Parkersburg Travel Guide

Please be careful when driving on Murdoch Avenue in Parkersburg. The intersection of Murdoch Avenue and Lakeview Avenue (where Murdoch Avenue morphs into Grand Central Avenue) has several times made the top ten list of most dangerous intersections in West Virginia. I have personally seen a number of accidents at this intersection.

Due to all the retail activity in the immediate vicinity there is almost always a good bit of traffic during the day. Murdoch is seven lanes wide at this point, and Lakeview (which crosses Murdoch at an odd angle) is three lanes wide at this intersection. So you have a lot of potential for a serious accident. Murdoch Avenue in general is probably the most dangerous street in Parkersburg, due to the volume of traffic and the heavy business and retail activity.

Be careful, buckle up and drive safe!

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No doubt you've heard Pete and Re-Pete jokes. Example: two men, Pete and Re-Pete went out fishing in a boat. Pete fell in. Who was left in the boat? Re-Pete. Well, Parkersburg is home to the real Pete and Re-Pete--John and Gerald Beckett. You may find yourself doing a double take if you encounter them. No need to get your eyes checked--or worry that you've had too much to drink--you aren't seeing double. No, you have just had an encounter with Parkersburg's two most famous eccentrics!

Pete and Re-Pete are two elderly, identical-looking men. They look alike, they dress alike--from their hats to their footwear. According to what I've heard, they are brothers--John and Gerald Beckett by name and are two years apart in age.

That is not so unusual perhaps--two grown men who aren't twins dressing as if they are--but their behavior is the kicker. The two men do nothing but walk. All day long. All night long too, from what we can tell. I've encountered them walking around at 2 am. 6am. Middle of day. Late in the evening. All hours, all weathers.

And it isn't even that they dress like twins when they aren't, and spend all their time walking together. It's the way they walk. Not side by side, as you might expect. Nope. They are always walking the same way.... single file, one in front of the other. Not close together though. Not even within talking distance. Usually one of them is a quarter to half a block behind the other. They don't talk. Not even to coordinate where they are going.

If one of them gets too far ahead of the other, he stops for a bit and waits for the other to get closer--but not close enough to walk together. I've even seen them stop and lie down under a shade tree--one laid down on one side of the tree and one laid down on the opposite side. Keeping an eye out for Pete and Re-Pete is a local custom of sorts.

Update: John was struck by a car in August 2006 while walking at night. His leg was broken. His Gerald still walks around town...while pushing John in his wheelchair.

Update: Now that John has healed, they sometimes take turns pushing each other in the wheelchair--or so I've heard.

Please be careful when driving on Murdoch Avenue in Parkersburg. The intersection of Murdoch Avenue and Lakeview Avenue (where Murdoch Avenue morphs into Grand Central Avenue) has several times made the top ten list of most dangerous intersections in West Virginia. I have personally seen a number of accidents at this intersection.

Due to all the retail activity in the immediate vicinity there is almost always a good bit of traffic during the day. Murdoch is seven lanes wide at this point, and Lakeview (which crosses Murdoch at an odd angle) is three lanes wide at this intersection. So you have a lot of potential for a serious accident. Murdoch Avenue in general is probably the most dangerous street in Parkersburg, due to the volume of traffic and the heavy business and retail activity.

Be careful, buckle up and drive safe!

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Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Average annual precipation is 41.5 inches--about 3 inches more than Seattle-Tacoma gets. Yet Seattle has the rep for being rainy. After living in both places, I know why. Seattle rainfall tends to be drizzles which go on for days. In Parkersburg, we get more rain, but "when it rains, it pours." In Seattle it virtually never rains from the beginning of June through the middle of September, then it rains for days on end from October through May. In Parkersburg, you are just as likely to get drenched in July as you are in March. I would certainly recommend you either check the forecast before you visit, or else pack a raincoat and umbrella. We sometimes go several weeks without any precipition, but if it does rain, you will wish you had your bumbershoot!

If you are visiting in November through March, you should make sure you have a coat. We do get cold temperatures (it was -3 degrees F last night) and snow, although sometimes we have temps in the sixties and seventies during the winter months (rare, but true).

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Don't forget your prescriptions....

Photo Equipment: Don't forget your camera!