Roaming around Roanoke!

Well this week I was in and around the Roanoke area for just a couple of days because I had to get back to the office at the end of the week to prepare for the second open house of the season. I didn't really have much time there to do anything besides school visits but I knew I still wanted to get some fun things fit in while I was there.

When I was visiting a school I sat down with the school college counselor and after talking for a while she mentioned a couple of things I should really try and visit while I was in town. One of the things she mentioned to me was the Roanoke Star! I had never been there before so I figured going after my visits at sunset would be a perfect time to go!

That day after my visits I rode up to the top of the mountain to see the Roanoke Star! It was really beautiful up there! I could see the entire Roanoke valley for miles around. It was so neat to see a valley surrounded by mountains upon mountains. I have never actually seen such a distinct valley before. I went at dusk and that ended up being the perfect time to go because I could see the tail end of the sunset and the city all lit up at night. The star alone is 88 1/2 feet high and is the largest man made star in the world! It can be seen from miles around, 60 to be exact, and it is super pretty all lit up. It was neat to see the city buildings all lit up at night too. I spent a while there taking pictures; it was really remarkable!

Pictures of the valley at dusk

Overlooking the valley

Beautiful colors of the valley

A view of the city

The Roanoke Star!

Check out all the mountains in the background!

To give you some perspective about how big the star actually is!

A picture of the sunset on top of the mountain



A view of the valley at night!




All lit up!



This is a picture I took once I got down from the mountain at an intersection. This shows you how you really can see the star from miles around.

One of my friends and fellow co-workers, Katie Harding, is from Roanoke so she was so nice to send me an email before my week in Roanoke that listed some dining options I just had to try. So one of the other places I checked out while I was in the area was the famous Blue Collar Joe's! This is a donut shop that was actually featured on Food Network before and everybody I talked to while I was in town just raved about the donuts. In between my visits in Botetourt County I stopped by one morning. I got in there and it was such a cute place and smelled so sweet!! They had more donuts than I could have ever imagined and all of them with the most unique names like the Botetourt Bog and The Lunch Box Special, to name a few! I got in there thinking I would just pick one for the ride and somehow one turned into one DOZEN! Not thinking at the time that I am all alone during travel and don't have anybody to share them with, haha! Even still they were so delicious, decadent, and rich! It literally tasted like I was eating a piece of cake! It was a wonderful stop and I would highly recommend anybody visiting the Roanoke area to definitely stop by and try out some of the deliciousness!

Here is a picture of the place. They also have a drive-up window you can go to!

All different flavors! Yummy!!!