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Issue: Fall/Winter 2010
Author(s): Kim Brown
Roll ’em big for a weekend in Wheeling, West Virginia, at the Wheeling Island Hotel, Casino and Racetrack, and discover why it’s one of the largest tourist attractions in the state. Glitz, Press Your Luck, Dean Martin and Hot Hot Super Jackpot are just a few of the 2,000 slot machines located alongside 15 multi-state progressive CA$HOLA slots and a high-limit room. The Jim Beam® Poker Room features Texas Hold’em Bad Beat Jackpot, Seven Card Stud and Omaha games. If pit games are more your style, you’ll f...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2010
Author(s): Jackie Perrin
Adventures in the great outdoors are a popular way to combine harmony with nature and family harmony — particularly when some members of the family are in the midst of their turbulent teenage years. At Adventures on the Gorge in Lansing, West Virginia, a high-flying canopy tour gives new meaning to the term “family togetherness,” providing once-in-a-lifetime experiences sure to bring families closer. Traversing the TreeTops course’s 10 ziplines and five Indiana Jones-style rope sky bridges, you’re bound ...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2010
Author(s): Gerald Bartell
Mountain air isn’t all the Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort has to offer. Nestled in the Appalachian Mountains in Chester, West Virginia , the Mountaineer may keep you indoors during your entire visit. The blackjack, craps and roulette tables in the casino go 24/7 and a 40-table poker room keeps devotees inside with Omaha and 7-Card Stud. Novices can take a chance, as it were, on $2–$4 Texas Hold ’em or warm up to gaming at the penny and dime slots. The rooms and suites at Mountaineer’s Grande Ho...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2010
Author(s): Amy S. Eckert
Interstate 64 cuts an asphalt swath through the Allegheny Mountains in southern West Virginia . The expressway carries speeding travelers into a landscape of misty mountain mornings, rippling brooks and, finally, a slower way of life. The route also paves the way to Lewisburg’s country retreat, the General Lewis Inn . Built in 1834, the inn takes its name from the 18th-century soldier Andrew Lewis, who discovered a local natural spring, established his fame in battle and lent his name to Lewisburg, West...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2009
Author(s): Marie Catanese
Since its debut in 1936, Fiesta Dinnerware has become one of the most collected china products in the world, and Fiesta followers flock to The Homer Laughlin China Company in Newell, West Virginia , to sort through endless bins of not-quite-perfect pieces in the Fiesta “seconds room.” If you and your girlfriends love art deco dishes in colors that include Sunflower, Shamrock and Peacock, you can easily spend a day filling box after box here — at deeply discounted prices. On a recent visit, we picked up s...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2009
Author(s): Ed Condran
It’s not surprising that John Sayles filmed his 1987 film “Matewan” in Thurmond, West Virginia . Sayles, a stickler for authenticity, selected Thurmond because the once-prosperous town still looks like the Appalachian coal-mining town it was a century ago. The formerly bustling city, which was booming during the heyday of coal mining during the dawn of the 20th century, is now a ghost town. The population is down to seven. At its peak in 1910, Thurmond, named after Confederate officer W.D. Thurmond, who ...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2009
Author(s): Jenny Pavlasek
All it takes is one day at the petting zoo for your kids to start begging for a pony. We should warn you — that happens with iron ponies, too. Especially after four days of high revvin’ fun the whole family will enjoy at the fifth annual Mountainfest Motorcycle Rally , July 23–26 in Morgantown, West Virginia , where riders and enthusiasts from across the country convene for one of the biggest cycle celebrations around. From vintage Hondas to the newest Harleys, the nonstop tour of parades, shows, races ...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2009
Author(s): Gerald Bartell
Elkins, West Virginia , offers several ways to get to the heart of the mid-Atlantic mountain experience. You can literally head to the hills on one of Elkins’ most popular attractions, the New Tygart Flyer. This restored passenger train takes visitors into deep, wooded canyons and across rushing streams, eventually arriving at a remote, pristine waterfall. Along the way you can sustain yourself at an all-you-can-eat sandwich bar or, on Sundays, at a special brunch. You can get even closer to nature on w...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2009
Author(s): Lori B. Murray
