I’ll start this blog off by warning you it’s not like my previous history tales. I am using a one-month pass that I just made up to go a little off course with this one. Instead of boring everyone with the one event – June 20, 1863 -- that I’m sure we all remember from our West Virginia history class, this blog will be more of a love letter to our beautiful state in her birth month.

It’s my intent to share some of my favorite places and things that I think make the state shine, and possibly sprinkle in a little history along the way.

It’s hard to start anywhere other than West Virginia’s outdoors if you’re going to make a list of things you love. If mountains are your thing, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful area on the East Coast than the eastern part of our state.

A trip to Tucker County has become almost a yearly ritual for me. Full of waterfalls, mountains and seemingly never-ending backcountry, it is an outdoor enthusiast’s dream. The ruggedness of the Blackwater canyon and otherworldliness of Dolly Sods alone are enough to keep going back.

The Sods is really kind of hard to describe without seeing it in person, and it’s a minor miracle we even have it at all. The area was extensively logged around the turn of the century and the fragile ecosystem heavily damaged. Then, as World War II got underway, the U.S. Army used the high-altitude plateau as an artillery and mortar practice range. There are still signs at trailheads that warn of potential mortar shells that may still exist. Luckily, the vast wilderness area has made a recovery -- so much so that thousands visit it every year. 

Mix in the charm of Thomas and Davis, who may have the most breweries per capita (Mountain State Brewing and Stumptown) than any other concentrated region in the state, and you have easily my personal favorite area in West Virginia.

From Tucker County, you can’t really go wrong. You can either head northeast toward the history-laden eastern panhandle or south toward more of the state’s best outdoor offerings. Since this is a history blog, I’ll just say this about the latter area: watch the sunset at Spruce Knob, find time to drive to Gaudineer Knob and catch a historic train ride at Cass.

West Virginia was born out of the Civil War, and there’s no better place in the state to learn about it than the eastern panhandle. Harpers Ferry National Historic Park is home to a Civil War museum and John Brown’s fort. The fort served as an armory that John Brown and his supporters barricaded themselves in during the final hours of an effort to initiate a slave revolt. Many other Civil War-era points of interest dot the surrounding area.

Nearby is Storer College, what began as a one-room missionary school for former slaves following the Civil War and developed into a college that was open to both sexes and all races.

Seeing a need for education, the Freedmen’s Bureau, the Freewill Baptists and John Storer formed the school in the aftermath of the war. Despite local resistance, Storer College grew along with its enrollment, and for 25 years was the only school in West Virginia where a person of color could get an education beyond the primary level.

Also nearby is Jefferson Rock, where Thomas Jefferson stood in 1783 and gave this description of the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers: “This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic.” He’s not wrong.

If we retrace our footsteps and head west from Tucker County we will start to run into the Holy Grail of West Virginia’s top delicacy – the pepperoni roll. On the way to and from Tucker County, I make it a point to stop at The Donut Shop in Buckhannon for a pepperoni roll or three (if you haven’t had one, make the trip and make sure you get them warm).

A little further north along the I-79 corridor, is the birthplace of the pepperoni roll. Born out of Italian miners’ need for a snack, Giuseppe “Joseph” Argiro began selling the pepperoni rolls at the Country Club Bakery in Fairmont, which is still open today. Also in Fairmont is Calasessano’s, and just south in Clarksburg is Tomaro’s Bakery and D’Annunzio, all of which offer different takes on the treat. I’m not here to start a pepperoni roll debate, but I’d love to hear which one you think is best.

An underrated aspect of West Virginia, and Appalachia in general, is the feeling of community that still remains despite the fact that we now live in a digital world. Community played such an important role in our ancestors’ lives. It was how they learned at times, it’s how the folk and bluegrass music that was born in these hills was passed down through generations, it’s how children were raised and it’s how they often found meaning and fulfillment in their life.

In many ways, I’d argue that this sense of community is still present and may be why people feel that longing to come home or an instant level of comfort with the stranger in the airport with the WVU shirt on. While we may not all know each other, we are part of this community and those little reminders of where we come from stir those feelings ingrained in our DNA. 

(On a side note: check out “Tribe” by Sebastian Junger for more on the importance of “tribes” or community.)

This brings me to the final verse in this love song to the Mountain State: it’s people. Cooper, CJ and Mason have done a great job highlighting the problem-solving, blue-collar ingenuity that I believe is bred in the hills of this state.

From Homer Hickam to Katherine Johnson to John Chambers, there are countless West Virginians who have made a difference on a worldwide scale. All of them, as the boys are showing through their podcast, have leaned on their Mountain State beginnings in one way or another along the way. And for every person who has “made it” there are 10 more in every community throughout the state working to make their slice of Almost Heaven a little better. Why? Because they care. We care.

I would argue no other state’s people care more about their homeland more than West Virginians. We care what others think and say about us -- sometimes maybe when we shouldn’t -- because we’re proud. We’re proud of the outdoor features, we’re proud of the history (most of the time), we’re definitely proud of the pepperoni rolls and we’re proud of where we come from. I hope that never stops.

Happy birthday, West Virginia.