What's Blooming in Virginia's Blue Ridge?

If you've been reading the blog for a bit, you know that I was the travel writer for Christian Living in the Mature Years Magazine, which was actually the inspiration for this blog. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, the Summer 2021 issue will be the final printed issue of the magazine. You can pick up your final copy here.

Since stories are written a year out from publication, the articles in the Fall 2021 and Winter 2021-22 issues were already created. Most of the stories can be found for free in upcoming blog posts at www.adultbiblestudies.com. The travel articles, however, didn't quite fit the format of that blog, so they will be featured here!

Today you can read the Fall 2021 travel story, which features a road trip through Virginia's Blue Ridge region. I hope you enjoy it.

Thousands of yellow-faced sunflowers danced as the breeze blew through their ranks. I squished through the muddy field, broad smile on my face, and posed for the perfect selfie. I had come to the Beaver Dam Sunflower Festival to get a taste of local life. The festival, which takes place in late September, hosts live music, arts and crafts vendors, food events, and, of course, photo ops aplenty.

The festival is in Buchanan, Virginia, a historic and quintessential small town at the base of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. This town on the James River served as a transportation hub before railways stretched across the country. Once the trains moved in, the town began to slowly decline. Today it has been revitalized, and is the perfect spot for a day trip out of the city. I took a historic walking tour with the town’s Downtown Revitalization Program Manager, Harry Gleason.

“Buchanan really was known for being old, and now we have one of the fullest event calendars in the area. It’s evolving and diversifying. We’re going back to our roots and reinterpreting them,” Gleason told me as he showed me around. Gleason clearly loves his town, and he made me love it too. There are more than 200 buildings in Buchanan on the national and state historic registers, including the Buchanan Presbyterian Church (1845) and the Trinity Episcopal Church (1842). There is historic charm oozing from every antique shop, but there is also fresh breath in the new small businesses lining Main Street.

The other reason people flock to the small town is to enjoy nature. USA Today ranked the James River as one of the top 10 locations in the South for viewing fall colors. Late October is the perfect time to see the leaves changing all along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Buchanan is a great place to spot them on land and on the water. Twin River Outfitters can set up visitors with a canoe, kayak, or tubing trip along the Upper James River Water Trail where the trees show off their autumn best.

I visited Buchanan on a day trip from Roanoke, which is a wonderful place to stay when visiting the area because it provides travelers with big city amenities while acting as a great home base for day trips around the area. While in Roanoke, I stayed at the Home2 Suites by Hilton, which is conveniently located near the airport and the interstate. The accessible room I stayed in was perfect for me, and the hotel is pet-friendly for those traveling with their furry friends.

If you’ve seen the show Salvage Dawgs on D.I.Y. Network, then you’re familiar with Black Dog Salvage. This gigantic store in Roanoke houses architectural salvage, old house parts, upcycled designs, and so much more. It was a great place to search for accent pieces for our home and pick up unique souvenirs for our friends.

After shopping, we walked behind Black Dog Salvage to an entrance onto the Roanoke River Greenway in Thomas Vic Park. Roanoke is home to an extensive park and greenway system, and on nice days you can find walkers, bikers, joggers, and wanderers on these well-kept trails. My husband and I took a stroll along the Roanoke River Greenway to Wasena Park to have lunch at the Green Goat, which sits just off the path. The menu contained a number of locally-sourced healthy choices, perfect for a meal on their outdoor patio.

We then traveled to downtown Roanoke to visit the impressive Center in the Square. The center is home to five separate museums: Science Museum of West Virginia, Kids Square, Harrison Museum of African American Culture, the Roanoke Pinball Museum, and the Roanoke Starcade. In the lobby you can also see a massive 8,000-gallon living coral reef aquarium. With or without kids, it’s easy to spend all day in the center. We visited the pinball museum, which is home to pinball machines from early wooden machines to psychedelic machines from the 2000s. Once you pay your admission fee, you get unlimited game play. I would’ve been content to spend all day there, but my travel buddy was most interested in the galleries at the Harrison Museum, which showcases the influence and contributions of African American culture and people in the Roanoke Valley through memorabilia, photographs, and artifacts.

Ready for a casual dinner, we found Fork in the Alley in the historic South Roanoke Neighborhood Village. This family-friendly restaurant is located in a former carriage house. Many nights you’ll hear live music, and I highly recommend the wood-fired brick oven pizzas.

After dinner, we went to see the Roanoke Star. I’m not talking about a famous person. There’s a giant man-made star that overlooks the city. It’s also called the Mill Mountain Star or the Hollywood sign of the East. This giant beacon is the world’s largest freestanding illuminated man-made star, and was constructed in 1949 as a seasonal Christmas decoration, but was popular enough to become a year-round attraction. It is illuminated every night, so you’re sure to see it as you drive around town. I recommend driving to the top of Mill Mountain to see it up close and personal, though. If you get there before sunset, there are a number of hiking trails down Mill Mountain from the star.

Before we left Roanoke, there was one thing left on my list to do. I had to try the biscuits at the Roanoker restaurant, a staple for locals and visitors alike. They offer typical American diner fare, and the biscuits are legendary. I found out why for myself. They are soft and delicate and like biting into a buttery cloud. I would go back to Virginia just to eat those biscuits again.

We drove away from Virginia’s Blue Ridge and spotted one of the many LOVE signs dotted throughout the area. The LOVE signs refer to the state’s iconic slogan: Virginia is for Lovers. That seemed appropriate to me. I was now a lover of Virginia!

 

Other Day Trips from Roanoke

We didn’t have time to visit all the places on our list on our quick weekend trip. If you have more time in Virginia’s Blue Ridge, consider these day trips.

Carvins Cove: This natural reserve is the second largest municipal park in the nation and a great place to paddle, hike, bike, and more.

Bedford: Home to the National D-Day Memorial, drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the Peaks of Otter.

Smith Mountain Lake: Rent a pontoon at Bridgewater Marina, head to Booker T. Washington National Monument, and grab a sweet treat at Homestead Creamery.

Virginia’s Blue Ridge Antique Trail: Follow the trail from Rocky Mount to Trinity to uncover hidden treasures.

 

For more trip ideas and inspiration, visit www.VisitVBR.com.