Hungry, Mother

My intrepid friend, Joan, and I spent three days at beautiful Hungry Mother Park near Marion, VA. I had never heard of Hungry Mother until a library patron who was originally from that area talked about vacationing there. Such an odd name. The legend is that Indians captured local settlers including a mother and small child. These two managed to escape but were lost in the woods. The mother died and the child followed a creek into a settlement. Her first words were "Hungry Mother". Joan is a retired school teacher and insists that the name should be "Hungry, Mother" as that is what the child presumably said repeatedly in the woods as they foraged for food. We did not mention this gaff to the park rangers...

The park is one of the first six state parks in Virginia and was built by the CCC. Like Cheraw, there is an earthen dam at one end of the valley forming this long, narrow lake. The mountain literally comes down to the water on one side. The road in follows the other. There are two campgrounds. We stayed in Creekside and were literally on the water's edge.

Since returning from Canada, I have been madly cleaning house, painting and rearranging after my daughter's move. Then the yard needed attention and on it goes. Joan was recovering from a large family gathering. Between us, we were pooped and took this trip as a rest break. That said, the historic town of Marion will be worth exploring on our next trip up.

We had lunch at Wolf BBQ--a place I can heartily recommend. Since I brought a few extra pounds back from Canada, I did not try their pumpkin cobbler but it sounded scrumptious. There are antique shops and the historic Lincoln Theater which hosts traditional music and bluegrass. Brochures indicated there is river rafting in the area and I will not come back without a kayak to explore the lake.

The railfans among us were particularly taken with the old train station, now shops and offices. It always makes me happy to see old building kept alive by new uses.

The park itself was full of CCC era cabins along with more modern facilities for rental by families or groups. There is even a conference center on site. And we found some lovely places to walk. I bought a bear bell for the Canada trip and Jessie gave me a safety whistle. I'd never really needed them in Canada, but with bear warning signs throughout the park, I did take them walking in the woods. Apparently they worked as we made it home rested, well and wanting to come back.