Two museums, both surrounded by the carefully groomed lawns and gardens of the Oglebay Resort and Conference Center, tell the story of the area once known as “the gateway to the west” from pioneer days to the early 20th century. The museums sit atop a hill overlooking Wheeling, West Virginia , a beautiful backdrop for this one-time estate. The Mansion Museum , built in 1846 by Hanson Chapline, went through seven different owners before Earl W. Oglebay purchased it in 1900 and financed several extensive ...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2008
Author(s): Meredith Beverstock
Farming is a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun, as visitors to Ridgefield Farm in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia , discover. Families flock to this spot, where kids can pretend they’re pirates and run wild through the pumpkin patch. At Ridgefield — which says it wants to provide “your farm experience for every season” — such behavior is encouraged. Join in the farm fun starting with apple picking in early fall. Ridgefield grows 17 varieties, some of which can be picked through October; all are grow...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2008
Author(s): John Patrick Pullen
“If your friends all jumped off of a bridge, would you follow them?” It’s a rhetorical question, of course, one that countless children have been asked by their mothers, desperate to show the foolishness of blindly following the lead of friends. So, it’s likely that those moms let loose a weary sigh about New River Gorge Bridge Day, an annual event in Fayetteville, West Virginia, that is the largest extreme sports event in the world. Last year, 377 people from more than 10 countries took a record ...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2008
Author(s): Jennifer Haliburton
All right, so maybe you’ll never nail a perfect figure eight on the ice. Or a double axel. In fact, you’d be happy just learning how to ice skate for five glorious seconds without winding up on all fours. Never mind your lack of prowess: The rink at Canaan Valley Resort and Conference Center in Davis, West Virginia, welcomes skaters of all skill levels. The covered, outdoor ice-skating rink is a popular attraction for families who love to spend quality time together engaged in lively, winter-weather act...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2008
Author(s): Jenny Pavlasek
It’s not just the bridge that leads to Wheeling Island that has visitors in suspense. At West Virginia’s Wheeling Island Race Track & Gaming Center , a full-fledged casino resort in the eastern bend of the Ohio River, early birds and night owls alike revel in high-stakes, nonstop gaming action 24/7. Granted, the Mountain State isn’t your traditional island getaway. But the tropical-themed resort offers all the amenities gamers need for a weekend-long adventure close to home. Try your hand at t...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2008
Author(s): Betsa Marsh
Just look for the old black coach in front of the broad white building and you’ve found your welcome in a sleepy little town along West Virginia’s Greenbrier River. Lewisburg’s General Lewis Inn will celebrate its 80th birthday in 2009, offering hospitality in buildings that go back to 1834. Every bed is antique, and two are old-fashioned rope beds that third-generation innkeeper Jim Morgan has to tighten twice a year. “You really can sleep tight here,” he says of the old adage that arose from the rope-...
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Issue: Bonus Online Content Summer 2008
Author(s): Lynne Thompson
The Greenbrier is so steeped in antebellum charm and attractive amenities, it’s no wonder vacationers head here for more than just the golf. The winding drive from the front gates to the massive Georgian hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia , is like a trip back in time — past rows of neat, white guest cottages and impeccably manicured lawns shaded by centuries-old oaks. There’s even a domed springhouse from the 1830s, a monument to the purportedly therapeutic sulfur waters that began attractin...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2008
Author(s): Betsa Marsh
Deep, dark and dangerous — coal mining during the early 1900s was all that and more. The Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine & Youth Museum in the southern part of West Virginia , fresh from a $3.5 million renovation, offers a glimpse into this rigorous way of life that once fueled the local economy (and literally fueled America’s modes of transportation). The Beckley mine was known for its deposits of low-sulfur coal, used in domestic and international steelmaking. Those curious about the profession that ...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2008
Author(s): John Patrick Pullen, Photo courtesy of Tracy Toler
Historians may call the 15th through 17th centuries the Age of Discovery, but parents know better: That era occurs anytime kids are delighted and engaged by the world around them. Parents who love to travel and want their children to be well-rounded benefit from a field trip to Charleston, West Virginia , during Family Fun Days at The Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences . The Clay was built to enhance the quality of life for West Virginia and its residents by presenting a variety of cultured fare. But...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2008
