch Chewing Tobacco Company out of Huntington, WV.
Though I am not a smoker, or an advocate for it, I have always found these barns comforting to come across, especially after a long journey. It's like they're saying "you're almost home".
Another thing that was really cool about this stop was that, across the road, there was this REALLY OLD general store that is still operating today. It was closed, so we couldn't go in, but I would love to go back and film it sometime.
There wasn't a lot of orange or red leaves on this route, but pictures can't do justice the radiant gold color of the light bleeding through these golden leaves. It was also quite breezy that day, so it was literally raining leaves down all around us. It was stunning.
The first actual covered bridge that we came across was the Hune Bridge. Built in 1879, the long truss style bridge was named after the prominent Hune family.
This one was a lot of fun because it was the only bridge we saw that day that you could actually drive over. I'm not going to lie, it was a little creepy, but well worth the experience.
Then we drove a little further through this golden wonderland until we came across the Rinard Covered Bridge.
Originally built in 1876, it was destroyed by flooding not once, but two other times until the salvaged pieces were used to build this recreation in 2006.
Though you can't drive through this bridge, it was so lovely to walk through, and it was the only bridge that we saw where you could get this lovely, full length, side shot.
It was at this point that my 92 year old mother-in-law was wearing down, so we decided to head home. On the way back we decided to try and find the Hills covered bridge that we originally missed.
However, I was a little disappointed when we got there because the entrances were totally covered with chain link fence and had a hideous sign on the it that said "Bridge Closed". :( Not great for pictures to say the least.
So we walked around a little, grabbed a quick selfie, and called it a day.
I was so excited to find such a lovely, historical gem in my area, and it has me questioning what other adventures are out there that I don't know about. I definitely see some more exploring in my future.
And if you would like to see the vlog I shot during this trip just click the link above. I'm not great at videography, but it was fun to put together for you guys.
So this fall don't feel like you have to spend loads of money and cabins and trips to exotic places. Sometimes seasonal living is a simple drive in the country to discover things in your very own area that you didn't know existed. Enjoy this season everyone!
And as always...
Happy Reading, Happy Eating, and Happy Living,
~The Kitchen Wife~
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