The Pocahontas County Senior Centers will have their annual picnic at Watoga State Park September 15. I am looking forward to good food and spending time with friends – old and new.
Anticipating that picnic made me think back to the days when the Department of Highways or “The State Road,” as we called it, maintained picnic/park areas along the roads in our county.
I remember seeing people picnicking at the roadside park across from Graham’s in Buckeye. That area had three stone fireplaces for cooking.
Tables at these roadside parks were always painted green, and there was usually a barrier of white painted rocks that separated the parking area from the grass.
You could find a picnic table every few miles. There was one at the Elk Mountain Overlook as well as along Rt. 219 near Slaty Fork.
What roadside parks do you remember?
Family reunions today are usually held in larger picnic areas and shelters, such as the ones at Seneca State Forest, Droop Mountain, Watoga State Park and Stillwell Park. But reunions occur just once a year.
Every Sunday, in years past, found my family with coolers and baskets filled with good food heading off to our favorite spot, the Pocahontas Campground.
We gathered together with my husband’s parents and his brother, Tom, and his family. Later we had sons who enjoyed these outings. Sometimes relatives from Charleston would come to spend the day, and the children loved to run free.
People, today, seem to prefer backyard grilling, and that’s okay. I have enjoyed my fair share.
But it’s nice to reflect back to a time when simple picnic areas were so popular.
Why not find a nice grassy spot, perhaps beside a cool stream, and have a Sunday family picnic yourself?
Make memories today for tomorrow.