Author(s): Kathy Witt
The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum is contained — just barely — in a restored Victorian-era schoolhouse just a stone’s throw from the Historic National Road in Wheeling, West Virginia. An unrestrained celebration of toys and trains from childhood past, the museum includes a scale model of downtown Wheeling, a restored railroad caboose and ride-on toys including a vintage metal scooter, classic Marx Big Wheel, Green Machine and metal train engines. The undisputed visitor favorite: the operating tra...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2008
Author(s): Betsa Marsh
Emeril Lagasse and Rachael Ray might want to watch their backs. Junior chefs at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia , are hot on their heels — and they’re armed with spatulas and skillets. Four times a week, cooking instructor Sue Moats dons her apron and chef’s toque to welcome eight cooks into the children’s kitchen at this luxurious getaway. The 721-room resort may be best known for playing host to countless celebrities and dignitaries over the past 230 years, but over the c...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2008
Author(s): Jenny Pavlasek
Call us hopeless romantics, but stealing away to an inn hidden in the cache of West Virginia’s hillsides sounds like a movie Deborah Kerr should have made. Graceland Inn in Elkins would have been the perfect place for the love story to unfold. Surrounded by an undisturbed view of the stunningly green Monongahela National Forest, the inn is a pristinely restored 1892 Victorian mansion that once served as the plush summer home of U.S. Senator Henry Gassaway Davis. Now a National Historic Landmark o...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2007
Author(s): Kathy Witt
It may not warrant as much reverence as the White House in Washington, D.C., but the ivory mansion with columned porticos that holds court on Blennerhassett Island in Parkersburg, West Virginia , lures its fair share of tourists drawn to history and stately architecture. The rebuilt former home of Irish aristocrats Harman and Margaret Blennerhassett — once considered the most beautiful house west of the Alleghenies — defines this island that's just across the river from Marietta, Ohio, accessible throug...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2007
Author(s): Betsa Marsh
With an Alpine climate, double black-diamond runs and a nearly 5,000-foot summit, Snowshoe Mountain Resort is like a little slice of Switzerland shaved off in West Virginia . Tucked between Cheat Mountain and the vast Monongahela National Forest on the eastern edge of the state, the resort's 234 ski-worthy acres and state-of-the-art lodges offer a pristine winter playground for snow-sport enthusiasts. Fifty-seven slopes and trails cater to all skill levels, from beginners learning the basics at the Ski ...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2007
Author(s): John Pullen
No doubt nearly every West Virginian has, at some point in his or her life, been jokingly asked by an outsider, "Do you have any relatives in North, South or East Virginia?" Actually, the history of the state's existence is an intriguing one — and, 144 years ago, was certainly no laughing matter. West Virginia was the only state born of the Civil War, as well as the only one to have seceded from another state, Virginia (which had seceded from the Union). And when Abraham Lincoln declared it free of Virg...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2007
Author(s): Jenny Pavlasek
The forested ridges of The Trough, a spectacular mountain valley in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle , deliver prime leaf-peeping for nature lovers and families in search of a serene way to celebrate the beauty of fall. Trouble is, that same dense colony of oaks and hickories that makes the area so alluring, also makes it impossible to access by car. Fortunately, the folks at the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad offer daily narrated excursions in October, and Saturdays and Sundays the first two weekends i...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2007
Author(s): Susan R. Pollack
Our family of Michigan road warriors considers Beckley a must-stop any time we're driving through the mountains of southern West Virginia . In fact, we once snoozed for several hours in the parking lot of our favorite spot, waiting for it to open. We're drawn repeatedly to Tamarack, a craft and fine arts center near the intersections of two superhighways, I-77 and I-64, that showcases — as its motto boasts — "the best of West Virginia." Complete with a cafe run by the state's acclaimed Greenbrier Resort,...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2007
Author(s): Gerald Bartell
