How to Bridge Day: Get here early to beat the crowds so you can eat!
Friday is Taste of Bridge Day. It is legendary, and for a good cause. You buy tickets, and these tickets get you sample-sized bites of all the local restaurants’ best stuff! There is a full bar, and our local brewery Bridge Brew Works shows off their stuff.
The venue is the campus of our friends at Adventures On The Gorge. They have a wonderful setting for this kind of event. You do want to get in early and try as many different types of dishes and you can, because the crowd favorites and the winners will run out before its over.
You will want to get back to your cabin at Opossum Creek Retreat at a reasonable hour to be well-rested for Bridge Day itself.
Yes, I am sure this is why you are planning to come all the way to Fayette County, West Virginia: to eat your way through the weekend. But hear me out.
Let’s start with the morning rush. Everyone loves pancakes, and funnel cakes are pancakes on steroids, really. I volunteer on Bridge Day, getting up before dawn to set up the Chamber’s tent and both… not because I am civic-minded, nope! I do it just so I can get behind the gates and get to one of these crazy concoctions bright and early. Plus, you get to eat them with your hands, and that makes everything better! Come to think of it, everything today is finger food!
Now it’s time to walk out on the bridge, and maybe cross the bridge and have lunch! Or second breakfast. Now it gets much harder to decide: turkey legs? Yes. Gyros? Yes. Massive hoagie with french fries? YES. Wait, prime rib sandwich or fajitas or BBQ? I need more days! Or help. It is really good to bring help so you can divide and conquer, each ordering something different and sharing tastes.
Okay, time for more walking back across the bridge, stopping to take part in the spectacle, enjoying the views and the people. Now, it’s time for a sweet snack. Kettle corn or hand-squeezed lemonade, maybe a carmel apple, or— you guessed it— funnel cake!
Once the festival closes, take the quick trek over to downtown Fayetteville, where the fun is just getting started. And by fun, I of course mean food! Sample the entires in the chili cook-off while you enjoy the live music.
Then take the long walk back to the car after pounding the pavement all day. You will be so glad you have a hot tub and a cozy cabin to recover in.
Day 3 is the best! Sleep in, take a driving tour into the gorge you were peering down on yesterday, maybe a hike out to long point or diamond point. And go find that full-size serving of your favorite taste from the Taste of Bridge Day and enjoy! You have earned it.
Good vacationing! Hope to see you again soon.
