Family's road trip reaches end of U.S. 250

Editor's note: Jason Werling, a former photographer for the Sandusky Register newspaper, traveled the entire length of the U.S. 250 highway — from Sandusky southeast to Richmond, Virginia — in 2011 with his young sons and chronicled the journey in the newspaper. Nearly 15 years later and to commemorate America 250, Werling and his now college-age sons are making the more than 500-mile journey once more this week. This article includes recaps of both days two and three of the voyage, through West Virginia and Virginia, respectively. Photos included here are all from the Virginia portion. Day 2 — West Virginia Most people would expect a John Denver reference while traveling the country roads of West Virginia, but I'm not going there. Or maybe I just did. The second day of the U.S. 250 Road Trip with the Werling Boys on included the 192 miles of the route and was more like Sheryl Crow's "Every Day is a Winding Road." We woke up on Wheeling Island in an Airbnb and traveled to our first stop of the day, a quaint breakfast place called Sarah's on Main. From there, we planned out the morning and a walk along the Ohio River. We had thought the iconic Suspension Bridge was off limits to pedestrians, but quickly learned at the Visit Wheeling, W. Va. visitors bureau that it was only closed to vehicles. We walked it and Will took a time-lapse video of a barge leaving and some rain arriving. We stopped at a food/bar/concert venue called Waterfront Hall. The place opened three years ago and is a very eclectic venue with a great view of the river. Will found a piano and played what he could of "Ave Maria," the available sheet music on site. The boys really enjoyed Wheeling — there is a good vibe for the city and you would think it is much bigger than Sandusky, but the population is similar. We'd like to return when we have more time to spend there and maybe catch a concert at Waterfront Hall. We drove through Glen Dale, W. Va., which is the hometown of Brad Paisley. I forgot to mention during our drive through Cadiz, Ohio, it was the birthplace of Clark Gable. Our next stop was Moundsville and the Grave Creek Mound and West Virginia Penitentiary. With our limited time to get through the state, we had to decide which one we would tour and the prison tour was 90 minutes. We opted for the mound and got our workout in climbing the spiral stone steps up to the top. There was a great view of the penitentiary and surrounding area. We missed Moundsville on our first trip in 2011, but I'm glad we stopped this time. After leaving Moundsville, the trip got a lot more "mountainy." I trust the boys' driving skills, but I'm a horrible passenger so I took this leg of the trip. If you like hills and curves, this is the trip for you. If you get car sick, this is not the trip for you. We drove through the towns of Cameron, Hundred, Junior, Mannington and others through this stretch of U.S. 250 in West Virginia. This part of the trip was a tale of two turtles. We saw two turtles crossing the road at separate parts of the journey and turned around for both to try and help them cross safely. We were 1 for 2 in our efforts as a red-eared slider was hit before we could reach it, but we were able to pick up a box turtle and Payton safely transported it to a calmer berm of a side road. U.S. 250 crosses the Tygart Valley River in Phillippi via a historic bridge. The two-lane covered bridge is the oldest and longest in West Virginia and was built in 1852. Check out a video of us crossing the bridge at facebook.com/250roadtrip as there are also more photos to see there as well. Our final stretch of the route took us through the Monongahela National Forest before opening up to Virginia. The views during this part of the journey could be hung on a wall or put on a puzzle. Both boys had their phones out, but in a good way, as they took photos of the mountainside trees and prairies. We finished day two just over the state line in Monterey, Virginia and will pick up there on our third and final day of the journey. We hope you are enjoying the trip so far and have an inkling to do your own road trip in the future. Day 3 — Virginia Virginia is for (Lake Erie) Lovers. That was our slogan as we drove our third and final state of U.S. 250. Our morning started off at the Monterey Inn in Monterey, Va. We had barely crossed over the state line the night before as we wrapped up day two of the trip in West Virginia. We stayed and woke up at the Monterey Inn Bed & Breakfast, a must-visit if you plan to take your own road trip on 250. The B&B is on the main intersection of town in Highland County and the area is known for its Maple Festival. The inn is celebrating its third anniversary and the owner, Valentina, gave us some helpful hints on our way out the