Login|Free Signup
       
05-23-08 - Day 01

First day of our trip....we left home about 8am, arriving in Wheeling about 9pm. What a long drive!

The only pictures I took today were some night shots of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge from the balcony of the Wheeling Inn where we spent the next 4 nights.
albums: 1
05-24-08 - Day 02
Day 2 - woke up kind of early this morning and went our wandering around taking pictures of the bridge. I noticed a stairway leading down from the hotel to the bike/jog path and decided to see where it might lead. I wandered down the path trying to find a good spot to get some pics of the bridge when along the way I found some interesting things. See the Suspension Bridge folder in this album.

Got back to the room, woke up Malinda, got cleaned up and we went to find the Mt. de Chantal to meet Sister Mary Grace Flynn in person. See the Mt de Chantal album in this folder.

We left the Mt. and grabbed some lunch, afterwhich, we went and found Mt Calvary Cemetery where our ancestors are buried. See Mount Calvary Cemetery album in this folder.

We then went and found 18 Ruby Ave. This is where James and Grace Flynn lived. See 18 Ruby Ave album in this folder.

Off to Moundsville to see the old West Virginia State Penitentiary. We had picked up a flyer in the hotel lobby and the gal at the front desk said it was well worth the 15 - 20 minute drive. See West Virginia State Penitentiary album in this folder.

We wrapped up the day by visiting Cabela's. See Cabelas album.
albums: 8
05-25-08 - Day 03
Day 3 - Started the day in Mount Calvary Cemetery again. I wanted to get pictures of James Jr. and Thomas O'Brien Flynn's markers and thier wives. While looking for them, we came across many other names that were familiar to me. See 01. Mount Calvary Cemetery album in this folder.

About 12:30, we headed for lunch. We were invited to have lunch with Bob and Crystal Baranowski. She preprared salads and home made spaghetti for us. Crystal has been helping me find information on the Flynn family in the Wheeling area, starting with a copy of Grace O'Brien Flynn's obit. From there, things just flourished and she has been a wealth of information!! Without her help, we wouldnt have half the information we have on the West Virginia Flynn's!!

She then took us on a grand tour of Wheeling, too many places to name individually. See 02. Grand Tour of Wheeling album in this folder.

After we dropped Crystal back off at home, we drove back through Oglebay Resort to get some pics. While we were there, we picked up a map of the grounds at the gift shop. One of the points of interest on the map that caught my eye was the waterfall. Off through the woods we went!! Although the waterfall wasnt what I was expecting, it was still worth shooting. See 04. Oglebay Resort album in this folder.

Back to the hotel. After relaxing for a bit, I talked Malinda into walking across the suspension bridge, at night!! Got some pics of the bridge, some pics of the shoreline, a barge going under us, and some snaps of each other on the bridge... see 05. Suspension Brige album in this folder.
albums: 6
05-26-08 - Day 04
Day 4 - Got up this morning and headed out to get some more pictures of the bridge. Took a walk across the bridge and got some shots from the other side also. See Suspension Bridge album in this folder.

Took a walk up the street to where the Fort Henry once stood and got a couple pics of the historical marker sign. Also got some pics of the Capitol Music Hall. Then walked up the street into the 1st block of the Victorian section of town. See the Around Town album in this folder.

Off to find Tunnel Green. Yesterday, Crystal showed us a place to pick up the trail to Tunnel Green. We walked up the trail and found the tunnel. We walked through the tunnel to the other side where we found a sign describing where we were. It noted Wetzel's Cave also. After getting some pics of the tunnel, we went into the woods looking for Wetzel's Cave..... see Tunnel Green album in this folder.

After leaving Tunnel Green, we drove up Rock Point Road a bit further and found the old cemetery above Tunnel Green, called Manchester Cemetery. This old cemetery has been abandoned and forgotten....kind of creepy walking through all the mishapped headstones, most of which you cant read, some sunken into the ground, some overgrown with trees and weeds that you can barely see... see Manchester Cemetery album in this folder.

About 12:00 we headed back to Mt. de Chantal to pick up Sister Mary Grace. We went to Perkins and got some lunch and chit chatted about family history. When we were done, she lead us around town to show us some parts of town she remembers. She took us to the Cathedral but it was locked up and closed for the day. She took us past the bank where there is a plaque on the outside wall in rememberence of James R Flynn. She took us by a home she lived in on National Road. We went past 18 Ruby Ave again. See Mt de Chantal and Around Town with Sister Mary Grace albums in this folder.
albums: 6
05-27-08 - Day 05
Day 5 - Started the day with another trip to Tunnel Green. I wanted to find the geocache at this location and drop off a geocoin I picked up in Iowa. I also wanted to shoot some night vision pictures in the tunnel....you never know what you might find!! I shot a short night vision video while walking through the tunnel too. I hope to post it here on Fotki soon.
We located the geocache, dropped the coin, picked up some swag and hit the road. See Tunnel Green and Geocache album in this folder. Next stop, McColloch's Leap.

McColloch's Leap is a memorial to Samuel McColloch who, when surrounded by Indians, lead his horse over a cliff in an effort to escape. Both he and the horse survived the fall. They walked through the creek to the other side and disappeared into the woods.
See McColloch's Leap album in this folder.

While Crystal was showing us around town, we drove past Mt Wood Cemetery. From the road, it looked like a very interesting cemetery so today we decided to go back and explore.... see Mt Wood Cemetery album in this folder.

Having some time to kill before we make our way to the Catholic Heritage Center, we stopped by the Intelligencer to see if we could find the picture of Thomas O'Brien Flynn under the bridge. The folks there were real helpful and took us up to the Executive Offices to see the picture. We took the picture down and got some snapshots of it. See the Intelligencer album in this folder.

We left the Intelligencer and headed for Centre Market. We browsed through some of the shops and I got some pics of some of the historic buildings. See Centre Market album in this folder.

Next we made our way over the Catholic Heritage Center. Here I was able to go through some microfische files and print some church docs. I found James and Graces marriage record, James' baptism record, and some other misc documents. See Heritage Center album in this folder.

Last stop, Independence Hall. I wanted to stop bere because Sister Mary Grace mentioned that there was a picture of her Great Grandfather, Thomas O'Brien here. Again, the folks were real helpful and took us upstairs to the hall of portraits where we found the Col.'s portrait. Took some snapshots. We wandered the halls before leaving. See Independence Hall album in this folder.

After leaving Independence Hall, we went back to the hotel, gathered up our stuff and headed for home.....

This was a very eventful trip, from getting to meet Sister Mary Grace in person, meeting Crystal and her husband Bob, doing some family research at the Heritage Center, wandering Mount Calvary Cemetery, seeing the town, and experiencing some of the history. This is definitely somewhere I would like to visit again someday....
albums: 7
All photos are property of Sean Flynn, please respect my copyrights. I can be contacted at seanagainflynn@mchsi.com  Thank You!
001 - Favorite Pics
photos: 85 (200 MB)
Comments: 75
Hits today: 0
Visitors today: 0
view album
All photos are property of Sean Flynn, please respect my copyrights. I can be contacted at seanagainflynn@mchsi.com  Thank You!
002 - Misc Literature
photos: 26 (69 MB)
No comments
Hits today: 0
Visitors today: 0
view album