Harri & Mag: New River Gorge, West Virginia

New River Gorge Bridge

When the New River Gorge Bridge was completed on October 22, 1977, a travel challenge was solved. The bridge reduced a 40-minute drive down narrow mountain roads and across one of North America's oldest rivers to less than a minute.

When it comes to road construction, mountains do pose a challenge. In the case of the New River Gorge Bridge, challenge was transformed into a work of structural art - the longest steel span in the western hemisphere and the second highest in the United States.

Gorge Bridge walkway

On the third Saturday of October, the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce hosts "Bridge Day," the only day that visitors may walk across the bridge.

The event lures hundreds of parachutists, cheered on by thousands of spectators, to float the 876-foot drop to the river below. For more information, visit the Official Bridgeday website.

The New River Gorge Bridge is one of the most photographed places in West Virginia. The bridge was chosen to represent the state on the commemorative quarter released by the U.S. Mint in 2006.

When daughter lived in Charleston, we took a day trip to the bridge. I bought several watercolor prints done by my favorite artist from Charleston, Jeanne Brenneman. She is a signature member of the West Virginia Watercolor Society and an associate member of the Southern Watercolor Society.

Jeanne Brenneman has been expressing the natural world through watercolor for thirty years. Mixing colors directly on the paper in fluid washes, she paints in a style of enhanced realism.

"I try to bring my own feelings to the scene when I paint, and my wish is that the viewer will experience some of the excitement I felt when painting it".