door. We had three-and-a-half mountains to traverse before getting to Staunton, our first planned stop of the day. And she wasn't wrong as we climbed and coasted the Shenandoah mountains for the first part of our day. Valentina said her favorite view along the route doesn't have a pull-off area, but I told her we have two passenger photographers able to try to capture it. The three of us also stopped at a pull-off as we did 15 years ago at the Confederate Breastworks. You can Google it, but the name isn't what you might think. Once we drove over the three-and-a-half mountains we arrived in Staunton, pronounced STAN-ton, and were immediately welcomed by Gypsy Hill Park to the right of U.S. 250 as you enter the city. The park is massive with several ballfields, a train for kids, a duck pond and several playgrounds. The boys and I visited the same park in 2011 and we took a few photos that trip including one with a sit-on T-Rex. I told the boys during this trip that if the T-Rex is still there, we are recreating the photo. And it was, and we did. What we didn't do in 2011 was spend time in the City of Staunton. This time around, we parked the car and each went our separate three ways to explore. Payton checked out many of the shops on the narrow streets of the business district. Will checked out the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum. And I checked out the Visit Staunton, Va. Visitors Center, the Staunton Amtrak Station, the Augusta County Courthouse and a few shops including the Yelping Dog, a wine and craft beer shop known for their grilled cheese sandwiches. The Guac & Goat sandwich didn't disappoint. I was able to get a few updates posted to our site (facebook.com/250roadtrip) while having a grilled cheese and beer. The three of us met back up at the car and Payton took the wheel for the first time of the trip as we embarked for Charlottesville, home of the University of Virginia. In between Staunton and Charlottesville, we stopped at what felt like three dozen stop lights in Waynesboro, but we survived. During our original trip in 2011, we had a road trip rule of whenever the boys saw an ice cream place, we would have to stop. Fast forward to 2026 and that rule was still in place, but I made my own rule of whenever I saw a brewery, we had to stop. And Charlottesville has its fair share of breweries. I let the boys off easy with a few samples along the way. We had a quick bite to eat at the Mellow Mushroom as we did with the original trip and recreated a couple more photos. There is definitely a college town vibe in Charlottesville. We headed back on the road for the final stretch of U.S. 250 into Richmond, but not without attempting a stop at Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. It was closed by the time we got there, so we jumped back on U.S. 250. The straight tree-lined section included 70 miles of the route from Charlottesville to Richmond and consisted of rolling hills, a welcomed sight after all of our mountain driving during the previous day and prior morning drive. We arrived in Richmond much later than planned. I had reached out to the Visit Richmond, Va. team prior to the trip and they were very helpful on family-friendly places to visit while we were in town. Unfortunately, the Virginia Museum of Science was closed and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was about to close as we drove Broad Street (U.S. 250) into its final mile in the capital city. There were several murals and breweries along the way. I grabbed photos of the murals, but spared the boys from stopping at each brewery with the exception of one. The Answer Brewpub has a connection to Sandusky as the same family owns CLAG brewing and Mekong restaurants. Did you know that there are two Mekong Restaurants on U.S. 250? One in Sandusky and one in Richmond. Did you also know there are two related amusement parks at both starts/ends of U.S. 250? Cedar Point in Sandusky and Kings Dominion in Richmond. Purchase the right season pass and you can gain entry to both. As the sun was going down on the final 167 Virginian miles of U.S. 250, the sun was also setting on our trip. We had a few rolling hills as we met the "End- U.S. 250" sign at the corner of E. Broad and N. 23rd Street in Richmond. We jumped out of the car for a final photo just steps away from where Patrick Henry gave his "Give me Liberty, or give me Death" speech during the 1775 Convention at St. John's Episcopal Church. We want to thank all of you for giving us the liberty to take this trip and would recommend you celebrate America's 250th birthday by taking a trip on your own or with family this summer. We live in a great region of the country, including Shores & Islands Ohio, Wheeling, Staunton, Charlottesville, Richmond, and everything in between along U.S. 250.