The story behind the Bunker suggests the plot of an Ian Fleming or Robert Ludlum thriller. Alas, the story is real. In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched Project Greek Island, the construction of a 112,544-square-foot underground bunker 720 feet into a hillside on the grounds of the stately Greenbrier resort in West Virginia . The Bunker was to shelter the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and top aides in the event of a nuclear attack on Washington, D.C. — 250 miles northeast o...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2007
Author(s): Gerald Bartell
Steam locomotives keep chugging along in Cass, West Virginia , as they did 100 years ago. But now they haul passengers, not logs. In this eastern West Virginia town, a lumber mill boomed in the early 1900s. It's gone, of course. But a restored company store and houses evoke the town's industrial past, as do the village museum and train depot. The Cass Scenic Railway completes the picture with excursions through the surrounding wilderness. Majestic engines, like ones used in the rainforests of British Co...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2006
I imagine many of you who have picked up this edition of LongWeekends have been to West Virginia, but I’ll bet that few of you have truly discovered all the Mountain State has to offer. If you take a moment to read through these pages, I’m confident you’ll find weekend getaway and vacation ideas you hadn’t thought of before or didn’t realize were so close. West Virginia is renowned for its mountains and the incredible recreation that’s tied to the state’s ancient hills, rivers and forests:...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2006
Author(s): Betsa Marsh
Whether they pop in for just a day or linger for a spell, travelers to the Mountain State quickly learn that West Virginia is rich in the Three H’s: heritage, handcrafts and home cooking, served to the pulse of heel-rapping music. Mountaineers will celebrate all these and more in a wide range of special events this summer, starting with Lewisburg’s commemoration of its 1862 battle. On May 20–21, the Battle of Lewisburg Living History and Re-enactment (Washing-ton Street downtown, 800/833-2068,www....
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2006
Visitor Information West Virginia Division of Tourism 90 MacCorkle Ave. SW, South Charleston, 1-800/CALLWVA, www.callwva.com . Enjoy WILD outdoor adventures, WONDERFUL small-town charm and the most breathtaking landscape in the East. Plus hiking, biking, camping, fishing, mountain golf, whitewater rafting, history, Appalachian heritage, festivals and more. Call or visit web site for your free travel guide. West Virginia, Wild and Wonderful! Greater Parkersburg Convention and Visitors Bureau 350 7th St.,...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2005
Author(s): Jamie Rhein
Called "The Mountain State," West Virginia bursts with fall colors from late September to late October. With 909,000 acres of birch, maple, oak, beech and more, the Monongahela National Forest offers hiking, biking and horseback riding. Drive on the Highland Scenic Highway (Forest Road 150) and stop at the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center for area information and highlights (on Forest Road 150 at the junction of St. Rte. 39/55, 304/653-4826). For the ultimate fall foliage celebration, go to the Mountain...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2005
Author(s): Amy S. Eckert
Interstate 64 cuts an asphalt swath through the Alleghenies in southern West Virginia. Stretching from Beckley east to the Virginia border, the expressway carries speeding travelers into a landscape that promises misty mountain mornings, rippling brooks and a slower way of life. The route also paves the way to three luxurious country retreats: Glade Springs Resort, the General Lewis Inn and The Greenbrier. Glade Springs Resort Daniels Just south of Beckley are the sprawling grounds of Glade Springs Reso...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2005
Author(s): Gerald Bartell
Take a deep breath, climb Maryland Heights (1,448 feet) and clip a wide-angle lens onto your camera. That's the best way to get a leg up on a visit to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia . Thomas Jefferson described the view here of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers joining beneath the Blue Ridge Mountains as "one of the most stupendous scenes in Nature." But the spot and the village nestled below claim attention for more than outdoor splendor. Here on October 16, 1859, John Brown seized the town's federal ars...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2005
Author(s): Amy S. Eckert
In West Virginia's Appalachian Mountains, a sure harbinger of spring is a ramp festival. Ramps, said to taste like powerful scallions, are wild leeks that grow in the state's rich mountain forests. The pungent leafy greens mature by mid-April, and once they're dug up, traditional cooks fry them in bacon grease and serve them alongside ham or bacon, potatoes, brown beans and corn bread. Small towns throughout West Virginia herald the short-lived ramp season with annual festivals, and visitors are heartil...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2004
