This was my second time at Trans-Allegheny and it truly never disappoints! The first time I went,…read moremy mom, dad, and I did the 4 floor 90 minute tour. We were the only ones on the tour, which truly made it an even better experience! This time, my mom, aunt, and I did the First Floor North and South tours. The South tour was given to us by Madison and she was a fantastic tour guide! She provided us with so much information and some information we did not hear on our first tour there! We were also the only ones on this tour, which was nice. The second tour of the day was the North tour and this tour is new to the asylum! It opened this year and it gives insight as to where the criminally insane patients were housed after the Criminally Insane Building was shut down. This tour was given to us by Jasmine and she was amazing as well! This tour was a group, but it was still very interesting! I am looking forward to going back for an overnight tour and/or the haunted house!! Highly recommend!

Easily one of the best tours I've ever taken…read more I knew this would need to be part of our WV itinerary as soon as this place's existence became known to me while I was planning a possible trip. Just the name is enough to grab you but it certainly delivers. The thought of doing a paranormal tour intrigued me but I was also interested in the history. We arrived at 2:20 and were informed the paranormal tour wasn't starting until 4. Did we really want to wait until 4?! The very nice man provided descriptions of all of the tours and the paranormal one just sounded so interesting that it didn't seem like a real debate. We bought tickets and were considering how we would kill time but it turns out, they have a very interesting museum about the place's history on the first floor that someone entertained my ADHD ass until 3:55. It was incredible. As if that couldn't get any better, the tour was absolutely fascinating. We were taken throughout the museum and our guide, Brad, was impressively knowledgeable about the place, answered every question in exquisite detail. The only disappointment was that instead of experiencing anything paranormal, we were just told stories about things other people have experienced. Don't get me wrong, this was captivating but I was hoping to experience something for myself which I did not. An absolute must visit if you are interested in this kind of shit and are anywhere remotely in the vicinity.

We recently road-tripped our way from Buffalo NY down to WV for no better reason than to visit a…read morenew place together. We stayed in Bridgeport WV, about a half hour from Weston WV, where Appalachian Oddities is located. Weston WV has many paranormal ties, including a huge historical asylum that dovetails with civil war history, too. So a mystic shop like Appalachian Oddities fits right in here in Weston. When we first walked in, we actually weren't sure if it was a shop or a museum, as the entry vestibule is staged so well as an undead parlor, haha. But we were soon warmly greeted by the shop owner, and welcomed inside to take a look around. Appalachian Oddities is inside a repurposed house that still has much of the original footprint and charm. So each area of the store is in a different room of the house, with lots of peculiar gifts to explore in each space. I ended up purchasing a couple gifts here, one a prayer-style candle for my horror-movie-loving brother that had a Freddy Krueger design on it. I also purchased a necklace for my daughter that had a lovely etched wood raven pendant. Our twelve-year old son went to town here with his Christmas money, and bought a board game called "Pandemic", and a local artist print of a painting of the Joker, Jauqiun Phoenix's rendition. As it turns out, the asylum in Weston is a short-listed film location for the next Joker movie. In addition to the shop, Appalachian Oddities has an escape room attraction. We did not participate in the escape room when we were there, but did see a family going in, and could overhear the screams, scares, and fun coming out of the escape room. I overheard the cost was $25 per person, and the people going through seemed to be having a great time well worth the cost. My husband spent some time chatting with the very friendly owner, who also runs a paranormal enthusiast group out of their meeting space in the back of the store. The group ghost hunts together in the area, and have had some intriguing close encounters! If you live in this area and are interested in paranormal sightings, definitely check out this group. If you are visiting Weston WV for the asylum tour or any of the other area attractions related to the mysterious unknown, (i.e., ghosts, aliens, cryptids, etc.), Appalachian Oddities is a great gift shop stop! Even if ghouls aren't your thing, it is still fun to stop in for a peek at the paranormal.

The owner is an absolute sweet heart and the staff is just as kind and knowledgeable! They have a…read morewide variety of strange and unusual items and it's definitely worth stopping in and checking out! They host many events and even do in house tarot readings.

