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On Thursday July 30, 2015 I did something completely different from my daily routine back at home. My mother and I took a long drive from our cozy home in South-Central Ohio to Huntington, West Virginia and this was quite an adventure. It took a great amount of my decent navigational skills along with my mother’s patience to cross the Ohio border and go down to West Virginia, and once we got there we could feel just how different the environment actually was in the city of Huntington. For one thing, we entered the college territory of the Marshall Thundering Herd as many buildings in Huntington contained a ton of green and white, as opposed to my travels up to Columbus, Ohio where it’s the territory of the Ohio State Buckeyes, a city that sports the scarlet and gray.
My mother and I both had the desire to try out West Virginian cuisine to taste what kind of food the Mountain State was serving, and the restaurant we chose to eat out at didn’t disappoint. We went to the Huntington Cook Out and ordered hamburgers, a hot dog with chili and slaw, onion rings, iced tea and a cappuccino milkshake. The food reminded me of burger joints like In N Out and Steak and Shake as the burger I had was very juicy and filling. The cappuccino milkshake had a great taste to it. If you stop by this place and you happen to be in the mood for a milkshake, there are at least over 40 different flavors for you to choose from. My mother and I also didn’t need to spend much to have a satisfying lunch as we spent under $20.
I also got to see the Marshall University campus and I took a few pictures of the area. Observing this campus, there is no doubt in my mind that Marshall helps drive Huntington to do good business, and especially in West Virginia, this is a good thing. Huntington may not be a grand spectacle like other day trip destinations like New York or Los Angeles, but this was a relaxing long drive that got me away from home for at least a day, and that is all I was looking for. I just wanted to enjoy myself and take in this experience along with my mother.
If you live in the Columbus area and you plan on taking a trip down to Huntington, then I suggest that you don’t deviate from the highways. Take U.S. Route 23 all the way down south and go past cities like Circleville, Chillicothe and Waverly, and you only turn off Route 23 when you enter the city of Portsmouth. You change directions from south to east as you turn into the small town of New Boston, which really is an extension of Portsmouth. This is where you get on Route 52. Although the highway will be curving from here all the way to Huntington, you follow the Route 52 signs and you don’t turn off to go into any city. Otherwise, you might wind up back in South-Central Ohio or you could accidentally enter Ashland, Kentucky.
If you are looking for a restaurant to have a meal, then Huntington provides that in spades. You will have an abundance of restaurants to choose from once you get into Downtown Huntington. However, the only downside I can see from venturing through Huntington would be all the one-way streets and roads that you will most likely encounter. You have to be careful of where you turn off at while in this city or else you might end up driving in circles to avoid the one-way streets and roads.
