As soon as you drive onto Main Street in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia all you see is a Welcome sign and a few dilapidated homes. It takes a little while before it starts to look like a town.

We pass by a little store with a hand-written “Everything must go” sign in the windown with a lot of dusty Dale Earnhardt pictures underneath it.  Next door is a pint-sized building that says  “The Diner” out front.

A sign outside The Diner on Main Street in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

We hop out of the car and run inside.  The place is shoebox small with only a counter and about seven stools.

We talk with the owners, Vicky and Whaitman Vaughn.  The Vaughns just bought the place two years ago.  Whaitman grew up in White Sulphur Springs, fourth generation to be exact.   He wears a camouflage hat that reads “West Virginia” on it.  They’re all smiles and filled with stories about the Diner’s history.

Whaitman Vaughn owns the Diner on Main Street in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia with his wife Vicky.

Vicky Vaughn owns the Diner with her husband Whaitman. "People never know what I'm going to say or do. That's why they love to come in here."

Whaitman talks about how they get all kinds of travelers, people from Russia, China, the guy from Gun Smoke.

“People just come on in and say hi.  Not really a lot of locals, mostly people passing through like yourself.  Most of the locals go to Wal-Mart  and the Hardees.”

Too bad, the locals don’t know what they’re missing.   I ask Whaitman  if there are any wild stories from the Diner.  Lucky for me this is West Virginia.

“Well, the previous owner, she was working here.  It was the 70s and she was behind the counter in the kitchen.  Apparently she and her husband had gotten into a fight.  He was walking by that night, drunk, and pulled out his gun and shot at her.  Luckily, there was an industrial toaster on the other side of the wall and it took the bullet.  Here, let me show you the bullet hole.”

A bullet hole at the Diner in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

The bullet hole is pretty big, must have been a big gun.  Vicky tells me that the woman kept the toaster but not her husband.

I want to stay all day and eat $2.50 hamburgers at the counter.  We have to go though.  Vicky and Whaitman give us some Hershey’s kisses and we’re on our way.

As we drive through White Sulphur Springs, we pass by the Greenbrier. This is one of the most palatial resorts I have ever seen, “defining luxury since 1778.”  It’s hard to believe that a place like this is here in White Sulphur Springs.  The town is proud of it.  A hometown hero  is working to bring the Greenbrier back up to its previous five-star status.  I can’t imagine how a place like this could be four stars and not five.  We take a few quick photos and drive on.

The Greenbrier on Main Street in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

A man talks on a cell phone at the Greenbrier on Main Street in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

A Greenbrier employee tends the hotel's grounds.