A Buchanan Festival Weekend

Again this weekend, we sought a "quick trip" from Roanoke following Elijah's swimming lesson at Green Ridge. We headed off to Buchanan, realizing there was a Civil War re-enactment and a small festival going on today. We drive through Buchanan often when returning from other places on the I-81 corridor--but it had been several years since we'd bummed around there.

We began with lunch at the Greenwood, Troutville's landmark home cookin' restaurant. It's a great place for things like country fried steak and chocolate malts, the Botetourt County version of Road Food. It's another place Elijah enjoys the mashed potatoes.

Next, it was off to Buchanan's simple downtown, a good place for casual antiquing. Several shops are within easy walking distance of each other, and the proprietors and the people you pass on the street are relaxed and friendly. There was a fabulous selection of postcards at James River Antiques, and Eagles Wings Antiques and Uniques is a beautiful-yet-unpretentious store. My description would not be complete without giving credit to Justin's favorite, Fireside Books. Fireside is a crowded used bookstore with good deals--and lots of old magazines to comb if you are interested. On the way out of town, we also stopped at Kelly's Real Deals (Troutville), an antique and curiosity shop with an exterior to behold.

No trip to Buchanan would be complete without a walk across the swinging bridge. Water plays a lively role in this town's history--ask any native about the Flood of '85.

There's a new German restaurant in Buchanan--in an old funeral home, I think. We're going to have to go back and eat there! If you go, also consider visiting the restored drug store (complete with a soda fountain) and the inexpensive movies at the Buchanan Theater. If driving via Troutville, stop at the Apple Barn II, one of the nation's most popular Cat's Meow dealers, and browse an extensive collection of local sites in wooden shelf sitters.

Simplicity for a Change

Much of our time this weekend was devoted to good times with friends: TexMex burgers on Friday night prepared by a better cook than me, Elijah's first swimming lesson, a wedding shower for folks from church. We took in a relaxing, nostalgic adventure to match to complete the "good times with good people" vibe, heading to Central United Methodist's Anniversary celebration.

The historic church in Clifton Forge, VA, marked 100 years with a nice event, complete with souvenir tack pins and a mini church history book David Baber wrote for the occasion. Video footage from the church's 1949 fire--shot by the operator of the nearby Masonic Theater--was shown, and many artifacts had been hung on the walls, including a listing of the chruch's active duty military from a previous war, giant Sunday School class pictures with a flood of faces, and the like. The most interesting were photos of the ironic church sign from the day of the fire: The sermon was to be titled "It is Finished," and there was an upcoming lesson on the "importance of prophecy."

If you go to Clifton Forge, you may miss the celebration--but we recommend this church for a visit. It's folksy yet relatively liturgical, often has puppet performances, and features announcements that evoke jolly laughs every Sunday. At Christmas, there is a very impressive nativity on the lawn, too.

Kitsch City, USA

Where can you go to experience such fun as riding down a hill in a big plastic ball? Gatlinburg (and the surrounding area), of course! We retooled our spring break after Justin was scheduled to work two days of it, heading to Tennessee instead of Charleston, SC. We had fun keeping roadside America alive. The mountains were pretty, too, but we think one comes here for the tourist trappiness.

Kim went Zorbing! There are just two places in the world to go right now--Rotura and the Smokies. It makes one feel pretty loopy but is a terrific experience, complete with a friendly staff and AAA discounts. Justin and Elijah hung out on the ground.

In other thrills, Kim rode the Gatlinburg Sky Lift. This ride scared her more than Zorbing but provided detailed views of the town and excellent conditions for people watching. Riding at dusk showed tourist civilization in its best light. Justin and Elijah again hung out on the ground.

Then, there were also tourist attractions that did not require release of liability forms or a willingness to catch a moving chair. We took in Christ in the Smokies, the "new" Christus Gardens. We're very glad the museum has reopened, enjoying the finely-lit nativity scene and the informal exhibit of Jesus movie memorabilia the most. The gift shop is still sparse, but the museum is worthy of your support. Justin can tell you all about its history--we've ebayed for old pamplets and guidebooks from it, and he can explain the symbolism in the scenes and can even point out the "recycled" wax figures now included.

We also visited World of Illusions museum which Kim had last visited at the age of 10 with her dad. It looked old then--and still does today--but is pretty fascinating despite its simplicity and its pre-CGI inception. If you are willing to read the descriptions on the walls, you can learn a bit of magic whiling away 30 minutes. We worry that boardwalk museums--especially those that aren't part of a chain--will become a thing of the past and support them every chance we get. World of Illusions was open "until 10 or 11 [PM] or so" according to the ticket agent when we were there. Sounds like it's going strong.

