By WP BrandStudio
June 1, 2018
A 400-pound silicon crystal beams amid a collection of local artifacts and archaeological finds at the Museum of the Berkeley Springs. This type of quartz is found on nearby Warm Springs Ridge, a source of minerals for the healing waters that have been drawing visitors to Berkeley Springs, WV, for hundreds of years.
“In a law that established the town around the springs in 1776, it clearly states that the purpose of creating the town was to build lodging places for the people who came to take the waters for their health,” said Jeanne Mozier, a longtime local resident and co-founder of the museum.
Berkeley Springs is surrounded by the scenic valleys and mountains of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians.
The water is rich in a variety of minerals, such as magnesium carbonate, that some believe promote health. But the original source of the springs, and the reason for its emergence only along the eastern slope of Warm Springs Ridge in Berkeley Springs State Park, remains mysterious. “Frankly, I consider it magic,” said Mozier.
People still flock to the park’s soothing thermal pools, including one known as George Washington’s Bathtub. The first president paid frequent visits here during the mid-18th century, and bits and pieces of his connection to the area, such as a surveying stone that he initialed and a 1777 town plat that included his lots, are also part of the museum’s collection. But beyond the intriguing water, there’s much to discover in the town itself. Home to a large population of working artists, and surrounded by the scenic valleys and mountains of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, Berkeley Springs balances small-town charm with worldly sophistication. Located less than two hours from Washington, D.C., the town features a mix of impressive galleries and restaurants, relaxing spas, unique local businesses, and outdoor opportunities that make for an invigorating weekend getaway.
Healing waters and open space
Visitors can head to Berkeley Springs State Park to soak in several spring-fed pools. The 74-degree, mineral-rich water flows through sandstone and on Warm Spring Ridge, a part of Cacapon Mountain. A pump distributes spring water for those who want to take some home.
Treatments at Roman Bath House in Berkeley Springs include Therapeutic and Deep Tissue Massages.
The park’s early 19th-century Roman Bathhouse, which holds the museum, offers nine private Roman baths, each filled with heated mineral water and large enough to hold up to six adults (fees charged per person). The Main Bathhouse offers more Roman baths as well as whirlpools, Swedish massage services and a cedar-lined dry sauna.
For more immersive treatments, head one block north to Atasia Spa. This full-service, 11-room spa is owned by Frankie Tan who was trained in the art of Thai massage in Bangkok. Most services at Atasia, such as the aroma-stone massages, begin with a soak in steamy Berkeley Springs mineral water. Other options include Dead Sea mud treatments followed by a four-showerhead rinse on a specially designed table. “We wash away the mud and apply a lotion, and your skin becomes very smooth after that,” said Tan. The spa also showcases local water in several fountains, including in an outdoor garden, so that “wherever you’re sitting, you’ll hear some water running,” said Tan.
A creative community
The quiet woods and mountains of Berkeley Springs drew in Jan and Jonathan Heath from the D.C. area in 1979. It felt like a place where they could put down roots and make a living; many working artists like themselves had already settled in when the couple arrived, and more have continued to come.
On weekends, the Heaths are often at work inside the Heath Studio Gallery, in downtown Berkeley Springs. Jonathan’s paintings whimsically exaggerate everyday life—cows wearing snorkels, for example—while Jan makes nature-inspired linocuts, woodcuts, monoprints and collages. The Heaths are now part of what has become a prominent local art scene. “For a community this small, we have a number of regionally and nationally known artists. The quality is really up there,” said Jonathan.
Today, more than 30 local and regional artists show and sell their work at the Ice House, a 40,000-square-foot former storage building in the center of town. The venue features an event space and a retail art shop, along with several galleries, and it offers classes in visual arts, theater and dance for the public.
The area’s creative energy also makes it an ideal setting for Give Purrs a Chance, according to owner George Farnham. The nonprofit cat adoption center, or cat café, occupies a Victorian house in downtown Berkeley Springs. “It’s actually the only place in West Virginia that I would try to open a cat café. I’m not sure it would work anywhere else,” he said. Local artists sell their work in the on-site Catique Boutique, which helps support the overall business, Farnham added.
