Chili & beer make for a lovely combo. So, the Hops & Heat Festival was a must-try. Local chefs and breweries brought their best.

I've wanted to zipline from the New River Gorge Bridge ever since I learned that one can do such a thing. There's only one day a year you can do it: on Bridge Day. I'm not skilled enough to jump from the bridge or rappel, so I figured this was the one way I could get involved. And my best friend Kaitlynn was by my side.

We registered months in advance to secure our spot, and the whole thing took most of our morning. We waited our turn, walked out onto the bridge and ziplined one by one. It was pretty cool to walk on the catwalk and see the whole gorge below you.

Once we landed at the bottom, we then took the bus into the gorge to watch people parachute down to the bottom.

And, of course, there's so much good food - I got a cowboy platter from a local vendor that had pulled pork, sausages and a tortilla.

What's your favorite part of Bridge Day?

Greek salad with kalamata olives, feta and tomato



Meatballs (suzukakia) with rice pilah, stewed green beans, grapeleaf, cheese pie, pita bread



Baklava

Bridge Day is one of my favorite days of the year - tens of thousands of people get together to watch people jump off the New River Gorge Bridge. Watching people pull their colorful parachutes amongst the fall trees in the mountains is beautiful. And, this year, I even ziplined off the New River Gorge Bridge with Kaitlynn (bucket list item - check).

But just before Bridge Day is Taste of Bridge Day, where area restaurants get together to and dish out samples from their establishments. You buy a certain number of tickets and choose items, which are each assigned a ticket value. Here are the vendors:

• Calacino’s
• Tastings 
• White Oak Catering
• Sweet T’s Bake Shop
• Dobra Zupa’s
• ACE Adventure Resort’s Woody’s Smokehouse 
• Craft Kings
• Gumbo’s Cajun Restaurant
• Café 110
• Smokey’s Steakhouse (Adventures on the Gorge)
• Buffler’s Pizzeria (Adventures on the Gorge
• Chetty’s Pub (Adventures on the Gorge)

So, I got a handful and mapped out my route. Here's what I got:


Canyon Doors - bacon & bleu bacon stuffed potato pave


ACE Adventure Resort's Woody's Smokehouse - wood-fired brick oven pizza (margherita)

Craft Kings - Pork Bulgogi Taco with Korean BBQ sauce and fresh apple cole slaw

Tastings - New York Style Cheesecake topped with Lake Niagara & Granny Smith Warm Compote


Did you go? What was your favorite?

Have you ever had a subscription box? I've had a few makeup ones, where a little box of surprises lands in your mailbox and it's like a mini Christmas. Imagine that - but all West Virginia-themed! That's the Wild and Wonderful Box. 

I've sent these to friends before who have moved out of state, but I recently decided to #treatyoself and sent myself one. And it came with ALL KINDS of goodies. You can hand-select a themed box or pick each item individually. Here's what I got in my box:

• Say Yes to New Adventures Journal
• JQ Dickinson Salt Works finishing salt & smoked salt
• Chestnut Hill Candle Company Country Roads Candle
• Loving WV decals
• Thomaswork bookmark & coaster
• Silver Market Co. Coal Miner's Stock Face & Body Bar
• Aroma of the Andes chocolate-covered espresso beans