Day 168 - Helvetia, WV and Roanoke, VA

We woke up this morning and, as expected, were greeted with a beautiful blanket of snow outside. We needed to make tracks so headed to Fin with our overnight stuff. Poor Fin was covered in an icy layer of snow and his frozen door handles needed a good yank to free them. Being a Floridian, I am guessing he certainly hadn't experienced anything like this in his short life so far, and I'm not sure he approved!

Improvising, we used the dustpan from the camping gear as a rather effective window scraper. Sam sat inside getting herself and Fin nice and toasty whilst I battled the 21F (-6C) temperature and icy wind to get us in a roadworthy state. Another family were leaving at the same time and were in the same predicament, so I lent them borrow my improvised scraper and we were soon both on our way.

In all honesty I was a little worried about what the road down the mountain would be like, but I needn't have worried. The snow ploughs had already been out and the roads in the resort were fairly clear, and as we descended the snow became less and less.

Our next destination was Helvetia in West Virginia. Unfortunately there was no easy way to get there and we had to negotiate a number of single-lane, unpaved roads which were covered in muddy sludge due to the recent snow and rain. Fin was not having a good day!

Helvetia is a tiny village in a high mountain valley known for the Swiss and German settlers who arrived in 1869 and whose descendants still remain there. Being so remote, much of the old traditions of dance, music, food, lifestyle and holidays have survived through the generations and remain today. Being half-Swiss, this destination had been on the itinerary from very early on in the planning process.

Helvetia’s Swiss-German heritage is visible in the hand-painted coats of arms, Swiss phrases, and historical markers. Public buildings like the Community Hall, Cheese Haus, and the Kulture Haus (which also serves as the village post office, general store, and mask museum) are decorated with alpine gingerbread and floral patterns.

The one restaurant in the village - the Hütte - was our lunchtime stop. It was literally like stepping back in time into someone's quaint little house. Tables were dotted throughout the various downstairs rooms, and the walls were adorned with all sorts of Swiss and German historical memorabilia from the area.

We were visiting on a Sunday, and on the menu was a buffet. It was $25 per person and included a drink and a dessert. The American/Swiss/German fare including sauerbraten, sausage, curry chicken, green beans with bacon, and boiled potatoes. Topping it all off was a homemade peach cobbler with fresh whipped cream. Some of this definitely made me think of meals I had on family trips to Switzerland as a kid, and everything was homemade and delicious.

We walked off our lunch taking in a few sights of this small village, and I entertained Sam with my narration on the events in broken Schwiizerdütsch, which you'll see on the video!

It was time to hit the road again. We had planned on a night of tent camping in Lansing, West Virginia, but the chilly forecast for the night made us rethink our plans. Looking at the map, we decided upon a Hampton Inn in Roanoke in Virginia. It looked like a decent-sized town so was sure to give us some options for evening entertainment.

And of course, we managed to stumble across a lively bar. As luck would have it, it was the start of their Oktoberfest celebrations, so the German theme for the day was extended that little bit longer as we sunk some beers to traditional oom-pah music before heading to the warmth and comfort of our hotel bed.