The collective of Charleston has lost its ever-loving mind when it comes to Crumbl Cookies. Weeks after it opened, there were still lines out the door at all times of day and night. When they finally opened online carryout orders available in the next day or two, I placed an order for a party box. That is 12 cookies for those counting.

If you're not familiar with Crumbl Cookies, it is a national chain that features large cookies in a handful of flavors that rotate each week. Last week when I visited these were the options available:

- HONEY CAKE FT. TEDDY GRAHAMS®
- CHOCOLATE MALLOW CUPCAKE
- PEANUT BUTTER FEATURING SNICKERS®
- CLASSIC PINK SUGAR
- MILK CHOCOLATE CHIP



My favorite of the bunch was the peanut butter cookie that had a Snickers topping. it wasn't as cloying as I thought it could be because that peanut butter cookie served as a good base. The others were OK, but I've had some better ones locally. They are a bit pricey, so I'm curious what folks think.

Moundsville is growing, and I'm happy to see that. I still think there is some room for new restaurants, but I was excited to stumble upon Osaka Sushi & Hibachi Steak House.



I ordered some crab rangoons (of course), a Californis roll and a crab cream cheese roll. It was like I ate the same thing in three different forms. And, this was all to go, so I wouldn't mind stopping to dine in sometime.



The crab rangoons were good, as they usually are. I like that the wrapper was a little bit thinner than usual and had a good sweet sauce to go with them. Both sushi rolls were fine – nothing crazy. Just fairly average. I will say that they were maybe attach on the dry side but that's just personal preference.



Grade: B

I recently rode a new train, called the Greenbrier Express, from Cass to Durbin. The inaugural ride was the first in many years. "The Greenbrier Express (GBX) train departs from the restored, historically important town of Cass and closely follows the clear, free-flowing Greenbrier River to the small mountain village of Durbin. On arrival in Durbin, all ticket holders will be served lunch at a pre-determined location either on your train car, in the depot, or at one of the restaurants on Main Street adjacent to the depot. The ride upriver to Durbin passes through a secluded wilderness portion of the 950,000-acre Monongahela National Forest featuring beautiful scenes of forested mountains at each turn of the river. Sightings of Deer, River Otters, and Black Bear along with a wide variety of Eagles, Hawks, Ospreys, and other species of aquatic birds are common. The original 95-mile section of this railroad was first constructed in 1902 by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway with an eye toward timber resource development. It continued serving that purpose until rail traffic declined and most of the line was abandoned in 1978. Today’s trip takes you on the northernmost 15-mile portion that was purchased by the West Virginia State Rail Authority. Unfortunately, a catastrophic flood in 1985 washed out major portions of this line. Thanks to a private/public initiative between the WV State Rail Authority and Durbin & Greenbrier Valley RR, the track has been reconstructed and now offers a new and different option to visitors at the iconic Cass Scenic Railroad State Park."



During the meal break, we received cold cut sandwiches with pasta salad. But there were a few small restaurants open along the main road in Durbin so I stopped at Simply Sweet Café to check it out. It's cute with a bit of a farmhouse vibe. They offer breakfast, sandwiches, salads, and coffee. I ordered a bubble, smoothie and peach flavor. It was a smoothie plus popping boba at the bottom, which made the smoothie all sorts of fun texture-wise. it was a nice combination of comforting, fresh, fruity, and a little exciting at the same time. Just sweet enough.



Grade: A

The Donut Shop has been a much beloved donut and pepperoni roll purveyor for years. Recently, though, they went through some ownership changes and is now known as The Donut Spot.



The "new" restaurant gave me an excuse to stop by - especially during ramperoni roll season. For the uninitiated, a pepperoni roll with ramps is often referred to as a ramperoni roll.



Fortunately, it appears nothing has changed at The Donut Spot and the ramperoni rolls have remained untouched: ground pepperoni with optional American, mozzarella or hot pepper cheese.



The hot pepper and American cheese options are my favorite. Interesting texture plus some heat plus fluffy bread plus creamy cheese. They're really delicious.



Don't sleep on the donuts, either. My favorite donut anywhere is a blueberry cake donut. It's like breakfast and dessert in one.



I also tried the filled strawberries & cream donut, because how can you pass that up? It's like a little cloud of dough filled with a heavenly filling. All in all, same delicious food, slightly new name.



Grade: A

I found a new West Virginia spot that makes charcuterie boards that I had not been to yet, somehow.



The Grazing Goat Charcuterie, offers boxes, full of cheese, fruit, crackers, and other goodies in Fairmont.



in this case, there was salami, strawberries, kiwi, nuts, some white cheeses, grapes, blueberries, blackberries, and some crackers.



it was all tasty, but I do wish there had been some sort of spreads, or something maybe a little bit unique. But there were definitely lots of tasty bites. And the fresh herbs were a nice touch.



Have you been?