Bridge Day

I am embarrassed. Really, I am. I am West Virginia's biggest tourism advocate (at least in my neighborhood) and completely, utterly, absolutely forgot to post something on what is arguably the Mountain State's most rock-solid festival. Bridge Day.

The New River Gorge Bridge, near Fayetteville, West Virginia
(photo from the website of the New River Gorge National River)

For those of you who don't know, Bridge Day is the one day of the year that its completely legal for people to jump off the New River Gorge Bridge. If you don't know, by the way, the NRGB is the world's second largest single-span arched bridge over the tremendously beautiful New River Gorge (kind of like Eden if it were more vertical than described in all the major textbooks).

I've got some links for you.

- New River Gorge Bridge Day: Here we have the official website of Bridge Day (this year is, apparently, the 27th such celebration) - it'll give you the lowdown on the entire event - food vendors, base-jumping, events, souvenirs, the whole nine yards.

- 876ft.com: This is the homepage of the New River Convention & Vistor's Bureau - it'll tell you where to stay and what to eat, since you'll be scrambling to get there this afternoon and won't have time to read a guide, unless you can read in the car, which is unsafe.

- The New River Gorge National River: This is the official National Park Service page for the NRG - you're gonna' want to check this page out in case you get all crazy and decide to get off the bridge and walk around in the "natural beauty."