For a truly trippy putt putt experience, we did Circus Blacklight Mini Golf. It's pretty spectacular low budget fun. We didn't pay extra for the 3-D glasses: it's a good thing--there were many abandoned pairs throughout the course. With glasses, this place would be downright disorienting, but without them, it was an unusual break from the heat of the day. Justin and Kim had one hole-in-one each.

On the Gatlinburg Craft Loop, we saw many non-crafts (manufactured items) but also picked up some great woodworking, particularly at Tim Weberding Woodworking. Justin is very impressed by the shaped candles at Village Candles, and we all enjoyed the welcoming attitude of Alewine Pottery.

If you go, we recommend Alamo steakhouse (particularly the Gatlinburg location) for yummy steaks and the Donut Friar in Gatlinburg's Village for delicious breakfast. The Brookside is a reasonable, family-oriented place to stay. We also get a kick out of the Hollywood Wax Museum--not Madame Tussaud's, but fun and interactive nonetheless. The best place to buy local books seems to be the National Park bookstores. For shopping, there is cheap, interesting jewelry at Earthbound and unique perfume in Scents of Gatlinburg's Southern Rain. Pigeon Forge's Christmas Place is worth a stop, too--but is better stocked summer and fall than spring. If coming from the north, it's an easy visit on the way in, as is Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World--a great place for taxidermy and many flavors of moonpies.

There's plenty of odd things to do here, making it an interesting mecca for us. The Titanic museum, a new construction with a lifesize grand staircase, opened the day we returned home, so we must go back. Someday, we'll go on the Jurassic Boat Ride, too, and I'll take Justin on that spectacular American "nature" trek that is Clingman's Dome...

What do you do after a workday?

Both Kim and Justin had work commitments this weekend--Kim on Sunday and Justin on Saturday. So, a quick trip was in order. With all the working, we had to get out of town!

When we were dating, we bought year-long passes to Natural Bridge once. A drive there (just about 30 miles away) brings back memories and gets us out into the sunshine. We went to take Elijah on his first stroll to the bridge and took in the wax museum, too. The new ticket price structure makes it easy to enjoy a lot of the "components" of the area on one ticket in one day (including the toy museum, which is a nifty low-budget museum if there ever was one), but with a half-day only, we went just for the bridge and museum.

The wax museum is a classic hodge-podge of scenes from the Biblical to the historical to the folklore-related. Madame Tussauds it ain't: the figures are not of uniform proportions and some show signs of age. Classic local fun it is, complete with a wax figure factory exhibit in the basement you can tour. There are also some unexpected twists--like the figure of Bush that is now a "security guard" in one of the hallways. They have updated the Presidents exhibit with an Obama figure, and Doug Wilder is in the inauguration scene.

A walk to the bridge is always a lovely way to unwind. Kim vividly remembers a fifth grade field trip here and how she came around the corner expecting to see a bridge she could crawl through and saw this one, "higher than Niagara." Elijah, well, he was impressed with the running water, but he is just nine months old.

If you go, consider eating the buffet at the Natural Bridge Hotel and taking in Professor Cline's. When Elijah is over, we're hitting Dinosaur Kingdom!

Baby's First Book Fair

Oh, it's Green Valley Book Fair time! We went on opening day--busy but fun. Kim and Justin came away with lots of good regional titles from History Press and other treats, with Kim being especially pleased with some Road Food selections and some new board/picture books representing a whole host of cultures and concepts for Mr. Elijah's exploration. If you go this set of Book Fair dates, expect some new shelving sub-catgories--don't let them throw you off. For example, travel writing (downstairs, near architecture) is not with the travel guide books (upstairs, traditional location). We learned that Elijah has inherited his parents' cloak of invisibility when shopping in crowded locations, but hey, we always wanted to avoid being intrusive people who believe their stroller has the right of way in all circumstances, so it's all good.

We skipped our usual visit to the Dayton Farmer's Market and went searching for antique malls instead. We found Rocky's off I-81 (exit 235) and were not excited--lots of expensive items and glass/silver but little for our taste. The Factory Antique Mall in Verona (exit 227) was much, much more exciting, its happy-looking orange building being a bonus. We enjoyed extended time in a wonderful old book dealer, getting a "new" book on JP II and assorted other treasures from the kindly proprietor. Kim came away with a substantial number of new postcards, including foldouts for Jamestown and Bethlehem. There was a substantial amount of old paper to browse in this mall, and it was spacious with varied vendors--many of whom were on site and offering discounts. If you are travelling this way, we also recommend Alpha and Omega near Shenandoah Harley Davidson, but we didn't stop there today.

