After leaving the gorge, the New River flows west into the Ohio and eventually the Mississippi, but not before passing through CHARLESTON , West Virginia's state capital and largest city. Charleston isn't a place many people set out to visit, mainly because there's not very much to see or do; the riverfront state capitol , designed by Lincoln Memorial architect Cass Gilbert and completed in 1932, is pleasant enough, with a small monument to black activist Booker T. Washington on its grounds, but nothing really grabs you. The West Virginia Cultural Center (Mon-Thurs 9am-8pm, Fri-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 12-6pm, ; free), in the same compound as the capitol, acts as the state museum with extensive displays in the basement on coalmining, forestry, wars and general social history. The main live showcase of traditional West Virginian culture takes place here during the annual Vandalia Festival , Appalachia's largest celebration of folk arts and crafts, held on Memorial Day weekend and featuring lively bluegrass music and tall-tale-telling contests. The annual Regatta on Labor Day weekend is one of the city's other big events.

There are three hundred rooms at the very central Travelodge , 2 Kanawha Blvd E (tel 304/343-4521 or 1-800/578-7878; $50-75), which also has a sauna and swimming pool; other motels abound along the interstates. General Seafood , 213 Broad St (Tues-Sat; tel 304/343-5671), is a restaurant attached to a fish market, and Capitol Street downtown boasts a string of eateries such as the Mykonos Café at no. 218 (tel 304/347-9220), which does good Greek lunch specials. On the western edge of downtown, almost alongside I-64 between Lee and Quarrier streets, the gleaming new Charleston Civic Center mall is the liveliest area to while away a couple of hours.