Leah Nestor plans a perfect day in Marion County, W.Va.

Marion County has become one of the most vibrant communities in West Virginia — the kind of place one can experience a practically Perfect Day, says Leah Nestor, engagement specialist for the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Marion County.

Following-through with her New Year’s resolution to emphasize daily rest, health, and fun, she takes us on a journey through a perfect day in Fairmont, the county seat of Marion County. Living here where the Monongahela River arises can be an ideal experience, as Leah demonstrates.

Join Leah through the bureau’s Facebook page for the first of several Marion County blog posts as she explores Fairmont while on a mission to experience more Perfect Days.

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The Perfect Day: January

It’s a new year and a new day! And with that? A new blog series — The Perfect Day. As part of this new New Year’s resolution, my goal is to help you plan and set a budget for a perfect day in Marion County each month. So let’s begin!

Elements of a perfect day: Rest. Health. Fun. Here’s what I foresee to be the Perfect Day in Marion this month. Hopefully, your job is flexible or you can take a day solely for self-care. If not, many of these activities can be enjoyed in somewhat the same fashion on a Saturday.

Rest

After we sleep-in, let’s start the day with a walk along the Monongahela River at Palatine Park. A cold walk down by the riverfront, all bundled up with a sweater and scarf, sounds pretty perfect to me!

Health

After that, we’ll walk across the bridge (to get our steps in!) for a delicious breakfast at the Little Red Hen Bakery. Let’s make the day even less expensive and more healthy by taking advantage of their free lemon water!

Now we’ll head over to Main Street Yoga. Be sure to sign-up beforehand on their website for a free personal health-strategy session. After that, let’s indulge in the 30-Minute Refresh, geared for all ages and all abilities. It’s a great way to boost our energy before going back to work or enjoying the rest of our Perfect Day.

Refreshed and aware — and away we go! Let’s grab lunch at Hermosilla’s Deli on the East Side. My favorite is the chicken salad sandwich. It’s a little lighter in calories but just as flavorful as anything else.

While we’re on the East Side, let’s walk or drive to Kerri’s Korner Bookstore. They have plenty of shelves of new and used books filled with titles spanning all genres.

Fun

Now we have two options. We can stay on the East Side and paint pottery at Mountain Creative or go back downtown for a pottery class at Joe-n-Throw Pottery Studio. Either way, we’ll incorporate both fun and art in our Perfect Day.

The pottery class at Joe-n-Throw is called Pints-n’-Pots. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., we’re welcome to work with clay while indulging in craft beer. I feel very Demi Moore in “Ghost” with Patrick Swayze, sans Patrick Swayze and ghosts.

This is just one of the many combinations of a Perfect Day in Marion County.

So don’t forget about a budgeting app (like EveryDollar, Good Budget, YNAB (You Need A Budget) for starters) because we’ll be having another Perfect Day next month for you to look forward to.