West Virginia Department of Commerce 100 Hot Places for Cool Living

Parween Mascari is a native of Parkersburg, W.Va. She is an attorney with the law firm of Jackson Kelly PLLC in Morgantown, W.Va.

Mascari writes, "I pride myself on being a life-long West Virginia resident and love being involved in my community, with efforts to show off the beauty of our state." Mascari helped found Generation Morgantown, a young professionals group in the Morgantown area and is active with Generation West Virginia.

Mascari shares her top 100 West Virginia places:

1. Snowshoe Mountain - everything about it –nightlife –Ember, Foxfire, Red Rover Wine Dive and Doggery in the village – skiing, tubing, mountainbiking, etc. – amazing golf, shooting skeet, sporting clays, etc.
2. Greenbrier River Trail, Mon River Trail and other river trails
3. Bridge Day – New River Gorge Bridge
4. Greenbrier Resort – White Sulphur Springs – casino – bunker tour is fantastic – spa, golf, etc.
5. General Lewis Inn - Lewisburg
6. Stonewall Resort - Roanoke
7. Blennerhassett Hotel - Parkersburg
8. Café Cimino (now a bed and breakfast) – Sutton
9. Richwood Cafe – Morgantown
10. Café Bacchus – Morgantown
11. Sargasso – Morgantown
12. Vintage Room – Morgantown
13. Fayetteville area – all of it – Pizzas n’ Pints 
14. Harpers Ferry – site of famous raid
15. Berkeley Springs (formerly known as Bath)
16. Green Bank National Radio Observatory
17. Cass Scenic Railroad
18. Canaan Valley Resort
19. Dolly Sods
20. Blackwater Falls
21. Oglebay Festival of Lights
22. WV State Fair – Lewisburg
23. Blennerhassett Island – Parkersburg (Aaron Burr/Alexander Hamilton)
24. Tamarack – the art and the food!!!
25. Wheeling Artisan Center
26. Beverly – the historic town and antique shops
27. Tidewater in Charleston
28. Mountainstage
29. 66240 – Gold and the Blue – hip hop group/music scene in Morgantown
30. Black Bear Burritos – Morgantown
31. Mario’s Fishbowl or Jean’s Beer Garden – old-time beer hangouts in Morgantown
32. Capitol Market – Charleston
33. Bridge Road Shops – Charleston
34. Taylor Books – Charleston
35. Power Alley Park – Charleston
36. Forest Festival – Elkins
37. Buckwheat Festival – Kingwood
38. Chocolate Lover's Day, Arts Walk, Kids' Day, Ice Festival, or other Mainstreet Morgantown Festivals
39. Vance’s Blues/Wine Library – Morgantown – Shannon Coombs
40. Warner Theatre – Morgantown
41. Metropolitan Theater – Morgantown
42. Camping
43. free lemonade in Bluefield above 90 degrees
44. Pizza Place Pizza - Parkersburg
45. Mountaineer Balloon Festival – Morgantown
46. Cacapon State Park
47. Pipestem State Park
48. Glade Springs
49. Hovatters Wildlife Zoo
50. Oglebay Park, mansion, museum, etc.
51. Greenbrier River fishing and scenic trains
52. Italian Festival – Clarksburg
53. Morgantown Waterfront (and continuing developments) - Synergy Chop House, Oliverio’s, Regatta, RatPack Lounge
54. Wheeling Symphony, WV Symphony
55. Pullman Square – Huntington
56. Seneca Center – Morgantown – old glass factory, now Glasshouse Grille, Flying Fish, Antiques Walk, etc.
57. Bridge Road Bistro - Charleston
58. Crabby Patti’s - Ripley
59. Hillbilly Hotdogs
60. WVU Sports – especially Mountaineer Football and tailgating, basketball, soccer, etc.
61. Point Pleasant – shopping, etc., Moth Man
62. Weston “lunatic asylum” tours
63. Moundsville prison tours and lock up
64. Cabela’s – whole complex
65. Huntington Museum of Art
66. Camden Park - Huntington
67. All Good music festival – Preston County
68. White water rafting
69. Gaming
70. Seneca Rocks
71. Organ cave
72. Spruce Knob
73. Cranberry Glades
74. The Wooden Spoon Appalachian Creamery – Phillip Bricker , Charleston
75. Elk River Lodge – near Snowshoe
76. boating, hiking, fishing at Cooper’s Rock and Cheat Lake areas of Morgantown
77. 17 covered bridges and 7 of them are in Mon and the neighbor counties
78. West Virginia Culture Center and WV State Museum
79. Sunrise Mansion Museum – South Hills, Charleston (now privately owned) – great story for the historical renovation piece
80. 50 state parks and forests – 800 miles of hiking trails and 5,000 acres of fishing waters
81. Forks of Cheat Winery – Morgantown area
82. Antique shopping in Weston or Buckhannon
83. Biker Festivals – Mountainfest in Morgantown, FreedomFest at Snowshoe, etc.
84. Bavarian Inn - Shepherdstown
85. Downtown Shepherdstown – shopping and restaurants
86. Arts On The River Festival (Morgantown)
87. Strawberry Festival – Buckhannon
88. Buckwheat Festival (Preston County)
89. Vandalia Lounge – Charleston
90. Red Carpet Lounge – Charleston
91. Blue Moose Café – Morgantown
92. Coldwater Creek Clearance Center – Mineral Wells
93. Riverstone Ale House – Morgantown
94. Dragonfly Sushi Lounge – Morgantown
95. de Lazy Lizard - Morgantown
96. Gibbie’s Pub - Morgantown
97. Chic N Bones Rhythm Cafe– Morgantown
98. Glassware tours/shopping – Fenton, Blenko, Fiestaware
99. Slight Indulgence – both locations - Morgantown
100. Yellow Brick Bank - Shepherdstown