Someone upstairs is doing me a solid by finally opening a DiCarlo's in North Central West Virginia. I've heard that yeas ago, Morgantown had one and it didn't do well. But now, Fairmont is the newest city to boast this perfect pizza place.

And, if you've spent any time on this blog - at all - you know that DiCarlo's has my heart. You can call it nostalgia; I'll call it damn good pizza. I then decided I wanted to visit all the West Virginia locations. And, I have. Fairmont, of course, would be no exception.

I reached out to ask DiCarlo's, though, about the subtle differences between locations. It turns out each location is independent, franchised or family run.

@Candace07 @dicarlospizza
Sadly, no. Although we come from the same origin, some locations are independent, franchised, or family run.

— DiCarlo's Pizza (@DiCarlos_Pizza) February 4, 2016

@Candace07 @dicarlospizza
All operate with similar products as to stay true to the original recipe. Fairmont will most like Wheeling.

— DiCarlo's Pizza (@DiCarlos_Pizza) February 4, 2016

I walked into the restaurant just days after opening to a still-training staff and a bit of confusion. Pepperoni rolls were on the counter, and they also offer calzones, wings, fries, and breadsticks.

I placed an order for two pieces with mushrooms. A bit later, I was handed a box lid folded over, encasing two pieces of culinary gold. The first thing I noticed was the finely shredded mozzarella cheese. And the mushrooms were underneath. Because I went so early in the day, I'm not sure the oven was hot enough or maybe it's just a result of a new place, but the crust could've been a bit more crisp. But, it's a good piece of pizza. Quality ingredients and the perfect blend of flavors; what more could you want?

Grade: A

CJ's Italian Kitchen was originally planned for a lovely lunch. I had a nice, planned out weekend, and this restaurant threw a wrench in my plans/ruined my life when they closed for lunch unexpectedly. Instead, I had to settle for a quick stop after dinner just for dessert.


Fortunately, dessert is right up front in the case when you walk into the restaurant.

There were CJ's Italian Kitchen desserts, as well as desserts from a nearby bakery, The Village Cakery.

I ordered a piece of the lemon cream cake from CJ's to go. I think part of the problem of having slices already portioned out is that the cake gets dried out. That was the case here. Sure, it tastes like a lemony cloud. But some more moisture in the cake layers would take this up a notch.

Grade: B

Lynn's Self Serve in Elkins is a gas station -- but it's not just any gas station! It has a growler fill station. How cool is that?

In 2015, after the passing of Senate Bill 273, this local gas station/convenience store began offering an eight-tap growler station that features local and seasonal beers. The growlers, which are available for a one-time fee of $4.59 (for a 32 ounce) and $4.99 (for a 64 ounce) in addition to the beer, uses a system that keeps beer fresh for 45 days.

I love that not only does offering craft beer gift this shop a leg up, it helps gain exposure for some local breweries.

McHappy's Bake Shoppe has a handful of locations in Ohio and two in Parkersburg. I stopped at their 7th Street location for a quick coffee and something sweet for the daylong trip ahead of me.

Inside, there are dozens of fresh donuts and other sweets tucked behind a glass case. Maple cream filled donuts, peanut butter glazed donut, McHappy's donut, applesauce donut, devil's food cake donut ... and so many more!

I ordered a raspberry filled donut and a caramel apple filled donut, grabbed my paper sack full of goodies and hit the road.

First up, the raspberry - sweet, but not overly sweet like some can be. Still, solid overall.

And the caramel apple was different, but very good. The caramel apple filling was pretty much the same interior you would get from an apple pie. The glaze on top was caramel-ly.

Both of these were quite tasty, and they will certainly satisfy that donut craving. Were they the best donuts I've ever had? No; but it's good in its own right.

Grade: B

Fisher Ridge Wine Co. is the first West Virginia wine I had that wasn't super sweet. Rather, Fisher Ridge has a good amount of semisweet and dry wines. They frequent the wine festival in Morgantown, but they don't have regular open tour hours, which has kept me from visiting them. 

That, and they're also located in Liberty, W.Va., which isn't really on the way to anything. It's a bit outside of Charleston. Fortunately, these people are incredible and provide excellent directions that helped even the two most navigationally challenged women find it.

When we finally pulled up, I was apprehensive. But, just a few seconds later, a woman warmly greeted us and ushered us inside. The ceiling was covered in cork, and a dozen bottles were spread across the table. We started making our way through the bottles with generous sample sizes in between crackers and cheese.

