Last year, it was a very rainy and gloomy event. We still had a great time, but the weather was not on our side. This year was the exact opposite! The weather was sunny, and the atmosphere was perfect!
This was my third time attending this festival, and it is a favorite. Point Pleasant is a nice, cozy little town with a touch of weirdness (and I mean that in a very positive way). It is right on the Ohio River, and it has a beautiful downtown area with fun and unique attractions.We arrived in town early Saturday morning, and parked. The town is just the right size to where it can have a cool event like this, but there is still plenty of free parking close by.
We parked next to the Coffee Grinder, and decided to go there first. The Mothman Festival Facebook page mentioned that these guys would be selling Mothman cookies. I totally had to get some of them!The Coffee Grinder was a cool shop that felt much more like a persons kitchen than a commercial site. We liked this place! AND, at $2 each, we bought several Mothman Cookies!
As we made our way to the festival area, we noticed a small crowd gathered around this guy- Turtleman! He was an unannounced guest that people seemed to love. I have to be honest, I have never seen his show, but I do remember seeing him at the first Mothman Festival I attended several years ago. Kids were all over him!
We made our way to the Harris Steakhouse for breakfast. This place is so authentically retro! I am not sure if it has had one upgrade since it opened in 1969, and I hope it stays that way! You have to love a place that has refused updates. AND, keeping up with the Twilight Zonish theme of the area, there are taxidermied chickens on display, and drawings done by local school kids on the wall.
We were able to chat a bit with the restaurants legendary owner, Carolin Harris (who kindly signed my copy of the Mothman Prophecies). She was super sweet and a pure joy. Even though it was early, she let us order Mothman Burgers! By the way, Mothman Burgers are AMAZING but make sure you do some walking afterwards! They can't be good for you. Oh, we had 3 Mothman Burgers, fries, and drinks for under $20! The price was retro too!After that, we hit the new Mothman Museum! Actually, this is the same museum, it just moved across the street. The new location is an obvious upgrade, and I love the new set up! There is now a nice gift shop in the front that is well organized, and the actual museum pieces are in the back. It is only a few bucks to go in.
There are plenty of props from the Mothman Prophecies movie, and there are lots of other items relating to the original sightings, John Keel, the various comic books, etc.
On this trip, I picked up some of the guitar picks, buttons and coffee they have! You can find a cool souvenir here for as cheap as a buck.
Jeff Wamsley runs the museum and the festival. I have talked to him here and there before. I went over to say hey to him at the festival and he greeted me like an old friend (though I am certain he could not have remembered me). He is just a nice guy. The thing I really like about Jeff is his dedication to the Mothman legend, and to the festival. Admission to the festival is $0. ZERO DOLLARS. He is doing this to promote the community and the legend, not for personal gain.More on the festival tomorrow!
Ah yes! You did get to see Turtleman. The guy is a true original, he's a real life Hillbilly Superhero in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThe new Mothman Museum looks real slick.
Yeah, Turtleman is something. I don't think he took a break! Throughout the day while we were there, I heard several small children ask excitedly, "where is Turtleman?" THAT was cool!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I can't say enough about how cool the new Mothman Museum is!