About 50 cats and kittens have free rein over the two-story house (whereas urban cat cafés tend to have considerably less space), and more than 200 cats have been adopted since the cafe opened in May 2017. Same-day adoptions are possible, and while many visitors arrive without expecting to adopt a cat, “three hours later, they walk out with one,” Farnham said.
Give Purrs a Chance, a cat-adoption center where guests can play with dozens of cats, is walking distance from the springs.
The $7 all-day admission price means that cat café visitors can also go explore downtown Berkeley Springs and then return later. The state park and local favorite Tari’s, a café and art gallery, are within a five-minute walk. Jules Enchanting Gifts and Collectables, selling everything from kids’ art books to soap, and Fairfax Coffee House, serving Mayorga coffees from Rockville, Md., are also quick strolls away.
For a more strenuous walk or hike, it’s about a 15-minute drive to Cacapon Resort State Park, a 6,000-acre haven in the slopes of Cacapon Mountain. The peaceful park features about 25 miles of hiking trails of varying difficulty, along with horseback riding trails, a lake with a swimming beach, and an 18-hole golf course. A lodge and log cabins are available for overnight stays, and groups can also book the Old Inn, a 1934 cabin.
Quiet nights, gourmet bites
Dinnertime brings crowds to Lot 12 Public House. Just six blocks from Heath Gallery, the restaurant is owned by Jan and Jonathan’s son, Damian, and his wife, Betsy. After training as a chef in Europe and working at upscale restaurants in the Carolinas, Damian returned to his hometown of Berkeley Springs. He and Betsy opened Lot 12 in an old house on Warren Street in 1999, and the restaurant is still there today, serving local, seasonal cuisine.
“Growing up, it was still real country around here, and it was just corn, green beans and tomatoes basically,” Damian said. “I had to work with farmers to [get them to] grow vegetables that I would like to use.” Nearby Glascock Orchards, a vendor at the downtown Berkeley Springs Farmers Market on Sundays, has become a go-to source. Several foragers also provide Lot 12 with wild ramps and morel mushrooms for signature dishes like ramp vichyssoise, a spin on the traditionally leek-based creamy soup.
Downtown Berkeley Springs offers unique shops, enticing restaurants, and the retro Star Theatre, now in its 90th year of showing films.
Down the street, Star Theatre offers post-dinner entertainment. Resurrected by Jeanne Mozier and her husband, Jack Soronen, in 1977, the theater has been showing films since 1928. There’s a 1949 hot oil popcorn machine, and major titles are shown.
A revived icon
Adjacent to Berkeley Springs State Park, The Country Inn of Berkeley Springs is a stately Colonial-style property with a turbulent history. Originally the Berkeley Springs Hotel, it burned to the ground in the late 1800s, and then sat vacant until the 1930s when a local family reinvented it as the Parkview Inn—which fell into disrepair and bankruptcy by 2013. That’s when the Omps family, which runs several other local businesses, stepped in and began extensive renovations, largely by themselves. Some family members put in 16-hour days during the first two years, while others helped out in the evenings after their day jobs.
“It’s iconic,” owner and manager Matt Omps said of the inn. “We really had a lot of local support when we first purchased it. I mean, everybody wanted to see it do well.”
Recent extensive renovations at the historic Country Inn have restored the property’s original hardwood floors and exterior woodwork.
Most structural renovations are now complete, and original features have been restored to their former grandeur; exterior woodwork has a fresh finish, and guest room carpets have been been removed to reveal the original hardwood floors. “In every phase of renovation, our goal has been to restore the existing historic inn features to maintain the charm and uniqueness of the property,” said Omps.
The inn has begun hosting public events, like Hawaiian luaus, and live music every Saturday in the garden, as well as the annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting competition each winter. The inn’s hilltop Renaissance Spa offers private rooms overlooking Berkeley Springs, and in the kitchen, Scott Collinash, named one of “America’s Best Chefs,” cooks up sophisticated takes on American classics. In other words, much like the town itself, the inn offers equal parts culture, activity and relaxation.
Plan your next visit to Berkeley Springs, WV
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