Day 169 - Roanoke, VA & Raleigh, NC

We hadn't planned on staying in Roanoke so we didn't have any research notes as to what to do or see in this city. The night before we were lucky enough to find a kicking part of town with a number of German beer celebrating bars but this morning we decided to spend an hour just driving around town just to see what was here.

Roanoke is known for the Roanoke Star, also known as the Mill Mountain Star, a neon landmark overlooking the city from the summit of Mill Mountain. The star is probably more impressive at night when it is lite up but we were too focused on beer and food the night before, we hadn't even noticed it in the distance. And what is so special about this star... its the worlds largest illuminated man-made star of course.

Roanoke was a pleasant town with a bit of history mixed in with the modern buildings and a more European feel to the downtown area as we have found with other cities on the East coast.

After finally completing our big driving circle around town, we decided to hit the road to our next destination, Raleigh in North Carolina. The drive was mainly down minor roads in Virginia and North Carolina taking us through farm land and small towns before finally hitting the interstate into Raleigh.

We struggled to find someone to stay in Raleigh that was reasonably priced and centrally located. In the end, I used up Marriott points on a new hotel, called the Residence Inn by Marriott Raleigh Downtown. We felt a little guilty staying for just one night in a Residence hotel and it really was a shame that we couldn't stay longer as it was more like an apartment than a hotel room.

After a quick freshen up, we headed out for a walking tour of downtown Raleigh. Lee had a come up with a plan whilst on the toilet in our room (all his best plans usually start on the toilet!) and I was blindly following him, trusting him not to take us to any dodgy parts of town.

The poo-planned tour took us around the usual sites in a state capital including the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, North Carolina Museum of History, various statues and monuments, a couple of old churches and of course, the North Carolina State Capitol building.

There were a lot of murals on the sides of building in Raleigh and we later found out that these weren't the results of youths with too much time on their hands, they were commissioned by the Raleigh Murals Project. There is even an app so you can locate all the murals and even find out what they are representing and who the artist was that created them.

Once the sun went down, we walked 20 minutes to Glenwood Ave, a road lined with different bars and restaurants. It reminded us a little of Austin as some of the bars along the road looked like they used to be residential houses.

We both had a craving for BBQ, it had been a long time since we'd been in the South so we headed into a bar/restaurant called Southern Charred to get our fix.

We shared a combo of BBQ chicken, smoked sausage and brisket with a side of loaded smashed potatoes, fried zucchini and Hush Puppies. This was the first time we had come across Hush Puppies, a South Carolina speciality that apparently originated in the 16th century by a group of nuns. They are a dry, bready style of croquette which came with a sweet cinnamon butter to dunk them in. With the butter, they were really tasty although to me they were more of a sweet desert than a savoury addition to the meal.

The food was fantastic: we are yet to have a bad meal in America! The bar was quiet so we spent the time reading questions to each other from the trivial pursuit cards on the tables and chatted to the lovely bar lady. 

In a food coma, we walked 5 minutes up the road to one of the places Lee had been most looking forward to on this trip, Raleigh Beer Garden. This place is the current Guinness world record holder for the largest selection of beer at a single location. There are two bars, one on the ground floor selling local beers and one on the second floor selling out of state and imported beers. Across the two bars there are more than 350 beers on tap! 

Most of the time we spent in this place was looking through the online beer menu trying to decide what we wanted to try but luckily we were helped by a couple of very good friends. Dave, an old work colleague of Lee's and his wife Elizabeth live close by and headed over to meet us to talk about travels, life in America and just how to decide on which beer to choose from such a long list. They are two of the nicest people and we were so glad we were able to spend some time with them, even if it was very brief. 

Full up on BBQ, beer and laughter, we took an Uber back to our hotel where we reflected on how much we had enjoyed our short time in Raleigh.

