Awake: 7:00am Temp 54 sleep 6+ 58 partly sunny overnight @ Lenoir City, TN.
We leave the Soaring Eagle Campground @ 9:45; following I-40 east to I-81 northeast to Salem, VA. Very smooth roads throughout our time in Tennessee I am pleased to say.
We arrive @ the Dixie Caverns Campground near Salem, VA @ 2:33pm.
Today’s travel: 269 miles 4+41 time 42.8 gal used 6.3 mpg 57.2 avg speed.
After checking in, driving to our site, connecting shore power, & disconnecting the Suzuki, we drive to the town of Salem which was a bit more populated than we expected. Main street was clean, active & historically preserved; had we not used so much time stocking up our wine closet @ Kroger, we could have done a walking tour of these old classic buildings.
Next, we travel about (8) miles to Roanoke, VA & immediately find ourselves in rush hr traffic. Visible on a hill from many points in the city, we slowly make our way to the historic Gainesboro Saint Andrew’s Church, which is one of the state’s leading examples of High Victorian Gothic architecture. Disappointingly, all visible doors were locked so we could only admire the outside features & the view of the city from the church steps.
From here, we auto tour the downtown streets of Roanoke & the outbound traffic now makes for a more efficient operation. Eventually we visit the famous Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center. Built & operated by Norfolk & Western Railroad for over (100) yrs, this place is a Roanoke landmark. We didn’t realize this famous building was donated to Virginia Tech in 1989, then restored & reopened over (10) yrs later with the new conference center. It was then that we also became conscious of being close to the area (Blacksburg) of Virginia Tech where some (32) students were massacred by a mentally ill South Korean senior student from that univ. on April 16, 2007.
Dinner: mixed salad & later, popcorn.
DVR movie: “The Match Maker” with Shirley Booth, Anthony Perkins, Shirley MacLaine, Paul Ford, etc. Endearing Thornton Wilder comedy about middle-aged widower deciding to re-wed….but the matchmaker he consults has plans of her own. Solid performances with fine period detail. 1958. We both enjoyed this story.
Lights out: 1:14am
Leave a comment