The owners are a hoot and definitely generous with that West Virginia hospitality. You feel right at home. They then took us around the place, touring and explaining the process. They even let us label a bottle.

My favorite wines included the Pork Barrel Pink and the Late Harvest Vidal. The latter of which was very sweet, and I'm pretty sure I ended up downing a half bottle. We sat and drank and ate and chatted for a while longer.

If we hadn't had plans for that evening, I think we could've stayed here and talked with these folks all day. It was easily the most fun, personable, engaging winery tour I've ever been on.



Give them a call. Spend your afternoon with them. You're welcome.

A little midday jaunt to Berdine's Five & Dime (which is so cool) led us to North Bend State Park (also cool), which led us to stumble upon Shemp's Cafe. As we made our way through the little town of Cairo, this ice cream shop just popped up out of nowhere. An who am I to say no to ice cream?

The shop has an old-school Three Stooges theme. They have a cute ice cream bar with all sorts of flavors like cherry nut, Turtle Tracks, Moose Tracks and butter pecan.

They also have a food menu full of fried appetizers, sandwiches, wings, pizza and stromboli.

I ordered a Turtle Tracks ice cream cone, because I can't really think of anything more fitting. Fun Fact: Moose Tracks- vanilla ice cream with chocolate chunks and peanut butter cups all swirled together in chocolately peanut butter goodness. Turtle Tracks- vanilla ice cream with chocolate caramel turtle chunks, with chocolate covered pecans and a caramel swirl.

Verdict: Turtle Tracks are pretty good. But, it was almost a little TOO sweet. It was kinda like pure sugar. And, I was totally bummed it wasn't this old ice cream shop restored and was instead crafted to look like that. But, it's cute and has ice cream, so it can't be all that bad.



Grade: B

The Blennerhassett Hotel is this beautiful landmark hotel in downtown Parkersburg that also happens to be home to Spats, a fine restaurant that spans a wide range of flavors.

Veronica and I stopped here for breakfast. Options included vegetable strata, classic eggs benedict, Scottish smoked salmon benedict, lemon blueberry ricotta pancakes, eggs, oatmeal and a smoked salmon bagel platter.

You thought I was going for the salmon bagel, right? Well, I thought about it. But the "Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes: Served with country style sausage patties or applewood smoked bacon" sounded too good to pass up.

I typically think of ricotta pancakes as these thick, fluffy pancakes with a creamy, almost custard-like center. These were much flatter and lacked that fluffy aspect I really wanted. They were piecey, but I could taste the lemon and the real blueberries - which was great. The sausage was good quality, too.

Overall, this was a fairly good breakfast. They treat you well, the food is good (even if it is a bit different than what I expected), and the atmosphere is lovely. I think I'd like to try another meal or two - because so many things looked delicious!


Grade: B

Mango Latin Bistro is a swanky restaurant in downtown Parkersburg that boasts a menu full of arepas, cubanos and other specialties.

The inside is sleek and modern. Veronica and I stopped here for second dinner. We were the only diners in there, with a few people hanging out around the bar area.

We were started with some bread, which was fine. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Next up was the entrees. I ordered the "Camarones a la Criolla" which is shrimp sautéed in a "criollo" style sauce. It came with two sides, so I went with ripe sweet plantains and french fries - because the other options were rice or black beans, both of which I've had many times prior.

The result is this kind of random mish-mash of items on my plate. Once I saw it, I realized I probably should've ordered rice to help with that sauce situation. The sauce was similar to a marinara? Not bad, but nothing entirely unique to me. The plantains were good. The fries OK. The combination odd.

For dessert, a piece of cake that I regret. It was a bit hard and dried out. I think it was just hanging out in the cooler already cut into pieces and uncovered which did it no favors.

Overall, I left a bit disappointed. Maybe I chose wrong. But I also wish the actual flavor was just a bit  ... more. Off night? Have you been?

Grade: C

During my trip to Parkersburg, I set up my home base at The Coffee Bar. I had a bit of time to kill and some work to do until Veronica got done with work, so I found myself squatting at the coffee shop.

This place is the cutest, first off. Minimal, light rustic wood, black accents and exposed brick. Totally adorable. I ordered a "Goldie Hawn," which has espresso, honey, steamed milk and vanilla.

And, I also ordered this sort of strawberry pastry that was crumbly and huge and delicious.


The coffee = a very soothing, good cup o' joe. The pastry = very sweet with small sugar crumbles all over the top with a thick layer of strawberry spread in the middle. Perfect combo.

Grade: A