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Like many people, we used to schedule most of our outdoor activities during the more temperate times of the year. Visions of verdant landscapes, blooming wildflowers and fruiting mushrooms are what most often lure us into the woods, and those things only happen during spring, summer and fall. A few years ago, though, we challenged […]
Hannah Watters and Nicole Westfall of Charleston, WV, and Brian Reed of Ivydale, WV have been selected for the 2023 New River Gorge Creative Community-in-Residence at Lafayette Flats Boutique Vacation Rentals – four modern apartments in one historic building. For the past eight years, Lafayette Flats Boutique Vacation Rentals has hosted the New River Gorge […]
Standing on the rim of the New River Gorge, it’s hard to imagine that the deep, narrow, and rocky landscape was once bustling with industrial activities. Read this post to learn how to best explore the remnants of the long-lost coal mining complexes and communities that once filled the Gorge.
Science is just starting to understand why people like waterfalls. It turns out that when water molecules collide while tumbling over rocks and into a splash pool they release negative ions into the atmosphere. When these negative ions hit our bloodstream our bodies produce biochemical reactions linked to alleviating depression, relieving stress, and boosting energy. […]
We have a confession. One of the main reasons we invested in Fayetteville – buying and renovating the building that now houses Lafayette Flats Boutique Vacation Rentals – was because we loved the food. Seriously. We both have enthusiastic palates. A few of our favorite Fayetteville dishes include Brussel sprouts from Secret Sandwich Society, homemade […]
Why Not Ours? Each of the four flats at Lafayette Flats Boutique Vacation Rentals has a different color palette, but one color runs through them all – green. The color of the forest. The color of life. The color green signifies abundance to our primitive brains, soothing even our modern anxieties. One way we bring […]
Southside Trail is an easy seven-mile riverside trail that provides great views of the New River and passes through several abandoned mining towns. Rush Run, Red Ash, and Brooklyn were all once-bustling communities located along this abandoned railroad line. It’s one of the few trails in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve that […]
Editor’s Note: Michele Sons was the first of three 2022 New River Gorge Creatives-in-Residence at Lafayette Flats. Michele is an exhibiting fine art landscape and portrait photographer originally from England and currently based in southwest Virginia. This is a excerpt from her recent blog post. I am recently home from a cold, beautiful, snowy month […]
Did you just give that title a double-take? It may be because you aren’t used to rivers flowing north; not many do. But the New River does, so head south from Fayetteville to explore the upper section of the New River Gorge. You’ll find a very different landscape upriver. Immediately, you’ll see a much wider, […]
Rail trails are former railroad corridors that have been converted for hiking & biking. These types of trails often have three tremendous advantages over regular hiking trails. First, rail trails often contain substantial infrastructure left behind by the railroad companies, like trestle bridges over creeks. These provide easy access to rugged areas of the forest. […]
