Military Officer - April 2007 - (Page 57) G R E AT G E TA W AY S Key West: Route 1 road trippers can enjoy the busy nightlife of Key West, at the tip of the Florida Keys. Lover’s Leap offer hardy hikers the opportunity to explore the gorge walls beneath the main overlook, and the new Ansted-Hawks Nest Rail Trail follows an old coal train path from the village of Ansted to the bottom of the gorge. For those who want a “Type-T” adventure, rafting the New River is one of the best ways to tour the gorge, but those who aren’t quite ready for whitewater can take a jetboat ride with the quirky, joke-telling Captain Rick Larson of New River Jet Boats, accessible via the scenic tram at Hawks Nest. From Hawks Nest, Route 60 bends into one of its curviest stretches over Gauley Mountain, where, rumor has it, the headlights you see in your rearview mirror are your own. After passing Cathedral Falls just outside Gauley Bridge, Route 60 winds along the Kanawha River through West Virginia’s rich indusPHOTO: PHOTO COMPANY/ZEFA/CORBIS trial center on the way to Charleston. On the grounds of Charleston’s golddomed capitol building is the Veterans Memorial, where bronze statues mounted over placid pools commend the valor of more than 10,000 West Virginians killed or missing in action in 20th-century wars. Also in the capitol complex is the West Virginia Cultural Center, home to the West Virginia State Museum and Sunday evening live recordings of Mountain Stage, broadcast worldwide on public radio stations. From Charleston, Route 60 continues westward through St. Albans, with its 26 structures listed on the National Register, including the 1847 St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, which housed federal cavalry (horses included) during the Civil War. Finally, I close my Midland Trail journey in Huntington on the banks of the Ohio. Founded by railroad magnet Collis P. Huntington, who linked Huntington to Richmond via the C&O Railway, this city is rich with historic architecture like that of the old B&O Railway Station, now part of a restored plaza with a genuine locomotive and Pullman car on display. The city’s Huntington Museum of Art features a nationally acclaimed collection of 19th- and 20th-century oil paintings, Islamic prayer rugs, and a sculpture garden. America’s southernmost highway: the Florida Keys’ Route 1 Strung together by one of the country’s most scenic highways, the Florida Keys run 180 miles from mainland Florida to Key West. Route 1, an often two-lane highway, offers a journey past some of the most colorful water scenery in the nation. The Keys are made of limestone, and because offshore reefs prevent the ocean waves from forming beaches here, the natuAPRIL 2007 MILITARY OFFICER 57
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