Guest Post by Rachelle Bott Beckner For more than seven decades, the Botts have stayed in various cabins at Watoga State Park. The family fished, swam, hiked, and rode horses at the stables. This is Rachelle Bott Beckner’s memories about growing up spending summer vacations at Watoga. Cabins Have Personality Too It’s difficult to choose …
Read more “Watoga: How Our Grandparents Gave Us This Lifelong Gift”
Have you ever seen an arrowhead at Watoga State Park? Recently, I spoke to two gentleman (both named Ken) who found arrowheads at the park. Finding an Arrowhead with your Dad — Priceless Ken Caplinger, former Watoga Assistant Superintendent (1979-1984), later served as West Virginia State Parks Chief and is now a board member of …
Read more “Arrowhead Discoveries in All the Right Places at Watoga”
The Road Not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted …
Read more “Growing Up at Watoga State Park — The Paved Road Not Taken”
A Fourth of July Uncola Pyramid? With the Fourth of July just a few days away, I was thinking about our country’s 200th birthday in 1976. What was I doing as a teenager growing up at Watoga State Park? Sure, there were picnics, hot dogs, baseball, firecrackers, and the swimming pool. But just why was …
Read more “A Fourth of July Uncola Adventure at Watoga State Park”
For more than seven decades, the Botts have fished, swam, hiked, and oftentimes stayed at Cabin 20 at Watoga State Park. This is Flora Jane Bott’s memories about the swimming pool, that cabin next door and the park. Cabin 20 “It was next to impossible to contain our excitement as we drove closer to park …
Read more “One Family’s Love Affair with Watoga, the Swimming Pool and Cabin 20”
Seventy-Two Years at Watoga Four generations of the Bott family have stayed at Cabin 20, nestled in the pines next to the swimming pool at Watoga State Park. For 72 years, the Botts have fished, swam, hiked, and along the way have made countless memories at the state’s largest recreation area. Specifically, from 1957-1967, these …
Read more “One Family’s Love Affair with Watoga, the Swimming Pool and Cabin 20”
A Continuing Series Ahh, Memorial Day weekend is here! And, while growing up at Watoga State Park, the swimming pool is the place to be! This is the last year for the pool (a new one is in the works), but not the last year for memories about this legendary swimming spot. In particular, many …
Read more “The Swimming Pool at Watoga — The Day It Snowed!”
My Favorite Swimming Pool in the Whole Wide World For 80 years at the Watoga State Park Swimming Pool, countless sunbathers and swimmers have graced its water and tread on its time-worn concrete decks. Tentatively, this will be the last summer for the pool as we now know it. Plans are underway for the construction …
Read more “The Swimming Pool at Watoga — A Continuing Series”
“We are the Copperheads — the mighty, mighty Copperheads. Everywhere we go, people wanna know, so we tell them.” This chant is still the battle cry for Marlinton Middle School today as it was at my ole stompin’ grounds in the 1970s. Regardless, I am not a fan of snakes! Without a doubt, those copperheads …
Read more “The Copperheads — Fight or Flight? Maybe Fright?”
You may be familiar with the idiom “opening a can of worms,” but what about “opening a can of black snakes”? In fact, this is the story about a can of black snakes rearing their heads and hissing! For reptile lovers, copperheads, rattlesnakes and black snakes can be found at Watoga State Park. However, this …