I have to say, as much as I love to see this museum have my direct ancestor's artifacts in their…read moredisplay cases, donated by the vast members of the Browning family. You'd think the "Curator" or "Volunteer" Karen or Carol, can't remember which derivative it is, I think it's Karen............. She pretty much seems to talk bad about Meshach, the Elder, hunter, Frontiersman. I've made two stops in there now, and she seems to just bash this man. she cuts his book down, and bad mouths it like she's the main contributor of the book or all knowing. I understand there are some things that may hyperinflated in the book, but I genuinely believe this frontiersman (my ancestral grandfather) killed and recycled what he shot and put it to good use, and he did kill 100's of fair game in the Wilderness. I almost wonder if this lady is a liberal and she wonders where her meat comes from in the supermarket. Oakland do better. This woman is a wealth of knowledge BUT she seems to have a distain for the Browning line for some reason. She made a comment to me once, stating that she thought it was nuts that Meshach browning would live off the land and he would "put out" his wife and make her live the rugged life like he did ha-ha, uh, you're talking about a period between late 1700's and early 1800's. They did what they had do to survive, and I'd say he did well for what he adapted to and took care of his wife and children. Meshach Browning was the son of British Subaltern (British redcoat junior officer), he was on the same "mission" with his father William Browning and they both were British soldiers under Braddock and George Washington, they were massacred in "Braddock's Defeat", specifically, William and Joshua were part of the skirmish and were corralled to cover fire while the wounded comrades were evacuated with General Braddock and George Washington. Karen says they deserted, half true, they completed, the best they could in their mission while in the middle of being massacred and they all fled and never accomplished the main mission in reaching Fort Duquesne. The soldiers, after the massacre cover and aligned and never completed their hike to fort Duquesne. specifically, William and Joshua Browning went their own way and started their own life after the massacre, they both did what they needed to accomplish and served admirably under George Washington, they bother stayed back to defend the wounded as they were being shot at and attacked by the French and Indians. This woman says they deserted (Joshua and William Browning) no they did not.

The Garrett County Historical Society appears to be involved with at least 3 different museums in…read moredowntown Oakland, MD. First was the B&O Railroad museum inside of the old Train Station. An interesting look at how the railroad connected and caused a boom of the small towns of western Maryland. Lots of artifacts and information related to the long-ago razed Deer Park Hotel and other attractions. Next up is the Transportation Museum. A well-varied collection of cars, boats, and memorabilia from the start of Oakland and Garrett County, each with its own story. The weirdest thing there was a gas-powered surfboard that was last registered in 2013. Finally we have the Garrett County museum. Gives a long solid look at the lives of the citizens of Garrett County since it was founded. Each era and population segment has its own room. Lots of information about Drep Creek Lake and the Deer Park Hotel, too. The military room also has a wall dedicated to the county's namesake, a Vietnam era tank landing ship. All of these museums are free, but they do ask for a small donation. Drop a Fin in the bucket. It's worth it to keep local history alive and relevant.

This is such a neat place!! We went here for a field trip with our homeschool group. There's so…read moremuch to see and everything is set up beautifully!! The employees are helpful and kind. The museum is free which I thought was really nice.

I'm a big glass aficionado, but usually in a much different way. Our fam' is from Buffalo NY, and a…read morefavorite hobby of mine is treasure hunting for beach glass on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Walking into the Museum of American Glass during our recent holiday road trip to WV, my initial reaction was--"THROW IT ALL IN THE LAKE!!" :-O :-P ;-) But of course, not really, hahaha. That would be a tragedy, as this museum is FULL of SO MUCH beautiful glass!! It is free admission to explore the many aisles of absolutely gorgeous, intricate glass pieces, some of which were manufactured right there in Weston WV. Case after case after case showcases different glass producers. You'll see many usable pieces like dishes, teacups, vases, and pitchers. Then there are tons of purely decorative pieces too, glass statues in all colors, shapes and sizes. I ADORE cobalt blue glass (I used thrifted pieces I found to decorate our wedding centerpieces, I LOVE IT so much!), and there were several cases dedicated to my favorite blue hue. I was also particularly fond of the case of two-piece glass hen-shaped covered dishes in a rainbow of colors, some swirled milk glass. There are also displays about the glass manufacturing process itself. In the back there is some of the machinery used, as well as giant hunks of raw slag glass. I had to drop to my knees to hug one of those big bad boys, as if I ever found anything like that in the lake I would keel over! :-O One other absolutely INCREDIBLE piece on display is a HUGE glass dollhouse. Well, a HUGE glass doll MANSION!! It is really an amazing piece of art, from the unbelievable glass house itself, to the fully staged inside with furniture pieces meticulously placed and styled. Taking zoomed-in photos of the rooms of the house, it almost looks like a real house, the miniature pieces are so true-to-life in their design! The museum also has a gift shop that consists of a large assortment of glass pieces for sale. There were so many lovely items in the gift shop, it is like another display area of the museum in and of itself! My teen daughter, also a glass lover, purchased a beautiful red glass teacup and saucer for herself, and a red glass votive candle holder. I bought a beautiful mint green two-piece bunny dish, a gorgeous bubblegum pink pedestal foot bowl, and a gift for my parents, a teal glass insulator. The bunny now resides in my grandmother's shadow box. The pink glass bowl is filled with walnuts on my dining room table, and my parents loved their insulator. They are also glass hunters, and much of the teal glass that comes out of the lakes is from blown insulators. WOW, what an absolute TREAT it was stumbling on the Museum of American Glass in adorable Weston WV on our road trip. The town itself is super cute, with a nice coffee shop (The Coffee House), other cute shopping (check out Appalachian Oddities!), a few eateries, plus a huge historical asylum that has ghost tours, if you are into that sort of thing. I LOVED exploring the Museum of American Glass, and if I ever find myself back in Weston, I would definitely stop in again, so much to see SPARKLE and SHINE! :-D

