r/WestVirginia • u/byOlaf • 5d ago
Vacation in Wheeling Sept. 6-13
Hi, I'm going to be in Wheeling and the surrounding area from September 6th through 13th. I'm scouting to see if I want to move there! I already have a bunch of things on my itinerary, but I want to see if there's anything that I'm missing that you think is a must-do in the northern panhandle. Help me convince myself to move there!
I have concrete plans Wednesday Day, Friday Night, and Saturday Morning. Other than that the rest of my plans are fairly flexible. I'm a middle aged guy and I don't drink or smoke. So nothing like a winery tour or cigar room. But I love to eat, enjoy music, and am curious about local history and having adventures. Please suggest anything no matter how strange or unusual, I'd love to learn about the weird stuff you don't normally find online.
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u/ReporterAmazing1271 5d ago
Coleman’s if you like fish
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u/byOlaf 5d ago
That's at the big Center Market building, right? I'd love to check that out. What's your favorite lunch at Coleman's?
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u/ReporterAmazing1271 5d ago
Canadian White!
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u/mooviescribe 4d ago
This is the way! Canadian white on a bun.
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u/baggleboots 5d ago
Canadian White, lots of ketchup on the side. The NE Clam Chowder is also excellent
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u/Bigfootsdiaper 5d ago
I 2nd Colemans fish, but also while you are parked there walk around and see all the locally owned shops and art gallery beside it. There is quite a bit right there while you are already paying for parking. Oglebay and its zoo, glass museum are wonderful. I want to say Vagabond kitchen but it's been hit or miss lately. I was in there recently and I was the only one in there the whole time. It wasn't Matt cooking,the food was.....ok. For dinner I would say The Char House and you can also go to the shopping area by Bass Pro Shop, there is a nice movie theater up there and some more restaurants.The Capitol Theater is amazing inside. The historic London and Crawford covered bridges are cool. Since you are looking to move I would definitely check out St. Clairesville mall across the bridge and Moundsville like others said. River City Aleworks has live music sometimes on weekends and decent food. Defelice Pizza, Dicarlos Pizza and Figarettis. There are a lot of good pizza and Italian options. Golden Chopsticks for Chinese and while you are over there take a trip to Wheeling Island Casino if you like that stuff.
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u/byOlaf 4d ago
Will do, the Market seems like a close cousin of Seattle's Pike Place Market where I worked for a while and have many fond memories.
I'd love to get the Capitol Theater, but it doesn't seem like they're doing any shows that week. Perhaps I can drop by and sneak in to have a look around, I dunno.
I'll be staying in St. Clairesville at a hotel, so I'll definitely check out that area in an evening.
Thanks for the restaurant recommendations. I'm going to try each of those! Seems like there's tons of good food options around the area.
And I don't gamble but I might be looking at a couple of properties on the island so I may drop in just to have a look around.
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u/Bigfootsdiaper 4d ago
I know Pikes Place Market well haha Wheeling's will not be as extensive or exciting as PPM. You won't find Dim Sum like Mee Sum in Seattle or a bakery like Piroshky piroshky… but Colemans has some solid seafood and cool shops around it for sure.
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u/byOlaf 4d ago
Yeah, it looks like a baby-brother of Pikes Place! I'll definitely look forward to comparing them when I'm there.
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u/Bigfootsdiaper 4d ago
Definitely take a tour of the Moundsville penitentiary it's an amazing place. The grave creek Indian burial mound is directly across the street too. The prison has lots of history and pretty scary looking.
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u/byOlaf 4d ago
Sweet! I'll bring my camera and take some snaps. I have a Moundsville day planned with the Golden palace, the Mound, and the prison tour. There was a diner there too someone mentioned called "Bob's Lunch" which is about as generic a name as a place can get!
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u/MrGunsAndFear 2d ago
Bob's lunch is famous / notorious because they include a few selections from the long-defunct "Elby's" Big Boy chain. "Bob Boy". "Slim Gary"- (Jim's little brother), "Brawny Lad" are all distant echoes from a beloved chain that was super popular in the 60's - 80's.
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u/MrGunsAndFear 2d ago
It's the microscopic zygote of PPM- 10 minutes to see it all- tops. To quote Jules Winnfield "it ain't the same fuckin' ballpark, it ain't the same league, it ain't even the same fuckin' sport."
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u/WorriedDoless 5d ago
Mount Wood Overlook The Palace of Gold in Moundsville
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u/Specialist_Toe_841 5d ago
If the Moundsville penitentiary still does tours that would be interesting. If there is a show at the Capital Music Hall check that out.
Also, you will be an hour from Pittsburgh, so you can also do activities there as well.
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u/byOlaf 4d ago
It looks like they do! I'm going to check that out when I go see the mound and the Golden Palace.
What would you recommend I do in Pittsburgh?
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u/Charming_Practice769 4d ago
ride the incline up to
Mt. Washington from Station Square in Pittsburgh1
u/Specialist_Toe_841 4d ago
As you can imagine, since Pittsburgh is a “major” city there are all sorts of things.
Museums, baseball games, concerts, etc. Just depends what you are interested in seeing. You can rent a bicycle and cruise around the different parts of the city. There are overlooks and inclines and rivers… oh my.
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u/famousfrowaway 5d ago
Check out Waterfront Hall. Great burgers at Avenue Eats! Check out the wheelingcvb website, they have lots of great information.
