In October of 2021, my out-of-state mother-in-law was on a road trip and wanted to see if we could drive south and meet her along her drive for a few days. We sort of picked a spot on the map and it happened to be Charleston, West Virginia.

We had a great trip and since I never visited the area, I figured I would share what we did to maybe serve as a starting point for creating your own plans.

We live about three hours away. At the time of this trip, our kids were one and three years old. And some things were still closed due to Covid.

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Day 1

We left later in the afternoon, drove directly to our Airbnb, and just spent time visiting and settling in for the evening. Check out some no-tech travel toys I typically pack for my kids on road trips.

By the way, did you know pepperoni rolls are West Virginia’s official state food? Check out my pepperoni roll recipe. I make a bunch at home and pack them for many of our adventures. I know I definitely had some on hand for this trip.

Day 2

Charleston is the capital of West Virginia. Having enjoyed trips to other capitol buildings before, we thought it would be fun to explore the capitol a bit. We enjoyed strolling the beautiful grounds of the capitol building.

We also enjoyed walking around the Veteran’s Memorial next to the capitol.

Then, we visited the West Virginia State Museum. Admission was free! Although we couldn’t take in everything because we were chasing toddlers, we still learned a lot and the kids enjoyed walking through the museum too.

Next, we were hungry so we headed to the downtown area of Charleston and enjoyed a delicious lunch at Black Sheep Burritos and Brews. I’m sure there are tons of other good spots to grab a bite, but this place was good! I don’t think I’ll ever forget that blackberry thyme margarita. Yum!

Then, we headed back to our vacation rental to let my youngest child take a nap. We headed back out in the evening to let our kids get some energy out at Kidaroos Playground. They had a blast! We all did really.

Day 2

The fall foliage was pretty nice and we wanted to spend some time outside so we decide to go for a hike at Kanawha State Forest located just a few miles outside of Charleston.

We hiked the Davis Creek Trail for a shorter distance than the entire length of the trail. This trailhead offered restrooms, a visitor center, and a playground.

The trail was well-marked, fairly flat, and paralleled a stream. We didn’t complete the entire trail but just turned around when the kids needed to. My son hiked on his own and we carried my daughter in a hiking child carrier.

It was a chilly day, so we were in the mood for a warm-up and snacks after the hike. I’m so glad we checked out Capitol Market. This is an old train station turned indoor/outdoor market with tons of goodies and local items such as Mea Cuppa coffee, fresh seafood and produce, sushi, wine, cheese, West Virginia-themed gifts, and more.

The lego wall was also a huge hit with my kids. We loved this place!

It just so happened we were in the area close to Halloween, just in time to catch the Kenova Pumpkin House display which has been a bucket list item for me. The home in Kenova displays over 3,000 hand carved pumpkins.

Rather than heading back to our rental for a nap, we decided to head for the Kenova Pumpkin House (about an hour away) hoping our kids would nap in the car, which they did.

Before we went to the pumpkin house, we stopped in Huntington for dinner at The Peddler. This place was delicious and we loved the arcade games!

Then we made the short drive to the Kenova Pumpkin House located at 748 Beech Street. It’s my understanding that the display starts a few days before Halloween. You can check the Facebook page for the most up-to-date information.

We stopped on October 27th. The display wasn’t completed yet, but it was definitely well into the works and you could get a sense of where the display was going. I

We were able to walk the grounds around the house and we witnessed volunteers carving pumpkins.

We enjoyed visiting at dusk. It felt like it was getting more crowded the darker it got.

Although the display wasn’t fully completed, we weren’t disappointed at all. It was amazing and easily the highlight of the trip!

Day 3

Before we headed home, we let the kids get some energy out at Magic Island Park in Charleston where we enjoyed a walk with views of the Kanawha River and some playground time.

I would love to visit in the summer and take my kids to the splash pad.

And that was our trip! I’m sure there’s a lot that we missed but we enjoyed our time in the area and I’d love to return someday. If you are more familiar with the area and have recommendations for others, please leave a comment. If you found this post helpful, please leave a comment or tag me on Instagram (@adventureswkelly). I’d love to see or hear about your adventures in Charleston, WV!

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