The Mothiest Man you've ever seen

 Mothman Festival 2022

Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Take me home, country roads!🎶
West Virginia! Mountain Mothmaaaan!🎶🎵

It all started because I wanted to visit the Mothman Museum.

I'd read the Mothman Prophecies waaay back in college, and Mothman

was always one of my more favorite cryptids. On a previous trip that involved

a half marathon-gone-bust due to Covid, we had to nix the extra travel hours to get to Point Pleasant.

But then I found out they had a Mothman Festival in September.

So I asked the Momster if she wanted to join me. 

This is my report.

We arrived in Point Pleasant after a day of driving across

Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Once you cross the Ohio River, you're there.

First stop: the statue. And to get a feel for where things were situated.

Our hotel was in Ripley, which is about 25-ish minutes away, so I wanted

to get an idea where everything was in town before we came back the next morning.

Saturday morning. Day 1.

We ran the Mothman 5K!

Great way to see the town and get the blood going before the festival starts.

It was foggy.

After the race, I waited in line for tickets for the hayrack ride later that day,

and Momster stayed at the race finish to get her race award. The tickets for 

the hayrides are day of purchases, cash only, and first come, first serve. 

I definitely wanted to check that out, so was happy to get our spots reserved.

Then it was off to the Main Street to take in the festival.

Lots of vendors, food tents and trucks, local shops.

Folks dressed in Mothman costumes, or other spooky characters.

On the riverfront, there was a stage set up with entertainment.

We got some food and watched some clog dancers while we snacked.

Found a lemonade stall with souvenir cups. Got some lemonade to slurp, 

(gotta stay hydrated) and returned the next day for a refill.

After the fog lifted, it wound up being a wonderful day.

Warm and sunny.

The Mothman's first sighting was in 1966. It was seen by

people in the area for about 12 months, then the Silver Bridge collapsed,

and it wasn't seen again.

The bridge collapsed because it was old and in disrepair.

46 people, including children, were killed.

Back to the fair, there were some really great costumes wandering around.

I spy a moth.

We stopped in to listen to a guest speaker talk about maybe finding a sasquatch.

Behind this schedule, you can see a part of a print I bought. 

The artist is George Coghill and you can check out his stuff here.

After a full morning of being way overstimulated, it was time to

bug out of town and check out the West Virginia State Farm Museum.

It's a collection of buildings that contain farm artifacts, antique items 

(like this old jukebox), and a huge collection of taxidermied animals.

Including this giant horse. A Belgian named General.

Another building had stuffed animals that were hunted.

It was finally time for our hayrack ride.

The ride was part informational, part haunted attraction.

A few oddballs came out the forest to scare us, including a guy in a ghillie suit.

Because I'd be disappointed if there wasn't a guy in a ghillie suit.

The ride isn't very long, because the area isn't very big. But it was a good time,

and well worth the effort to get tickets. We were also treated to the ramblings of

a Man in Black as we were driven into and out of the woods.

Sunday, Day 2.

We had to check out Biscuit World. Iowa doesn't have Biscuit World.

The billboard on the road into Ripley was too intriguing.

Before wandering back into town, we stopped for a moment at Krodel Park.

The fog was just lifting off the lake. Nice quiet moment before returning to the chaos.

I wanted to get into town early to get into the Mothman Museum.

There was already a line when we got there (45 minutes before open).

So Momster held our spot and I got into the coffee line at the nearby coffee shop.

Got a couple Mothman cookies with my coffee.

Start the day right.

There is actually a fair bit of history here on the banks of the Ohio River.

I tried to take some of it in, between the Bigfoots and the Hodags.

We finally got into the museum and learned a bit more about the Mothman lore.

Men in Black were reported being seen around the time of the sightings.

As well as numerous UFO sightings.

Why not, indeed.

Who ya gonna call?

Then it was time for the bus tour to the TNT area.

The TNT area was the site of an ammunitions plant during WWII.

The plant was decommissioned after the war but the structures were left standing and 

the area became a public space. You can drive in and check it out yourself,

(and we did, actually), but we also took the guided tour via bus.

It's a short drive out to the TNT site.

A beautiful day.

The water features are all artificial. They were put in as a water source in

the event of a fire at any of the ammunition bunkers. 

I'm pretty sure the water is still contaminated from the nearby power plant,

in addition to the ammo war activities, so I don't recommend going near the water.

Igloo bunker entrances.

There are hundreds of these structures all over the site.

Igloo shaped.

Back in town, it was time to eat our Mothman cookies!

Definitely needed a snack after walking around in the sun.

The alien glasses I found in Roswell were a big hit.

Lots of compliments from folks. 

And they worked well as actual sunglasses.

We took some time to go through the 

Tu-Endie-Wei State Park. It is the smallest state park I've ever visited.

Only about the size of a city block, two sides bound in by the Ohio River.

After deciding that we've seen everything and done everything the

festival had to offer, we said goodbye to the Mothman and headed back to 

the hotel. But first, we took another stop at Krodel Park for a walk around the pond.

Had a close encounter with a heron.

Momster had to check out the Piggly Wiggly.

After another visit to Biscuit World, we departed early Monday morning and 

turned the rental car towards Iowa.

Mothy goodies from the festival.

It was a great weekend. Everyone we met was so nice,

and because the festival catered to the oddball, it was a 

safe place for fellow oddballs to be. Folks just gathered and

enjoyed the festivities, appreciating creative costumes and artwork,

eating the food, and generally just having a good time.

I give the festival 5 out of 5 Moths.

Do recommend.