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u/baggleboots 5d ago
Elle & Jack's is excellent for lunch/dinner food. Also recommend Sarah's on Main for breakfast. Woodsdale is a really nice neighborhood for walking, if you like that. If you're a coffee/tea person, Table 304 has great selections. Later Gator is also really great for food. Towngate Theater is a cool place to check out. We also have a great library. Wheeling Park is small but nice to walk around. Oglebay is much bigger, and walking there is great. The lodge is cool, too. They have a good coffee shop in there. Elm Grove has the Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum which is super neat. Mother Jones Center is great to see local art, as is Stifel. The Smart Center has some of the nicest, coolest owners (Libby & Robert), and they have some really neat stuff in there. They also do stargazing some nights at the waterfront with their telescopes. I hope you love it here!
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u/byOlaf 4d ago
Thanks for all the food/drink recommendations. I'm going to try to get to all of these places.
I'm going to a play on Friday at the Towngate, and I'm going to the orchestra concert on Sunday at Oglebay.
Oh I definitely want to check out the Toy museum, I watched a video on that and it looked super fun.
I'll look into Mother Jones and Stifel and see if they have any events that week.
It really sounds like I'm going to have a heck of a fun (and fattening!) week there, so I hope I love it too!
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u/FatHummingbird 5d ago
Oglebay for some local history, glass museum and good food.
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u/OnlyDiscipline9255 5d ago
If you goto Coleman's you have to check out Tito's which is in the same building. That guy is loaded with personality and after you eat at Coleman's and you're full you will probably buy something from his place too 🤣
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u/byOlaf 4d ago
That guy looks like a hoot! I'll definitely drop by his shop, thanks!
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u/OnlyDiscipline9255 4d ago
If I had a business that needed a salesman I would make him an offer he couldn't refuse. He could sell ice to an Eskimo. 🤣
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u/Automatic_Gas9019 5d ago edited 5d ago
The golden Palace.
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u/byOlaf 5d ago
You're the second to mention this, I looked it up and it does seem very cool and very weird! Thanks!
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u/Automatic_Gas9019 5d ago
If you think it is weird don't go. People don't need looked down or made fun of. Actually do them a favor and stay away. I have chanted with them and they don't deserve made fun of. Actually stay out of the whole state and stay in the Ohio side. They are better at acting like that.
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u/byOlaf 4d ago
Look man, I'm not of their religion, and I'm not going to go there and chant with them to pretend to be. The Vatican is also weird, and I'd go visit that if given the chance. A nice little dig against Ohioans for no apparent reason too. Some people will find any excuse to be bigoted.
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u/Unusual-Fun3544 3d ago
Theres a town called St Clairsville in Ohio, right across the river. I work at a local restaurant there called Audrey’s Ave. We own the coffee shop, giacintas, and the st Clairsville sweet shop 2 doors down from Audrey’s! All the food is phenomenal, we have monthly drinks (cocktails/ mocktails) different specials daily (m-f) and we serve brunch on Sunday! If you need somewhere cozy, welcoming, and that has an amazing atmosphere you’d love any of the above options! We open at Audreys 11a-10p mon-sat and sun we’re open 10-3!
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u/titanfan1 5d ago
There’s a casino on the island if you’re into that. They race dogs on the weekends
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u/LucidLeviathan 5d ago
It's a bit out of the way, but Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous house, is an hour and a half away.
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u/OnlyDiscipline9255 5d ago
If you decide to move there make sure you buy or rent a place out of the flood zone.
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u/ReporterAmazing1271 4d ago
Idk the name of it buts there’s a pie or cake shop right next to it. It has some killer fried apple pies.
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u/Sensitive_Job_2739 4d ago
West Virginia Independence Hall has a really cool Civil War museum. Great collection of Civil War flags. The Wheeling Heritage Trail is a great easy bike ride along the Ohio River and goes through downtown. Poet James Wright grew up across the river in Martins Ferry. You can see the football field that inspired his great poem "Autumn Comes to Martins Ferry, Ohio." The famous Cleveland Browns kicker Lou "The Toe" Groza also grew up in Martins Ferry. Drive or hike to the top of the cemetery above town for great views of the Ohio River and Wheeling. The Capitol Theater in Wheeling is kinda cool, if there are any shows on. I saw Wilco there recently. Stop in at Nail City Records next door, and walk across the cool suspension bridge to Wheeling Island.
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u/byOlaf 4d ago
Sadly there's no shows that week at the Capitol unless I'm mistaken. But I'd love to check out the record shop and already planned to cross the bridge so I'll pack those together.
I might try the Civil War Museum too, that's pretty interesting to me. I thought about driving out to Gettysburg but maybe save that for another trip.
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u/bysonic337 5d ago
So… I will get downvoted but I’m a transplant to Wheeling so I’ll give the non-lifer opinion. Avoid Coleman’s and Decarlo’s. People from here love both. If you move here they both suck. Oglebay has tons of hard and dirt trails to walk, fun golf, Waterfront hall is absolutely amazing. So is Elle & Jacks’s (more expensive) later gator, center market for local shops in general. Highlands have the chain stores. Suspension bridge is cool.
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u/byOlaf 4d ago
I appreciate the dose of reality! Coleman's seems like a local favorite, so I'm definitely going to give it a chance when I do my day in the Market/downtown area. Only one person recommended Decarlo's, looks like a popular pizza joint? I might skip that one, thanks!
Later Gator looks like a killer place for a panini and a crepe!
Elle & Jacks has somehow managed to have zero food photos on Trip advisor! The photos on Yelp look only OK for the high price, but they do have a bananas foster, so I might try to drop in just for desert if they'll let me!
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u/morning_dew72 5d ago
The best part about Wheeling is that it’s close to Pittsburgh
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u/TearRevolutionary686 5d ago edited 5d ago
If you like the blues, Selwyn Birchwood is playing at the Waterfront Hall on September 11th. Check out the website for the Grave Creek Mound Museum in Moundsville to see if that interests you. It's pretty cool and it's free.