We ate at Rowe's (say Rawl's) in Staunton, one of Justin's favorites. If you're not familiar, it's a reasonably-priced, home cookin' kinda place that has been reviewed in publications like Savor and has its own cookbooks you can buy. Elijah recommends the exceptional mashed potatoes.

Roanoke 101

9 months is the appropriate age to start formally touring you local city, say us. Elijah made his first trek up Mill Mountain this weekend, including a drive by Mini Graceland. We walked out to the star, and he was very impressed with the view. It was quite clear--so clear that we could see the Salem flashlight (water tower).

We hit the zoo, of course. Elijah bought Justin family passes for Christmas and seemed to thoroughly enjoy looking at his stroller tray while there. He noticed the monkeys and the vultures most of all but was not very impressed with the goats. We would certainly like to see a book of zoo history (Kim's trying to get Justin to write it), as it is fascinating to hear stories of when the zoo was a "children's storybook zoo." The Zoo Choo still runs--we'll have to take Itty Bit on it later this year! There are no praire dogs anymore, but we did buy some praire dog bookmarks in the sparse gift shop.

We had dinner at Pitt Boss at Cave Spring, one of our new favorite restaurants. Jack and bleu sticks with spicy ranch, smoked turkey sandwich on a pretzel roll...only Cherry Coke could've made it yummier!

Renaissance Clifton Forge

After I received word about a train layout that would be visiting the Clifton Forge Armory this weekend, we decided to head over to Alleghany County on Saturday. For those who don't know, Granny Helen was a C and O employee in Clifton Forge during the rail system's heyday, and her father worked at the Depot that has been redeveloped in to the C and O Railway Heritage Center. There is something about the train events that connects us to our past. So, we picked up Granny Helen and headed off to the train show.

The train show was good fun with a very local feel--saw lots of familiar faces, including some family that had yet to meet Elijah. There was an interactive S gauge display, manned by enthusiastic members of a regional club, that featured about 10 running trains and many features powered by natural gas, including a watchtower you could set "on fire" and then "put out." The club members were proud of their handiwork and took delight in watching adults morph into kids, pushing display buttons to see what they controlled. There were also vendors: vendors who sold Justin a book about the Powhatan Arrow, sold me 4 new postcards, and taught Granny Helen that she has a relic--a C and O plate valued at $300+. And for those who had gender-segregated 8th grade PE in the CF Armory, please know it still smells like a gym class happened there yesterday.

While Elijah played with the Grannies, Justin and I snuck into Clifton Forge proper on a mini surprise date Justin planned, seeing a town that seems to be (finally) experiencing a legitimate rebirth. We spent some time at the Allegheny Highlands Arts and Crafts Center--a mainstay that's still a unique place to shop--and window-shopped Fire and Light, a gallery run by a blacksmith and a photographer.

We also shopped the big antique store, having fun listening to the proprietor tell a ghost story. The store, once Rooklin's Department Store (the one that closed in the 1960s), was run by a gentleman who wished to be buried in Alleghany but wound up buried in Pennsylvania. He reportedly haunts the place, walking around at night and engaging in minor mischief. We bought an old Rooklin's shirt box (it will make a good paper memories box) for just $2. It had been found in the basement of the store. It turns out my great grandmother won a big prize one Christmas--a $25 gift certificate to the store--which bought a lot of people presents.

We'd heard a lot of good about Jack Mason's Tavern (JMT's) from Facebook friends in the area and decided to have lunch there. It's a beautiful place--a Clifton Forge take on a pub with a train mural, a stained glass griffon, and a relic or two of the hardware store it used to be. The decor is classy but casual/cozy. It was not hurting for business, as Justin and I got the only remaining table in the place. And the food was good--Justin had sweet potato fries with a raspberry dip that was quite yummy, and our turkey sandwiches had real, non-processed, tender turkey on them. But the service was bad. Not rude bad, but uncoordinated bad. We waited 20 minutes to be acknowledged, and then, we had to make specific, separate requests to have our table cleaned, receive menus, and get silverware. I got jealous of the table next door, as they heard about the special of the day that I would have ordered had I known it existed. My salad wasn't served, and when this was discovered, the waitress kindly pointed out it was sitting in the back. Wow. They lost a T-shirt and dessert sale in the melee, especially since they didn't offer us an apology of any detail or discounted anything. But, we will try it again sometime, as a bunch of our friends can't be wrong. And the staff was genuinely sweet, if a bit timid about admitting their errors. We wish the business luck, but in the evening, we were off to a known oldie but goodie, the original Cucci's in Covington. Elijah enjoyed some Cucci's sauce, clearly proving that he is his mother's child.