Working our way home, the last day of our trip we were traveling through beautiful West Virginia. There is always someplace interesting to explore in this state. On this trip we stopped in Sutton, which is home to two fascinating museums as well as the Sutton Dam.
The first was The Flatwoods Monster Museum, which also serves as the Braxton County Visitors Center. This museum houses fascinating memorabilia and souvenirs, as well as tells the story of the Flatwoods Monster. The story goes…


On September 12, 1952, several residents of Flatwoods, West Virginia, reported seeing a bright object soar across the sky and land on a nearby farm. Terrified but intrigued, they went to discover what it could be. As the group came down the hill onto the farm, they were confronted with n alien creature. Described as being at least ten feet tall with a green skirted body, having a round, red face surrounded by a spade shaped “hood”, and bulging eyes. The creature let out a series of shrill hisses and loud thumps and started to glide not walk toward the witnesses, who fled in terror. They were also violently ill, victims of some sort of poison gas emitted by the creature. Subsequent visitors found no trace of the saucer or the monster, but they did notice a “sickening, burnt, metallic odor” that could not be explained.


The stories of the Flatwoods Monster, which was also known as the Braxton County monster, Braxie, or Phantom of the Flatwoods, started to spread around West Virginia and even more widely throughout the country, as reports made the national news. Though the creature was not seen again after 1952, its tale became cemented in local lure.

The museum is small, but an interesting stop. One of my favorite parts…the furry greeter.
The second museum is dedicated to the legend of bigfoot. In Appalachian folklore, these creatures were referred to as “Old Men of the Mountain,” and were thought of as lucky omens, believed to keep black bears away from livestock.


It wasn’t until 2021 when West Virginia cryptid hunter Les O’Dell started looking for somewhere to display his collection of bigfoot casts that this small gift store in Sutton was transformed into the Bigfoot Museum.




Since then, the museum’s collection has grown substantially, and now features nearly 40 different plaster casts that are believed to belong to bigfoot-type creatures. Making it one of the largest collections of bigfoot casts in the world.

The museum also has hair, records of sightings and other bigfoot memorbilia as well as bigfoot merchandise. If you visit make sure to sign the guestbook which contains visitors from all over the world from Hawaii to France.

By the looks of their website a lot has changed since we were there, so I’d love to go back and check the museum out again….maybe during the festival.
Our final site to see in Sutton was the dam. The groundbreaking for the Sutton Dam was in 1956, and the dam was completed in July of 1961. It stands 210 ft high and has a top length of 1,178 ft.


The top of the dam offers a beautiful view of the lake. The day we were there, it looked like they were doing a little renovating to the entrance building at the top of the dam.

Below the dam there is a small park. It offers several picnic areas, a restroom and playground.


After Sutton, we worked our way north on Route 19 and stopped for a bite to eat at DJ’s 50’s & 60’s Diner in Fairmount, WV.

Walking into the diner is like taking a step back in time. The vintage touches added, and musical memorabilia make you feel like you’re back in the 50’s and 60’s. The home style food is served in generous portions and will fill any hungry traveler’s belly.
After filling up, we headed home. Day 5 we racked up 266 miles. The mileage for the entire trip was 1,239.
This wrapped up the Claw of the Dragon trip and also meant that we had completed the entire “Dragon”….goal achieved, and ready for the next one.











































































































































































































































































