We were driving the back road of Rt 50 on our way into Maryland for our adventure and just before…read morewe were to reach Cathedral State Park in Aurora WV area we happened upon this Yard Sale at the Aurora Area Historical Society building...oh wow, two birds with one stone Yard Sale shopping and seeing historical artifacts but that was not the case. The ladies at the Yard Sale were busy putting things out. It was about 8am. They first told us that they were not ready for us to look around but if we needed to go for it. Then when I started into the building (both doors open wide) they stopped me..the museum was closed. So I guess nothing good about this stop. Didn't buy anything, didn't get to see anything in the museum so we went on down the road..after my hubby Tony used the port a potty on site. Oh well, saved me time and money!!

Hidden gem in this town. I would recomend visiting this museum to all ages and all backgrounds…read more There is tons of interesting pieces and stories about artefacts! Ask Mark as many questions about these pieces, as he is a wealth of information about them and a local historian. I guarentee you'll gain appreciation about these relics and the their histories!

Nice setup, nice atmosphere, and the workers are generous, and love to educate you on the artifacts…read morethat they came to acquire.

My husband, sister and I did the self-tour this morning and enjoyed learning as we went. Chris the…read morehost was most kind and helpful. My sister and I spent our youth living in Beverly and I've been fond of the history and the people. Well done Beverly Historical Society or whomever is working to bring the past to life for others to learn, well done. We also bought lots of yum yums from the Farmers Market, such good food, highly recommend stopping and buying some fresh vegetables and baked goods, support local farms.

This museum is known for its Civil War history, but it offers so much more! For just $5 you can…read moretour 4 different restored historic buildings with four permanent exhibits on food and daily life, frontier travel, the courthouse "war" with Elkins, and yes, the early days of the Civil War. There are many temporary exhibits too, so it's worth coming back again. Besides the museum, they offer lots of free visitor information on other things to do like walking tours, brochures, and directions to other historic sites. Free WIFI and bathroom too!

Beautiful carriages! Clean building. We enjoyed walking through…read more I need 85 characters to post this.

Bottom Line: A neat little museum featuring carriages for every occasion and friendly docents…read more I love American history but the truth of the matter is that I stumbled inside this museum to escape the rain. Shortly after the relief of being under cover I was mesmerized by the two-story museum and the diverse collection of antique horse-drawn carriages. Not only were the various carriages beautifully restored but they signage was great and the volunteer docent was friendly and informative but not over-bearing. The pride in this collection of carriages from the late 1800s and early 1900s is evident. I liked the whimsical beach-going carriage and the macabre casket carriages. I also found the golf cart carriage interesting. This little museum is definitely worth a visit.

A great place to stop and do some unique shopping. This little village off I68 and 219 has lots to…read morelook out. The restaurant has some wholesome food and also a gift shop. They have done quite a few improvements since a few years ago a big storm knocked down alit of trees. The Savage river runs right next to it. Unfortunately right now 6/25, you cannot go on the stone bridge over the river due to repairs. Just down the road is Candy-land that has a nice assortment of loose candy that you can mix and match. This is a definite rest stop if you are traveling I68.

A very cool place with a lot to offer…read more Funny thing is, I used to travel back and forth to Baltimore and DC for years for work and I would always pass by this place and I'd think, I wonder if that Penn Alps Restaurant is any good? I even had several of my customers who had businesses right up the road from this place who'd praise their food, but I have never once ate it. Hopefully one day :) Then not long ago me and a good friend of mine went on a little hiking adventure in the surrounding area with her kids and we decided to stop by here to look around and check things out. I was pleasantly surprised at all of the stuff they have here and the history tied to it all. It's such a cute little Swiss village and honestly has a decent amount of stuff to offer and learn about. Plus, there is a newer building behind all of this that looked to me like it was a super cool cafe at one time, but it was closed when I was there. It did have a sign on the door that said it would be reopening soon. The Cornucopia Cafe, which I hope to try soon as well. There is a lot to do and see here. Take your time and look around, buy some local merchandise, learn some history, and eat some good food. If you're on 68 heading East or West take a little break here to check it out and learn about a time period in which George Washington was a part of. Enjoy :)