Day 168 - Helvetia, WV and Roanoke, VA

We woke up this morning and, as expected, were greeted with a beautiful blanket of snow outside. We needed to make tracks so headed to Fin with our overnight stuff. Poor Fin was covered in an icy layer of snow and his frozen door handles needed a good yank to free them. Being a Floridian, I am guessing he certainly hadn't experienced anything like this in his short life so far, and I'm not sure he approved!

Improvising, we used the dustpan from the camping gear as a rather effective window scraper. Sam sat inside getting herself and Fin nice and toasty whilst I battled the 21F (-6C) temperature and icy wind to get us in a roadworthy state. Another family were leaving at the same time and were in the same predicament, so I lent them borrow my improvised scraper and we were soon both on our way.

In all honesty I was a little worried about what the road down the mountain would be like, but I needn't have worried. The snow ploughs had already been out and the roads in the resort were fairly clear, and as we descended the snow became less and less.

Our next destination was Helvetia in West Virginia. Unfortunately there was no easy way to get there and we had to negotiate a number of single-lane, unpaved roads which were covered in muddy sludge due to the recent snow and rain. Fin was not having a good day!

Helvetia is a tiny village in a high mountain valley known for the Swiss and German settlers who arrived in 1869 and whose descendants still remain there. Being so remote, much of the old traditions of dance, music, food, lifestyle and holidays have survived through the generations and remain today. Being half-Swiss, this destination had been on the itinerary from very early on in the planning process.

Helvetia’s Swiss-German heritage is visible in the hand-painted coats of arms, Swiss phrases, and historical markers. Public buildings like the Community Hall, Cheese Haus, and the Kulture Haus (which also serves as the village post office, general store, and mask museum) are decorated with alpine gingerbread and floral patterns.

The one restaurant in the village - the Hütte - was our lunchtime stop. It was literally like stepping back in time into someone's quaint little house. Tables were dotted throughout the various downstairs rooms, and the walls were adorned with all sorts of Swiss and German historical memorabilia from the area.

We were visiting on a Sunday, and on the menu was a buffet. It was $25 per person and included a drink and a dessert. The American/Swiss/German fare including sauerbraten, sausage, curry chicken, green beans with bacon, and boiled potatoes. Topping it all off was a homemade peach cobbler with fresh whipped cream. Some of this definitely made me think of meals I had on family trips to Switzerland as a kid, and everything was homemade and delicious.

We walked off our lunch taking in a few sights of this small village, and I entertained Sam with my narration on the events in broken Schwiizerdütsch, which you'll see on the video!

It was time to hit the road again. We had planned on a night of tent camping in Lansing, West Virginia, but the chilly forecast for the night made us rethink our plans. Looking at the map, we decided upon a Hampton Inn in Roanoke in Virginia. It looked like a decent-sized town so was sure to give us some options for evening entertainment.

And of course, we managed to stumble across a lively bar. As luck would have it, it was the start of their Oktoberfest celebrations, so the German theme for the day was extended that little bit longer as we sunk some beers to traditional oom-pah music before heading to the warmth and comfort of our hotel bed.   

Day 167 - Cass and Showshoe, WV

Getting out of bed this morning was difficult. We were wrapped up warm in our cozy room, still toasty from the fire that had been on last night. The patter of drizzle and the low-hanging cloud outside our window didn't help.

Nonetheless, we had stuff to do today: a trip on the Cass Scenic Railroad had been booked for late afternoon, and we still wanted to visit the Green Bank Observatory beforehand.

Jumping in Fin, we headed through the gloom down the mountain and reached warmer and sunnier skies as we reached the historic town of Cass. We carried on through and soon reached the Green Bank Observatory, home to the iconic Green Bank Telescope and other facilities making up the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. 

We paid our 6 bucks each to get on one of the tours, which started with an introductory video and a short presentation from our guide Rebekah. We then hopped on a bus which took us around the facility to see the many radio telescopes on site. We were told that we had to turn off all electronic equipment, including phones, cameras and smart watches. Sam's FitBit - a primitive device that can't actually be turned off - had to be imprisoned in a Faraday Cage (a copper-lined box inside the bus) before we could proceed.

