Note: Ward, Wally, Theo, and I are on a weeklong trip to the Blue Ridge of Central Virginia.
Today for a change of pace, we went into the city of Roanoke, VA. Thank Goodness for the GPS helping navigate around the city. Roanoke is a city of around 100,000 people, and among its many attributes, it is perhaps best known for its star. On top of Mill Mountain in the middle of the city is the Roanoke Star. It can be seen from miles around and is a landmark that everyone knows. So, of course, we had to go see it up close.
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| The star is the world's largest man-made star and can be seen for 60 miles. It was originally constructed for the 1949 Christmas season to bring in business, but was popular enough that it stayed. It lights up in different color combinations every night. |
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| From up top, we also had a good overlook of Roanoke. |
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| Surrounding the star was Mill Mountain Park with a wildflower garden, teaching zoo, discovery center, and trails. There weren't many wildflowers blooming in the garden at this time of year, but it was a very pleasant walk all the same. |
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Our next stop was the Pinball Museum in the center of Roanoke. Coincidentally, there was a Hispanic Heritage Month Festival going on. We enjoyed some of the music and dancing being showcased. |
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| The Pinball Museum was not exactly what we thought it was going to be. There wasn't much about the history of pinball, more a large collection of pinball machines of all ages. The best part was that the machines were operational and you could play to your hearts content. No money needed (except the entrance fee.) |
After our sights and senses were full of flashing lights and bells, we headed back to our home-away-from home.
Until next time...