Author(s): Amy S. Eckert
If You Go ... Charleston CVB, 200 Civic Center, Charleston, 800/733-5469. Mon.-Fri 9 a.m.-5 p.m. www.charlestonwv.com . Brass Pineapple B&B, 1611 Virginia St. E., Charleston, 304/344-0748. Rates: $89-$139. Chef Dan's, 222 Leon Sullivan Way, Charleston, 304/344-2433. Capitol Market, 800 Smith St., Charleston, 304/344-1905. www.capitolmarket.ne t. Taylor Books, 226 Capitol St., Charleston, 304/342-1461. Ever since colonial times, the pineapple has been an American symbol for hospitality. Little wonder, th...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2004
Author(s): Betsa Clark
If You Go ... West Virginia Tourism, 90 MacCorkle Ave., SW, South Charleston, W. Va., 800/225-5982. www.callwva.com . Pocahontas County Convention & Visitors Bureau, including Hillsboro, 700 Fourth Ave., Marlinton, W. Va., 800/336-7009. www.pocahontascountywv.com . Greenbrier County Convention and Visitors Bureau, 540 N. Jefferson St., Lewisburg, W. Va., 304/645-1000, 800/833-2068. www.greenbrierwv.com . Cranberry Glades Botanical Area, Monongahela National Forest, 932 North Fork Cherry Rd., Richwood, W...
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Issue: Spring/Summer 2004
Author(s): Amy S. Eckert
Gaming has enticed visitors to Wheeling, West Virginia, for nearly 35 years. Now a new $68 million expansion means the region's largest gaming center can welcome a few more guests each year. Wheeling Island Racetrack and Gaming Center, previously known as Wheeling Downs, changed its name last July to coincide with the unveiling of its massive new facility. The casino's name highlights its location on an Ohio River island. But the name also reflects the all-inclusive nature of the resort. New attractions...
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Issue: March 2004
Author(s): Amy S. Eckert
The Mountain Heritage Arts & Crafts Festival , one of West Virginia's largest cultural festivals, is celebrated annually in June and September. Located just outside historic Harpers Ferry , the festival showcases the best of West Virginia music, crafts and food. The festival is best known for its large gathering of arts and crafts vendors. More than 200 artisans sell and display handcrafted goods, including quilts, jewelry, pottery and glassware. Festival organizers insist that every vendor demonstr...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2002
Author(s): Amy S. Eckert
Arts, dance, performance, science, laser lights and film share a space under one roof at Charleston, West Virginia's new Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences , which opened this past summer. The centerpiece of the Clay Center is Maier Foundation Hall, a 1,880-seat performance center, home to the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Schedules for the performance hall include diverse cultural offerings, ranging from contemporary dance and theatrical performances to ballet, opera, country music, jazz and v...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2002
Author(s): Gerald Bartell
For diners who insist on parsing every ingredient that went into the risotto at a first-class restaurant, or who take mental or actual pictures of the way the baked cod rests on the garlic mashed potatoes — all with the intent, of course, of replicating everything back home — cooking classes at fine hotels promise more excitement than championship golf courses. The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia , offers cooking classes both basic and extravagant. Sessions lasting two or three days f...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2002
Author(s): John Tidyman
They've hosted luminaries from Mark Twain to Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Bing Crosby. They offer gourmet dining, relaxing lake breezes, mineral waters, expertly manicured golf courses and spa pampering. But most of all, these select, century-old hostelries offer the elegance and attentive service typical of their founders' era. Generations of visitors have found their charms and secrets well worth exploring. Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, Michigan The instructor makes encouraging statements. “Ah, one-tw...
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Issue: Fall/Winter 2002
Author(s): Kelly Aiglon
Jeff Daniels, an actor whose resume includes roles in “Dumb and Dumber” and “Gods and Generals,” is big in Hollywood. But he also finds time to create a different kind of box-office success in Michigan. Daniels is the founder of Purple Rose Theatre Company, a professional theater based in the small town of Chelsea, Michigan, 10 miles west of Ann Arbor. Daniels founded Purple Rose in 1991 as a place for local acting, directing, writing and designing talents to ply their trades without having to s...
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