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.