So, when it was final that we would be moving to West
Virginia last year, there were definitely some mixed emotions for us all. We had all lived in Northwest Florida all of
our lives. Most of our family is there.
Our friends are there. And, the
only place we had ever known as “home” was right there among the emerald green
waters and sugar-white sand. There was history there, and a lot of it…
On the other hand, the possibility of trying something new,
experiencing different things, traveling to unknown places, having 4 seasons,
etc. did start to appeal to us.
But, West Virginia, really?... Whoever says, “I want to move to West
Virginia!”? You know the “stigmas” &
stereotypes: Banjos, Hillbillies,
Toothless, Brainless, Shoeless, Overall wearing, possibly in-bred, Rednecks, gun-racks
on the walls of trailers, road kill dinners, and so on and so forth.
Unless you have ever lived here, you don’t really being to
understand what the meaning of “Wild & Wonderful” really is. And even
though we’re are not from “West By God Virginia” AKA “Almost Heaven”, we are
learning to really like it here. Oh, and it’s not Virginia – this is actually a
separate state. You have no idea how
many people make that mistake.
Yes, moving up here almost 900 miles away from the Gulf
Coast of Florida was scary and did take some getting used to, but we fit it
easier & much faster than I thought we ever would.
As the year has gone by, we have learned so much, and I
wanted to take some time to notate some of the differences and highlight some
of the “cooler” things we’ve discovered here in “Mountain Country”:
Plants:
In Florida, it got way too hot, and the sand was too sandy
(at least in our yard) to grow too much.
Here in WV, the soil is rich & full of nutrients; the plants are
amazing:
Our yard alone has dozens of different types of
flowers/plants, and I have had so much fun trying to learn what they all
are. I know daffodils & cherry
blossoms here in the Spring are gorgeous, and I have irises & poppies in my
flower garden that I absolutely love.
There are also “ramps” grown up here. There are even “Ramp Festivals” – from best
as I can understand, these are wild onions.
They have a strong garlic-like flavor & smell, and if someone eats
too many of them, even their sweat can smell like ramps.
Language:
Even though we lived in Florida before, people also joked
that we were really in “Lower Alabama”.
So, we did hear some “Redneck” slang words in FL. In WV, while there are some of those types of
words, there are also a few more that we have learned & didn’t expect:
-Directions: All directions that are given around here
start with, “Drive up past that old ‘XYZ’ building that used to be on the
corner of ‘X Road’ & ‘Z Drive’.” It makes it hard to navigate for sure, and
our GPS doesn’t always know where we are either.
-The
Beach: When people talk about the beach
here, they mean “Myrtle Beach” – nothing like our beach at home in FL.
-Soda
(or Coke as many of us from the South call it) = Pop
-A roof
(top of the house) in WV is pronounced different too. In FL, its “Ruf” (rhymes with spoof). In WV, it is “Roof” (rhymes with wolf).
-A
“Holler” is a neighborhood.
-“Crick”
= creek
-A
“poke” = brown paper sack
-Toboggan
= winter hat
-“Ride”
= sled
-And
when it’s raining, WV people say, “It’s pouring down the rain.”
-Lastly,
people tell us that we talk really fast up here, but we don’t think we do.
Weather:
A big change here for sure.
We got to experience 4 whole seasons for the first time ever. Some we liked better than others. Spring,
Summer, and Fall are all awesome. Winter was hard for those of us used to
wearing flip flops 10-11 months out of the year. We had to buy “real” winter
clothes, boots, coats, gloves, hats, etc.
Summer here is wonderful.
When the people in WV are hot, us native Floridians laugh & wonder
where our sweaters are. Summer
rainstorms are common, but they still don’t compete with the summer rainstorms
with sonic boom thunder we experienced in Florida. It gets warm (and even
humid) here, but not like the “drink the air” humid that it is in FL.
Spring is also nice with a chilly start (it has been known
to snow for Easter here), and then the world opens up to gorgeous flowers, and
everything becomes green very quickly. Spring break is pretty much non-existent
thanks to Snow days from the winter. Oh,
and Spring brings lots of potholes from where the winter weather, salt, and
everyone’s cars tear up the roads. The pot holes here are like mini craters and
can tear up your car. Our tire budget
(and car ins) went up after we moved up here for sure. Oh, and that reminds me
– they require yearly car inspections up here, and you are taxed on your
vehicles (and pets) annually.
Fall is probably my favorite with all of the changing
leaves, crisp, cool air, and of course the excitement of driving down country
roads (Yes, WV Country Roads by John Denver) and seeing the gorgeous fall
foliage. The schools up here get a
whole week off at Thanksgiving too – mainly so the kids that want to hunt can
go out & deer hunt with their families.
West Virginians get way more excited for Fall Break than Spring Break
(no beaches here to soak up the sun anyway).
Winter was bittersweet.
It was so exciting & fun to see the snow really fall for the first
time in November, but by March, we were all more than ready to get rid of the
snow & cold weather. -20 temps were a shocker for sure. The sludge/mud that came in on our boots gave
a whole new meaning to the thought, “I need a mudroom.” Oh, and I also learned that there is a very good reason for 4-wheel drive up here,
and salt/cinder on the road doesn’t work once it gets “that cold”. Anna sledded
one time, and was done after landing in a shallow creek that wasn’t completely
frozen. Grant sledded more, but the
novelty wore off quickly, and he was ready to start playing “outside” sports
very soon into the winter. Anyway, we really learned what “cold” was this year.
Wildlife & Things to see or do:
There are many beautiful, outdoorsy places to visit
here. In fact, 75% of WV is covered in
forest. We haven’t gotten to explore too much yet, but we have seen some. We look forward to visiting The Greenbrier
resort (old, declassified Cold War
fallout shelter) near the capitol and New River Gorge (where people B.A.S.E.
jump off of the 2nd highest steel bridge in the US at 876 ft.).
There are outdoor adventures everywhere for sure, including some of the some of
the best white-water rafting and snow skiing anywhere. Oh, and if you don’t love sports (especially
WVU or Marshall), don’t let anyone know that. West Virginians are die-hard
sports fans (including the city we live in where the High School sports teams
have claimed several state titles this year), and if you yell, “Let’s Go”
around here, you can be pretty sure that someone else will yell,
“Mountaineers!” And, being so close to
Pittsburgh, there are many Steelers, Penguin, and Pirate fans as well.
Some of the
things we’ve noticed about wildlife here:
While Florida’s
“state bird” is actually the Mockingbird, some people used to joke that it was
really a flying cockroach or the mosquito. One of the best things about
WV: I have not seen either one of those
vile creatures at all since we’ve been here.
I rarely see frogs or lizards either.
Not that I mind the last two anyway though.
WV does tend to
have an abundance of spiders, chipmunks, deer (everywhere!; in fact, they allow
urban deer hunting here), groundhogs (or woodchucks, same thing), bunnies,
birds, and turkeys (even in neighborhoods).
Some days, I feel like we live in a small petting zoo or in the middle
of the woods, but we’re really not. We also have fireflies here in the
summer. Pretty cool, and Anna caught a
few in a jar last summer.
Good eats:
We have
discovered a few yummy regional eats while here in WV.
-Pepperoni Rolls. If you haven’t had one before, or don’t know
what one is, Google it. They are very
tasty, especially when homemade, and at any social event, gas station, sporting
event, etc., there will be pepperoni rolls to be had.
-The Italian food here is very
good. There is a strong Italian
culture/influence here in North Central WV, and we’ve had some of the best
Italian food ever since we’ve been here:
Muriale’s is our favorite!
-Hot Dogs – there are several
local hot dog joints around here (and all over WV) who brag that they have the
best tasting dog around. And they eat
them with lots of different toppings too:
chili, kraut, slaw, onions, cheese, etc.
-The Mexican food around here
(at least all that we’ve tasted so far) is NOT good. I think we were spoiled after eating that in
FL & in and around TX. I guess we’ll
just stick to Italian.
-Oh, and there is not much here
in the way of seafood (at least not fresh). You can get some good crab near
Maryland. We were spoiled by fresh “off
the docks” seafood in FL though. Many people here like tilapia, and I just can’t
stomach it.
-And Mardi Gras isn’t really a
thing up here either. Not much in the
way of Cajun-influenced food or King cakes for Fat Tuesday (unless your awesome
cousin in FL mails you one). ;)
And the best
thing we have discovered about WV, the people are some of the most welcoming,
warm people you’ll ever meet. They don’t
treat us like outsiders. No one is
trying to “be better than everyone else”. We have met some amazing people here,
and it feels like we’ve known them forever. Family-focus is strong, and so is
community. It reminds us of small-town Destin, FL from years ago. It is nice to go back to a little bit
“slower” way of life for sure.
I can’t believe
it has already been a year. I am looking
forward to seeing what adventures there are awaiting us in this next year.
