The Song Follows Everywhere We Go
Sep. 20th, 2023 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerWest Virginia Travelog #12
Blackwater Falls State Park, WV - Mon, 18 Sep 2023. 1pm
🎵 Almost heaven, West Virginia 🎵
Those are the opening lyrics of John Denver's classic song "Take Me Home, Country Roads". I thought about the lyrics and song as we were traveling to West Virginia a few days ago. It turns out I haven't been able to get them out of my mind since then... because the state of West Virginia has basically made them its slogan.
At multiple parks we've visited, for exmaple, "Almost Heaven" is the tagline. Consider these signs we saw at Cathedral Falls yesterday:
Lest you think that was a one-off, the "Almost Heaven" slogan appears to be standard branding at West Virginia state parks. Here's the sign we saw at Falls of Hills Creek yesterday:
"Almost Heaven" is also branded on all kinds of tourist mementos we've seen for sale at gift shops. "Country Roads", too.
The sloganeering jumped the shark today when we saw this at Blackwater Falls State Park:
It's a selfie station with a swing that's branded with "Almost heaven" on a sign cut in the shape of West Virginia.
Don't get me wrong; "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is a classic song. West Virginia is getting carried away with it.
Blackwater Falls State Park, WV - Mon, 18 Sep 2023. 1pm
🎵 Almost heaven, West Virginia 🎵
Those are the opening lyrics of John Denver's classic song "Take Me Home, Country Roads". I thought about the lyrics and song as we were traveling to West Virginia a few days ago. It turns out I haven't been able to get them out of my mind since then... because the state of West Virginia has basically made them its slogan.
At multiple parks we've visited, for exmaple, "Almost Heaven" is the tagline. Consider these signs we saw at Cathedral Falls yesterday:
Lest you think that was a one-off, the "Almost Heaven" slogan appears to be standard branding at West Virginia state parks. Here's the sign we saw at Falls of Hills Creek yesterday:
"Almost Heaven" is also branded on all kinds of tourist mementos we've seen for sale at gift shops. "Country Roads", too.
The sloganeering jumped the shark today when we saw this at Blackwater Falls State Park:
It's a selfie station with a swing that's branded with "Almost heaven" on a sign cut in the shape of West Virginia.
Don't get me wrong; "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is a classic song. West Virginia is getting carried away with it.
