what about the plastic animals?

Plak Mounting

Plak Mounting?

Seen in downtown Binghamton on my way upstate last week.

Original DiCarlo's Pizza

The restaurant doesn't look like much but DiCarlo's in Wheeling cooks up a mighty good pizza.

Did you know there was an Ohio Valley style of pizza?  I didn't either until I read Slice's regional pizza style round-up a while ago.  After reading that I knew I had to try a slice when I returned to the area.

Ohio Valley-style pizza is cooked in a pan and is square.  What gets cooked is the flaky crust topped with a slightly sweet tomato sauce.  You order by the slice.  When the pie comes out of the oven it is quickly cut and freshly grated provolone is sprinkled on top.  The cheese gets topped with a couple slices of pepperoni, placed in half a pizza box which then gets folded in half and secured with a rubber band.

I ate here on the Sunday night I got into town.  It was so good I decided to drive out to the original restaurant for lunch on Monday.  Google Maps let me down!  I punched in the address, followed the directions and found myself looking at a bunch of trees where the pizza shop should be.  Nor did I see pizza nearby.  Perfect motivation to head back to downtown Wheeling and have another couple of slices at DiCarlo's.

The Hempfield Viaduct and Tunnel

When I bring my bicycle along on a trip I like to check out the bike trails in the towns I stay in.  In my extensive research into Wheeling's bike trails (i.e. googling 'bike trail wheeling') I found out that Wheeling has a trail that runs through a tunnel.  A tunnel!  Who can resist riding a bike through a tunnel?

There's two trails in Wheeling.  I started out on the trail that paralleled the river then doubled back to find the one that led to the tunnel.  The trails intersect somewhere but I missed the sign.  Wheeling isn't very large so I just wandered around until I saw these road markings.  Aha!  The way to the tunnel.

To get to the tunnel you ride over the viaduct that crosses Wheeling Creek.  The tunnel and viaduct were built in the 1850s to connect Wheeling to points east by rail.  Both were designed by the same engineer who designed the Wheeling Suspension Bridge. The tunnel is only a few hundred feet long but it is a tunnel and that is all that mattered.  I didn't realize it at the time, but there's an infamous cave next to the tunnel.  (Actually if you want to know more about Wheeling you should just read Ryan's blog).

Three Quickies:

Looking to decorate?  Apartment Therapy used a photo of mine in a Toys as Decor post.

Photo of me harvesting corn in Illinois.  Or not.

The Hiny Heater can be yours for only $93.