driving through west virginia
 

Girlfriends vacation will be ending with a drive from duck, north carolina back to chicago. Charleston, wv looks to be about a half way point. Looking for ideas for places to stay in that vicinity or perhaps something fun to do on our drive home.

Morgantown, WV
College town. Nice restaurants on the river (creek) that runs thru center of town.

Berkeley Springs is a Spa town with lots of galleries. You could indulge in a spa treatment and stroll through town:

http://www.berkeleysprings.com/

If you're history buffs, a stop at Monticello or Appomatux Courthouse would be a nice break. Or do a tour of Luray Caverns.

I believe the places in Virginia might be a bit out of the way.
I assume you are going to be on I77. Charleston is the home of Marshall University and the capital. There are LOTS of motels. It is a fairly interesting town to antique in.
Are you headed on up I77 or going along the river and up to Columbus and then north. I go that way to Ohio a lot. There is a very nice craft store/market right on the highway--I can't quite get the name but will look it up.
A pretty good way to Chicago might be this.
I77 to US 52 along the Ohio River to Portsmouth. North to US 35 to Dayton. NOrth to I40 to Indianapolis, and then you are on your own--it's been too long since I did that!! But the Ohio roads, while not interstates are limited access 4 lane roads. And the countryside is very charming and attractive.

Tamarack West Virginia

http://www.tamarackwv.com/

http://www.newrivergorgecvb.com/

http://www.nps.gov/neri/

The New River Gorge Bridge. If you do go do the old road thru the Gorge as well and see how they drove across in yesteryear. An interesting stop for an hour or more depending.......

Wow, so many replies. Thank you. I will do some research into these choices. We will be coming from Duck, NC on the OBX. There are a couple...actually several choices...of routes home but was interested in going through WV since that's a state I've never been in. Is the Monangahela State Forest in WV and is it worth seeing. The Gorge sounds interesting but I'm going to check into all of these. Thank you.

Charleston is NOT the home of Marshall University...it is in HUNTINGTON!

Ooops Sorry about the mislocation of Marshall. I guess that must be the University stadium in Charleston.
Monongahela is sort of "out there"--had to look it up. Pipestem is another Park that is very nice.
The WVA turnpike is a very pretty road in my opinion. What route are you thinking about.

The best part of the Mon Forest is actually the most gorgeous and fun area in the state - Canaan Valley. However, no matter which route you are taking from Nags Head (Duck) getting to CV would be quite a trek. CV is a vacation in itself.

BTW: Monongahela is a National Forest, not a state one. It stretches for miles and miles. http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/general_info/forestmap.html
and http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/.

Depending on your route really depends on what advice to give you.
If you are taking I-64 (which merges to become I-64/I-77 from Beckley to Charleston) sites well worth visiting are:
Lewisburg area:
The Greenbrier http://www.greenbrier.com/site/

There are a lot of quick visits or adventures in the area of Fayetteville/Beckley. Will give more info if you are interested. In the meantime:
Fayetteville (white water rafting country and more):
http://www.visitfayettevillewv.com/
http://www.visitwv.com/
http://www.hawksnestsp.com/
Beckley: Lots of hotels
http://www.beckleymine.com/

Charleston: Lots of hotels, more commercial and government than sightseeing area.
http://www.theclaycenter.org/events/default.aspx

Again, thank you. I will continue doing my research. It's about 16 hours from duck to chicago and want to stop about half way through which might put us near charleston. The river gorge sounds beautiful but I will check out all the suggestions.