That Wheeling Feeling

I was thinking about one of my many businesses today (I juggle my time between my pottery, a landscaping/ contracting business, and the billiards business I inherited from my father) and I started thinking about all of the great resources that we have in the small city that I live in. And since I just talked about local businesses in my first post, I decided that I would take this opportunity to make a list of my top ten favorite local businesses in Wheeling, WV.

Just a heads up about this list: there's really no rhyme or reason to this list. It is comprised of local restaurants and businesses that I frequent or see as being an asset to our community. These businesses aren't listed in any sort of order, and none are favored over others. So.....here we go!

1. Good Mansion Wines (95 14th st.)

This wine store is the ONLY place in Wheeling that sells wine exclusively. They have an amazing selection, and the building is an incredible Victorian-style Mansion. On the whole, the store pretty much rocks. The owner, Dominick, is incredibly knowledgeable and he employs a few really cool people at the shop. Here's the web site if you want to check it out:

http://www.goodmansionwines.com

2. Later (or Later Alligator, as many call it) (2145 Market St.)

This restaurant belongs to my friend Mitch's mom Susan. Susan is an incredible woman. She and a handful of other people restored the building in which her restaurant is located, and they did an amazing job. Not to mention the fact that their food is incredible. They focus mainly on crepes, but they have great sandwiches also. All in all, this place is great. Definitely check it out if you can. On a side note, the small windows at the top of the storefront were designed and patented by Frank Lloyd Wright.

3. Ye Olde Alpha (50 Carmel Road)

This is one of Wheelings oldest and busiest watering holes. This bar rocks. Hands down. That's all there is to say about it. Oh and they have really great food, large beers, and tons of dead animals adorning the walls. Check them out online at:

http://www.yeoldealpha.com

4. Crone's Clothing Store

Crone's could easily be one of the oldest businesses in Wheeling. They opened their doors in 1908 and they exclusively sell men's clothing and their tailor is absolutely the best. Unfortunately, Crone's was recently forced to relocate to the new shopping center outside of downtown due to the fact that they were about the last retail store in the downtown area. Still, these guys have been doing great work in Wheeling for a really long time.

5. Jebbia's Market (2600 Chapline St.)

So you know how every town has that really great market where you can get really fresh produce and great deli stuff? Well, Jebbia's is Wheeling's answer to that market. I shop here every week. You really can't beat their deli. They've got great stuff and REALLY good prices, as well as the world's best chicken salad.

6. The Salsa Cafe (56 Carmel Road)

The Salsa Cafe was opened by a lawyer and his wife who moved back to Wheeling to open his restaurant after selling burritos in the streets of Washington, D.C. The food at this restaurant is amazing. The burritos are huge and they have more hot sauces than you can shake a stick at. They also have about a thousand other great things on their menu.

http://www.honesttogoodnesssalsacafe.com/

7. Lou W. Nau Hardware (69 Edgington Lane)

This hardware store is by far one of the best in Wheeling. The guys at this store have helped me out on more than one occasion and they carry some seriously hard to find parts. There are a lot of OLD houses in Wheeling, and when you need a replacement part, this is the place to go. And their prices can't be beat. I've saved a lot of money shopping here vs. the local home improvement superstore.

http://louwnau.doitbest.com/home.aspx

8. The Wheeling Artisan Center (1400 Main St.)

The Artisan Center is exactly what Wheeling needs more of. It is an amazingly restored old building on Main St. that sells the work of local artists (including myself), craftsmen, and food producers. They have an amazing space and the people are great. They also have an amazing Celtic festival here every year where they serve some amazing beers.

http://artisancenter.com/index.html

9. The Towngate Theater (2118 Market Street)

The Towngate Theater is owned by the Oglebay Institute which is, in and of itself, an amazing part of Wheeling. The Towngate puts on theatrical productions and shows indie films from time to time. The admission is super cheap and they put on some really great shows. This is a place to definitely check out if you're ever in Wheeling.

http://www.oionline.com/theatre/index.htm?get=Towngate%20Theatre&nav=Performing_Arts&subnav=Desktop_Faxing
http://artisancenter.com/index.html

10. Sasseen's Diner (2147 Market St.)

Sasseen's is one of those diners where everyone goes for lunch. They have great food, really cheap prices, and a great atmosphere. They have the best burgers in downtown and their hoagies are enormous. There are seriously a thousand things I could say about this place. It would honestly be easier for you to just go and eat there yourself. Definitely definitely check it out.

Well that's it. Although there are a lot of other great places in Wheeling. There has been a serious movement here recently to revive the downtown area. So hopefully in the next few years we'll see some more great business open up. Until next time!!!!!!!!!!!!

Working in a Winter Wonderland

Ah, you have to love winter, it's coming back in a big way. Global warming just can't seem to keep winter down. This winter has been much worse than last year. Today it snowed probably two inches by 8 am. That made getting around pretty interesting. I realize that for people in a few areas of the country two inches isn't much, but when you put two inches of snow on top of two inches of ice, driving starts to get a little tricky. So naturally, we ventured out to get some rock salt to rid ourselves of some of this craziness and make it a little easier to get our vehicles out. Wouldn't you know it, the Lowe's right down the street was completely out of rock salt. And not just rock salt, they were out of heaters, rock salt, parts for heaters, and just about any other item you could think of that would help someone during the coldest part of the year. I was amazed. They said that they couldn't even order more in because they were "out of season."

The entire situation dumbfounded me. I mean, here we are in the coldest two months of our winter and rock salt and heaters are considered out of season. So, we went to the local hardware store, sure enough out front there was an entire pallet of ice melter. This brings me to my point, and what will probably be the point of most of my posts on this blog; in these tough economic times, we should all be counting on the "little guys" in our communities, local stores owned by local people. These stores are the ones that have been around for years. They're the ones who have those hard to find parts that have been sitting on the shelves for 20 years. They're the stores who charge just a little more than the big box retailers. And they're the store who sponsor the local little league team or give back to the community in some other way. These stores are the ones who need to be the backbone of our communities.

As you can probably tell, I'm a fan of buying local. I try to buy local whenever I can, and now that our economy is in the shape that it's in, I'm going to try to buy local and support local businesses as much as I can. Big box retailers will easily survive this recession. They may have to cut some jobs and perhaps close a few locations, but they will survive. It's those small businesses in our communities that need our help more than ever.

So in closing, I'll leave you with a photo from my studio this morning. It's on a pretty big hill so we get a bit more snow than I do downtown at my apartment.