When I first met my roommate from Roanoke, I was convinced she grew up in the deep country. Despite her arguments, I pictured her hometown exactly like the one in "Sweet Home Alabama," complete with indecipherable Southern drawls and barnyards every block.
After a year of enduring my jokes and continual mocking, she finally convinced my two apartment-mates and me to visit her during Fall Break so we could see the "real Roanoke."
Roanoke is a fairly short and easy drive from Charlottesville, taking around two hours. The drive did not fail to disappoint my original picture of Roanoke - I saw more cows and horses during those two hours than I had my entire life.
Despite the admittedly foul smells from the livestock littering the highway, the roads ran through the Appalachian Mountains, at times carving straight through the rock itself. Hailing from Virginia Beach, I am not accustomed to seeing mountains so continuously, or even small hills. In fact, the highest "natural" point in my hometown is at the top of a mountain of trash the city covered with dirt and grass. The change of atmosphere from my beach upbringing to the mountains was a welcome one. Because I was not driving, I spent the majority of the ride mesmerized by the surroundings out the window.
When you get off the exit for Roanoke, you see the Mill Mountain Star - what my roommate considers the main attraction of her city and my apartment-mates and I jokingly call the "Big Star."
The Mill Mountain Star stands at the top of Mill Mountain and is the largest illuminated man-made star. Essentially, it is a traditional five-point star made out of red, white and blue neon lights.
Although you can see the star from the majority of Roanoke, a short country drive up Mill Mountain will give you an up-close look. At the top, there is a small park area, complete with an overlook of the entirety of Roanoke city. Many families and couples head up to the star at night to enjoy the atmosphere.
Before you head up the mountain, be sure to throw on some warmer clothes. Personally, I like to pretend cold weather does not exist, and thus wear my shorts and flip-flops virtually year-round. Yet, my roommate and her mother convinced me to put on my first pair of jeans since March, and I was still cold at the star.
Another attraction near the star is the Mill Mountain Zoo, which costs only $7.50 for a ticket to see every animal, from porcupines to wolverines.
After our trip to the star, we headed to a local favorite hangout: Mill Mountain Coffee, located on Starkey Road. Open until midnight during the weekends, this coffee joint provided the perfect way to warm up after our trek up the mountain and a great atmosphere to have our favorite latte chats.
Kids from the local high school both worked and hung out at Mill Mountain Coffee. Here, I learned that Roanoke truly had the small-town vibe. When I get coffee in Virginia Beach, I rarely run into someone I know, but my roommate knew everyone there.
This area of Roanoke seemed like a small town, but the rest of the area was not the same way. Roanoke truly has a "downtown," and though it may not be Times Square, there are a few taller buildings - calling them skyscrapers might be a stretch - along with a new art museum and a chapel.
It may be located in a smaller town, but St. Andrew's Catholic Church is a chapel worthy of a big city. With its high steeples and yellow brick, the church is a perfect model of Victorian Gothic Architecture, and in fact serves as a national and historical landmark.
A short walk from the church, the newly opened Taubman Museum of Art's outside architecture makes every passerby on the highway wonder what's inside. Made out of hundreds of windows and with the building itself taking on interesting modern shapes, you wonder how it was constructed in the first place. The building's design was inspired by Roanoke's dependence on technology, as well as the surrounding streams and mountains.
As the architecture of the museum suggests, the interior art consists of changing exhibits of contemporary art culture. Its exhibits include everything from 3-D sculptures, print photography and cross-media art.
Also located in the downtown area is the Jefferson Theatre for performed entertainment and the Roanoke Symphony.
All of these cultural attractions may have been educational, but no break from school is complete without a trip to the local mall. Head to Valley View Mall to see the largest regional mall in southwest Virginia. While Valley View is a far cry from Tyson's in Northern Virginia, it still offers the majority of the stores any college student needs. It lacks a Forever 21 for the girls but replaces this deficiency with the many other stores, such as Macy's and Hollister.
By the end of Fall Break, I realized that Roanoke was not the tiny country town I thought it to be. I did not see any stereotypical rednecks - unless Virginia Tech fans count, since I saw plenty of those - or cows wandering the city streets. Roanoke is a town hard to classify. It mixes the charm of a small town with the conveniences of a larger suburban city. I may not need another trip back to the famous star, but I will definitely head back to at least get some coffee.
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