We got out of the bus at the jewel in the crown of the facility: the Robert C Byrd telescope. Being right at the base of the world's largest fully-steerable telescope was pretty impressive, but as it unexpectedly whirred into motion to track a different target, we all grinned ear-to-ear and marveled at this 17-million pound piece of engineering effortlessly gliding into position.

The bus dropped us back at the Visitor Centre and once Sam had liberated her watch, we headed inside for a lunchtime snack. The grilled cheese sandwich and homemade soup was just what we needed to warm us up and send us on our way into the Catching The Waves exhibit hall. This was a great little collection of informative and interactive exhibits. We probably had a bit too much fun in here, as before we knew it too much time had passed for us to hit any other local attractions before our train ride.

We opted for a quick snooze back at the room before heading back down the mountain to Cass, where a 2-hour round trip on a steam-powered train back up the mountain awaited us.

Despite the chilly air and the failing light, this ride was a lot of fun. Heading through the woods, spotting deer on the way, we negotiated two switchbacks whereby the train changed direction before hitting Whittaker station. We got off to stretch our legs and bladders before heading back down the mountain.

Fin deployed his heated seats and hot blowers and took us back up the mountain once again. Now hungry, we headed to our 'local' and grabbed the last two chairs at the bar for some food, drinks and banter. As ever, I couldn't resist the chicken wings, and Sam had a mighty fine half rack of ribs. Our bartender Sandy kept us hydrated with beers and cocktails.

After a couple of huge flashes of lightning, the snow - that had been forecast but we never believed would arrive - did. It was a little surreal being in a bar in mid-October watching the swirling snow outside. It made us both long for our forthcoming ski trip to Les Gets in January, but also made us fear our short walk back to our room in less-than-appropriate clothing.

Battling snow-laden gusts, we made it back to our room and immediately cranked up the fire, took off our wet clothes and slumped into our armchairs.

Day 166 - Blue Ridge Parkway to Snowshoe, VA

We spent the previous night in the Lynchburg / Blue Ridge Parkway KOA, a really lovely campsite a short drive off the Blue Ridge Parkway with lots of modern facilities including a pool, free wifi, a camp shop and a lake for fishing. Our stay was during one of the last weeks of the season with the camp hosts getting ready to close down for the winter. This did mean that the campsite was very quiet, even the RV section was quiet with many of the seasonal guests packed up and heading home. This was a good thing for us as the only downside to this campsite was the small number of tent only sites, there were only 5. These were all located around a stunning lake which when we first woke up, looked like it was steaming.

After a relaxing breakfast sat watching the mist eventually leave the lake and be replaced by perfect mirror image of the trees, we packed up and headed back onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. 

The drive along the parkway is slow, with speed limits stopping you from going over 40mph and therefore allowing you to really take in the scenery and just enjoy what's around you. For some, this might be frustrating but we had no reason to rush, we had no tent to put up tonight. 

We had a couple of planned stops on the parkway that we wanted to try to make. The first was James River. Here there was a small visitors center so we could get another stamp for the passport but also learnt a little more about the parkway and the history of this area. We met a lovely National Parks Ranger in the visitors center who look an interest in our trip being a traveler herself. After a chat, she pointed us to a couple of easy trails that we should try out. The first one took us around Otter Creek where we got to walk through the trees, crossed stepping stones and had fun watching out for bears. The second trail was the James River Canal trail which look us across a meadow to the restored James River and Kanawha Canal Lock that was built between 1845-51. We learnt about the history this lock and how the railway came along and reduced the need for its use. 

We hit the road again to the Peaks of Otter recreational area located just 20 minutes further down the road. There was another visitor center here and yet another stamp for our National Parks Passport. There is also a lodge, picnic area and restored farm. We looked out for otters but sadly we didn't see any. 

