Spam SnarkGrabbing Spam and Taking Names Monday, February 17, 2003Charlestown West Virginia is fun... fun if you like chemical plants, neo apocalyptic American ghost towns circa “Beneath Planet of the Apes”, local economies devoid of mom & pop stores, no suburbs, and a mythical university. Before driving down I had checked to see what the crime rating was for South Charlestown WVA and found it to be a 2 on a scale of one to ten, one being the best, ten being the worst. Comparatively speaking, I live in an area which has an 8 [CLICK HERE] and I've never really seen any violent crime, unless you consider a lovers quarrel that broke into a knife fight, but they knew one another... that doesn't REALLY count. According to BestPlaces.net Charlestown is a great little place. Neat. So lets take a look and find a hotel to stay out. Excellent! Right here in south Charlestown in the Microtel, an inexpensive national chain that I've heard of before. I instant message Linda and say “I think we’re going to be pleasantly surprised by Charlestown West Virginia.”
So, Feb 14th, Valentines Day I drive down to W. Va and follow the directions given to me via MapQuest to get to Microtel. The last bit of directions says to take I 64 West towards Huntington and exit on exit 2. Ok... however, this area looks wrong. This can’t be the correct exit 2. There's what look like a giant LTV plant down in the valley, and according to these directions I'm going there! I get off the exit feel a sinking feeling take over.
Well our hotel window looked right out onto the Bayer chemical plant in South Charleston W.Va. The previous owner of this plant was Dow Chemical who bought Union Carbide. What’s this have to do with anything? Back in "1982 July, hydrogen chloride leaked from a tank car at Union Carbide's Massey yard at South Charleston, West Virginia; several hundred residents were evacuated, a some were treated at the hospital." This was right after the Bhopal India accident where 6000+ people died. No shit... On the first night there it was raining and there was a MASSIVE amount of steam coming out of the plant, and I'm thinking "2! No wonder this place scored a 2 on the crime index. There’s nobody down here and nobody wants to come down here!"
At least the room was cheap. The HVAC in this room was either BROILING HOT or ICE COLD. The sink had cigarette burns all over it, and the toilet seat had marks from cigarettes too! And cheap it was. The toilet paper was made from a material harder than diamonds! The location of the hotel was convenient to nothing other than a 24hr Hardee's (which was closed on Sunday) and the Bayer chemical plant.
Great so here we are in the middle of West Virginia. Lets see what the town has to offer. Lets get something to eat. Maybe something of from a local resturant. Lets check the phone book. Humm... not a whole hell of a lot to choose from. Lets wing it and drive around the city and see if we come across anything that looks good.
Bad idea. First we have no idea where we’re going. Second it's night out and Charesltown doesn't have ANY STREET LITES. Third it's raining. Well it's always was raining down there but I have a feeling it has something to do with the chemical plant.
Driving around Charlestown Linda and I quickly notice that one of the more popular things to do for people of ALL ages is to hang out in front of closed stores. People were hanging out EVERYWHERE in front all types of stores. IGAs, furniture stores, tire stores, funereal homes, tiny out of business office supply stores, chain stores, Tutors Biscuit World Stores anything so long as it had an awning and was devoid of lights.
In a matter of minutes we’d seen 50 plus people hanging out, doing nothing. Some where smoking, but most doing nothing, and it was Friday and it was past 9pm. Where’s all the bars? The pubs? The hole in the walls that hide these people in other citys?
Forty five minutes later we’ve found an Outback Steak House. There is nothing else in this city that looks open other than the Olive Garden, Bennagan’s and Water Grill which are all in the same Mall complex.
END OF DAY ONE
.: posted by Scales and Pom 7:40 PM |
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