Weekend Visit to Granny in Huntington, WV: Antiques, Oddities, and Road-Trip Fun

A few weeks ago we loaded the car, crossed a few rivers and drove through woods to spend a weekend with my 89-year-old grandmother in Huntington, West Virginia. The trip was mostly about family time—eating, catching up, and holding a 2-month-old baby—since my parents and my cousin Erin, along with her son Finn, joined us. We did fit in several small adventures around town that felt worth sharing, now that we finally recovered the camera cord and rescued the photos from our old point-and-shoot.

Of course there was a required photo of Clara with her great-grandmother. They were both styling in purple and looked adorable together.

We only had about 36 hours there, so Saturday became our big activity day. We wandered downtown, browsed shops, visited a park, and treated ourselves to ice cream. At one gift shop we finally found the long-sought giraffe Jellycat that had been on our list for ten months—Clara was genuinely delighted to meet her new soft friend.

The shop also displayed frames made from recycled tires. The weathered surface showed all the scratches and marks from the tire’s previous life, and the matte finish felt unexpectedly elegant and modern.

One of the highlights was exploring a part of town called Old Central City, which is packed with antique and vintage stores. From the outside the area looks a bit like an old western main street, but inside the shops were crammed with interesting finds, and even a few locals browsing the aisles.

We popped into half a dozen antique stores and found a mix of beautiful, odd and quirky items. Ornate white candle sconces caught our eye; painted in a bold color like teal or plum they would look striking on a wall. Sherry was drawn to almost every ceramic, glass, or metal animal she came across—from an open-mouthed horse head that she finally dismissed as “too grinny” to a large iron alligator that won her affection but was too pricey to bring home.

I was more attracted to faded book covers and retro packaging. A stack of old technical books about mundane subjects—concrete, for example—still had strong graphic appeal. Their covers would work well as framed art or blown up as oversized canvases. I regretted not buying them on the spot.

A shelf of vintage toiletries and old “snake oil” bottles appealed to my weakness for early packaging. Some of the bottles still contained sticky residues—like a bottle of grenadine syrup with clotted liquid—that were a little gross but interesting from a historical perspective.

Large typographic pieces and art-deco signage also drew us in. Bold letters and vintage signage have a way of transforming a room, and we kept imagining where single letters might look best around our house. In the end we did purchase a set of oversized decorative keys for a bargain price; after a coat of white paint they’ll likely find a spot in our hallway gallery.

No antique run is complete without the weird and wonderful. We laughed at an amusing beer sign that read “You’ll like Burger: the beer you can stay with,” and admired a creative lamp made from an old cheese grater filled with Christmas lights—simple, clever and perfect for rustic table decor.

Other curiosities included stacks of campaign buttons from past decades, a couple of quirky chicken-themed trophies, and a framed Yellowstone National Park flyer warning visitors about buffalo attacks. That flyer brought back memories: my family picked one up on a trip years ago and I once used it as an ironic dorm-room decoration.

For lunch we tried Hillbilly Hot Dogs, a spot that fully commits to its theme in an entertaining way. The decor ranges from bathtub booths with shower curtains to outhouse-style seating, and tables propped by plungers. The menu matches the bold styling—hot dogs topped with ingredients like pepperoni, fried eggs, bacon, slaw and salsa. It looked wild, but the food was surprisingly good and everyone enjoyed the meal.

As for Clara, she handled the drive like a champion. The two 6.5-hour trips were easier than expected: she slept some, entertained herself most of the time, and calmed down with tunes from baby music class whenever needed. Even though one song—“She’ll Be Coming ’Round The Mountain”—started to wear thin, her contentment made the repetition worth it.

The trip wasn’t without mishaps. In a classic accidental moment, a shaken can of Fresca sprayed inside the car, leaving sticky spots and an unfortunate target—the pants of the most willing team member who took the brunt of it with good humor.

All in all, it was a short but memorable visit filled with family moments, surprising vintage finds, and small adventures that made the road trip worthwhile. We’re always on the lookout for new places to explore within driving distance—if you have recommendations for interesting antique districts, quirky restaurants, or scenic drives, we’d love to hear them.