Every year when I was a kid, we would have a family reunion in Elkins, WV. To make the weekend even more special, my Granddad would take us on the Cass Scenic Railroad. This became a favorite trip and it always created a lot of memories. Ever since I had kids, I always wanted to take them and to have them enjoy a piece of my childhood. Blake and I had talked about taking the kids out to West Virginia to do a train trip. The only issue was, we have never done an overnight trip with all of the kids before and we were pretty nervous about it. This would be our first overnight trip together with all of the kids.
I used Airbnb to book a condo at one of the lodges located at Snowshoe Mountain Resort. We stayed in condo ML245 at the Mountaintop Condos. The condo had 3 room with a full kitchenette, kitchen table and living room. Plenty of room to move around. Right outside our room was a story play area and an arcade. We got to the condo late and went right to bed after we got everyone set up. The next morning we got up and let the kids play on the playground for a little bit before grabbing breakfast at The Waffle Cabin https://www.wafflecabin.com/ which was located right outside of our building. The let the kids choose if they wanted a plain waffle or one with chocolate syrup. The waffles were very sweet on their own. The chocolate just ended up making a mess.
Once we finished our waffles we got everyone cleaned up and headed to Cass Scenic Railroad. Prior to arriving I had already purchased the tickets for the Bald Knob Loop. The Bald Knob loop is a 4.5 hour round trip that spans over 22 miles. Unfortunately the weather this day was about the worst that you could have for a scenic train ride. It was cloudy, foggy and raining. We contemplated exchanging our tickets to come back at a later date but the kids were really excited and wanted to go. We figured what the heck and boarded the train.
For history on the Cass Scenic Railroad check out this website https://mountainrailwv.com/tour/cass-scenic-railroad-bald-knob-trip/
Once we boarded the train you had the option to sit or stand. The windows open up and you are able to stick your head out of the windows.
As we got closer to approaching Bald Knob, we were each given a box lunch that consisted of a sandwich, chips, apple sauce and cookies. The box contained all of the condiments for the sandwiches as well. These were the perfect lunches for this type of trip. We ate and as we were finishing we arrived at Bald Knob. On a clear day you can see for miles from the overlook platform but not today. Today we were not able to see very far at all. The weather was horrible but we still made it enjoyable and the kids had a great time running around.
Information on Bald Knob
Deer at the top of the mountain are used to getting the box lunch leftovers and get very close to passengers and the train.
Although the views of the mountains from the train were not the clearest they were still beautiful and we passed many spots for pictures.
We make another stop on the way back to the station. This stop had a concession stand as well as history of the railway.
Old Fire Tower
Shay Engine 
Blake and the kids 
Shay Engine
As we head back to the station we encounter another train ascending the mountain. Our train stops and we watch one of the conductors go to the switch and change our direction in order for both trains to pass.
Once we got back to the station, we went into the gift shop with the kids and allowed them to get 1 thing from the gift shop. Once we were done in the gift shop we headed back up the mountain to get to our condo.
In the parking lot of our condo was the Split Rocks Pool https://www.snowshoemtn.com/things-to-do/activities/split-rock-pools. The pool is both indoors and outdoor and all parts are heated. The pool has an opening between the indoor and outdoor pool that you can swim through without ever getting out of the water. The pool also has 2 hot tubs and indoor and outdoor slides. Yes it was June when we went but the temperature was still in the 50s. The kids loved that they could swim outside in the cold/rain. The only bad part was you had to get out of the water to go down the slide or get to a hot tub. We stayed at the pool for about 2 hours and it was a lot of fun for us and the kids. Once we were done, we ran back to the condo because it was freezing.
We changed and headed to the village to find a place for dinner. We ended up eating at the Foxfire Grill. It was a pretty lengthy wait for our table but we eventually got seated. While waiting, we explored the village. Our food was alright, nothing that would make us want to eat there again if were came back to the resort and it took forever to get our food. From being seated until we left it was about 2.5 hours and we had really tired kids at this point. The kids all hung on well and didn’t complain. We got them back to the condo and in the bed.
The next morning we cooked breakfast in the condo and got everything packed up and headed to the village. We picked up a couple of souvenirs, hot chocolate from Starbucks and once again found BIG FOOT!!!!
We leave Snowshoe and head towards home. We see a large telescope and decide to stop and see what it is all about. The telescope is located at the Green Bank Observatory. The observatory offers tours and has a discovery area for kids. We unfortunately didn’t have time for the tour but we did have time for the kids to play in the discovery area.
Before leaving West Virginia, we stop at the state line to get a picture of the kids as this is their first time to ever visit WV.
A co-worker of mine recommended a restaurant to us called High’s Restaurant http://www.highsrestaurant.com/. I am very thankful for the recommendation because it was one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at. All of the food was fresh and very inexpensive. They also have homemade cakes and pies as well as an ice cream bar. Needless to say we all had dessert and like the food, it was fantastic.
We had a great weekend trip to West Virginia and a successful first trip as a blended family.
Nic of Time - Travel 