Dark Tourism & Abandoned Adventures: West Virginia Day 3

This day was long awaited. I had planned a trip to Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum for years. I finally made it ! I want to make it clear, I did not set out on this trip with the purpose of paranormal investigation. My intentions are history, photography, experience, memories, and appreciation. The reason I’m specifying that I’ll mention momentarily. As I mentioned in Day 2, there was a devestating flood in Weston. Understandably a lot of places were closed. I checked to ensure the asylum would be open though before going, I attempted to visit Appalachian Oddities. I wanted to show support and visit with similar folks. Unfortunately they were closed. (I went after leaving the asylum, hoping they were opening late, but unfortunately they were still closed.)

Rolling up to Trans-Allegheny, it met all of my expectations. It was HUGE, eerie, and beautiful.

There was a tent in the front lawn where you meet your tour group. Parking was convenient. As soon as I stepped out of the car, I immediately got nauseous. Was it excitement and anticipation? Hopefully.

We hadn’t decided which tour(s) we wanted to take. There were many options. Ideally the VIP tour would have been it, but that’s only available on Mondays, this was Friday.

Two guides standing at the door gave us advice on which tour to choose. They suggested the daytime paranormal tour and criminally insane. Due to the floors covered in the paranormal tour, that’s why it was selected.

Once you purchase tickets you wait for your group and guide to meet at the tent. Then the tour begins. Before or after the tour there is plenty of things to check out in the museum and the gift shop.

Our tour guide was one of the few staff members not dressed in costume. The costumes were what you would have seen staff wearing during their prime. Our guide was very nice. The group size wasn’t huge which was a plus.

I’m going to highlight the positives first: the building is a perfect blend of abandoned and restored. The guides was knowledgeable. Researching some history before going is of course suggested. The staff was super friendly, photo ops were plenty.

The downside for me: The paranormal stories shared during the tour were genuine, but didn’t really interest me. But like I said that’s not why I was there. I just wanted to view the areas.

That is not to say that enormous amounts of lingering energy wasn’t present. It absolutely was. I felt sick and had a migraine which progressively got worse during the tour. The only area I felt some relief and lighter energy, surprisingly, was the alcoholics ward . I’m not a fan of alcohol or drunkenness so this was shocking for me.

After the first tour ended, I still wasn’t feeling well, but continued on to the second tour. It was already purchased and covering the criminally insane so no way was I missing that.

The energy got worse. I held no expectations because things are rarely what you’d imagine. But in this instance the observable obvious would be true. I was so sick, I was internally rushing the tour to end so I could leave. Once the tour was over, we hauled ass out of there. I felt like I couldn’t leave quick enough. Not out of fear, but out of energy not out of fear, but out of energy urgency. It was a little bit after we left before I felt some relief. The energy there is horrible. I imagine paranormal investigators have a field day there when the sun goes down. For the empaths though, it’s torture. I’m happy to have had the experience checked off my bucket list, but I have no desire to go back and feel that ever again. The rest of the evening and the next morning I felt like an overemotional and drained meat suit. We maid the drive to Charleston that evening, where we would be spending the next two (and final) nights of our trip. We stayed in downtown. I had never been there before. It reminded me of Knoxville in a way. We doordashed Kel’s Tavern. The goal of our food experience throughout the trip was to: things we don’t have at home, affordable, small business if possible. The tavern was great. The food arrived fast and fresh. Tip: order from the kids menu if you don’t eat large portions. The next morning was a rough start, but turned out to be one of my favorites ! I will be posting about that in the next blog entry.