We continued along the parkway until we reached the highest point. The view was spectacular of the valley below and the photos we took in no way do it justice. 

We left the parkway and headed west into West Virginia and towards our stop for the night in the town of Snowshoe. Driving the through the countryside, we continued to be surprised by the lack of fall colours, we must be just that little be too early but we loved the old barns and farms which reminded us of the America you see on the TV. 

One thing we kept seeing on the side of the barns were the quilt coloured patterns. You'll see one example in our video. 

After some Googling whilst on the road to try to work out why barns in West Virginia had these patterns, we found out that in 2001, a woman from a rural farming community in Southern Ohio honored her mother who was a noted quilter by painting a square in a pattern of quilt and hanging it on the side of her family barn. Local farmers followed her lead and within a couple of years, over 20 barns in her county had 'barn quilts' attached to them. 

The original barns were called a “clothesline of quilts” and promoted tourism in the farming regions of Southern Ohio. Since then, the 'quilt barns' have expanded cross the Ohio River into Kentucky and West Virginia, and has now grown into a national phenomenon.

For those who read our plans for West Virginia, you would have noticed that we never intended to stay in Snowshoe. Our original plan was to stay in a B&B just outside the Greenbank Observatory but unfortunately, due to personal circumstances the reservation was cancelled whilst we were on the road. We searched around for alternative accommodation and found Snowshoe, a backwards ski resort with the resort being at the top of the mountain. The ski resort was closed with the summer season finished but the winter season not quite started. The accommodation was cheap but we knew there was a risk that very little was going to be open in this town.  

The road up to Snowshoe was long and winding, with lots of hairpin bends and stunning views of the valley below. We both wondered just how people in the winter season managed to make it up to the resort with snow on the roads, it must be a white knuckle ride! 

We arrived in Snowshoe and the town was very quiet, there were virtually no cars on the road and everything looked closed. The hotel had emailed us instructions to check in which involved driving to another hotel to pick up a key as the hotel we were staying in had no reception desk open at this time of the year. As we checked in, we found signs of life. This must have been the only hotel open in the entire resort but at least there were like-minded people either looking for cheap accommodation or a getaway in a closed ski resort between seasons. As we checked in we were reminded just a couple of times that the entire resource was closed, there were no shops open, no where to eat and drink (unless you wanted to drive 20 minutes down the mountain to a gas station and Subway) and definitely no skiing. We confirmed again that we were fine with this and just needed a room for the night to explore the local area. 

We drove around to the hotel, parked up and headed into our room which was accessible without needing to go through the hotel, a good thing since it was all closed. 

The room was stunning! We had a gas fire, a comfortable bed, a living area and a modern bathroom. The room looked out onto a ski run and opposite the hotel was one of the ski lifts. Had we visited in winter, this place would have been perfect for skiing. 

Assuming that nothing was open, we cracked open the coolbox and hunted down the left over lasagna and salad from Hershey to heat up in the microwave for dinner. It was almost just as good as when we had it the first time around. 

We both felt full and uncomfortable after dinner so we decided that we needed to go on walk around Snowshoe to explore the town and walk off some of those calories. We headed for the main highstreet and as we were warned when we checked in, all the shops were closed with signs explaining they would open again in a couple of weeks time when the winter seasons started. Then we hit a bar and it was a lively bar that was both open and packed full of people. We headed inside and sat at the bar. It turns out that not everything is closed during shoulder season and this bar stays open. We also found out about other areas of town that were still open including the convenience store and another bar / restaurant. After befriending the barman and questioning him about our warnings at check in, we realised that the bar was privately owned yet the resort was owned by a managing company, politics meant that the managing company who ran our hotel may not be entirely honest about what is / isn't open. Seems like you get inter company politics no matter what the industry! 

After a few drinks and some apple crumble for desert (all that walking and talking had made us hungry again!), we headed back to our hotel room for a comfortable and restful nights sleep. 

Here is the video of our day: