Day 4 – Berkeley Springs to Ohiopyle

Posted byweegtravelPosted in2022, Fallout 76, West Virginia
Breakfast from our campsite

The heat has broken and we woke to this gorgeous morning. Coffee and REAL Montreal bagels ( we bring them back when we visit our Montreal family). Mr and Mrs Mallard are out and about. The trees here are very old and gnarly maples. Mrs mallard did something I have never seen before. She flew up onto one of the gnarls. It took me by surprise Mallards in trees!

We will be offline until Monday unless I find a network somewhere during the next 3 days.

Berkeley Springs,WV

Berkeley Springs is the oldest spa in the United States. It was originally called Bath, which is its actual real name even today. It owes its existence to George Washington, a regular visitor here in 1748.

Berkeley Springs State Park

The water temperature is a constant 74 degrees F and has a heavy mineral content. The baths are still in use today.

Bath house still in operation
All of the bath houses are now part of Berkeley Springs State Park.

Berkeley Springs has one of the 2 silica mines in the U.S. that produces silica in a quality greater than 99% purity. Handy to have a silica mine nearby to make bottles for all the spring water!

Porte Crayon

David Hunter Strother (September 26, 1816 – March 8, 1888) was an American journalist, artist, brevet Brigadier General, innkeeper, politician and diplomat from West Virginia. Both before and after the American Civil War (in which he was initially a war correspondent), Strother was a successful 19th-century American magazine illustrator and writer, popularly known by his pseudonym, “Porte Crayon” (French, porte-crayon: “pencil/crayon holder”).

FALLOUT 76 and Berkeley Springs

Berkeley Springs is one of the locations in the Mire Region of the video game. There is a quest here to find bottled water. Given that BS in real life is noted for its bottled water, I now understand the significance of the Quest. To be honest, I haven’t explored BS in the game except for the work shop and locating the odd Raider. I have something to look forward to exploring more when I get home.

The bottled water exhibit. Search for water in BS is one of the quests
I found a ‘cap stash’ in the museum! It’s part of the exhibit on bottling spring water. In the game, currency is in the form of Nuka Cola caps. Players must find caps on a regular basis.
The Berkeley Springs Train Station. There is no track in real life.
The only red brick building I found. Now the County Inn, the location has historical significance as part of the George Washington Historical Trail and housing Stonewall Jackson’s troops in the Civil War. The original inn is long gone. I don’t think the red brick building in the video game that one ‘travels’ to, is an actual real world location.

From Berkeley Springs, WV to Ohiopyle State Park, PA

After leaving Berkeley Springs we stopped to do some shopping. Today’s travel had us crossing back and forth between WV, MD and PA. We took hwy 68 across the Alleghany mountains, an absolutely spectacular drive. We stopped for lunch at a boat launch on the Youghiogheny River. Please don’t ask how it’s pronounced. Our campground is also on this River.

This state park is noted for its waterfalls. We are here for 3 nights, the only place we stay longer than 1 night. We do the Frank Lloyd Wright locations from here. We have a beautiful wooded campsite. It’s Friday night and the campground is FULL and noisier than any we’ve been in so far.

Tomorrow we visit Kentuck Knob, one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings in this area.