Roanoke "Counterculture"

In honor of Elijah's last swimming lesson, another simple weekend in Roanoke was in store. We headed out to lunch in Grandin Village at The Isaacs, a wonderful Mediterranean restaurant. It's one of those places where the atmosphere is elegant but not stuffy--you can go in wearing jeans and feel like you must be wearing something nicer. Kim had a beautiful meze of smoked Gouda and eggplant, Justin and Don had gyros, and Elijah became a fan of the minestrone. If you go, don't miss the pita fries--they are healthy and delicious! The Isaacs is food you can feel good about: often organic, often local, healthful, reasonably priced, colorfully presented. Excellent! Also worth a stop in Grandin Village? The Grandin Theatre, a not-for-profit movie house often showing independent films; Too Many Books, an excellent used book store; the "Co-op", a locally-owned grocer; and Black Dog Salvage, a place for unique furniture finds. If you aren't familiar with Roanoke, you'll want to know that Grandin Village is a lively, diverse community.

By night, we headed to the Salem Civic Center for the Roanoke Symphony's now-annual rock symphony night, part of their Pops series and a fundraiser for the group. We've attended all three to date, and this year's A Night at Woodstock may be the best yet! (That's saying something for Kim, who has enjoyed the Cirque element of previous shows--absent this year--particularly.) Jeans 'n Classics, a tremendous band, played 60s genre hits with the symphony, and the RSO volunteers dressed as hippies to set the mood. Elijah loved it so much that the 2011 show may provide a venue for his second birthday party! Much to his parents' happiness, he can "rock," scooting about and clapping to Joe Cocker and Jefferson Airplane in particular. The annual fundraiser is a casual and lighthearted way to experience the symphony--highly recommended.

Elijah Meets TJ

Beautiful weather, beautiful house, beautiful friends. This weekend, we drove up to Charlottesville to take in Monticello with the Mejias. As always, Monticello is a little mountain with stunning views, making it easy for a novice like me to take some stunning photos. The house kitchen has been renovated recently and lots of folks were taking garden tours to enjoy the spring blooms. The new visitor's center there is spiffy and features an expanded museum shop, so Kim came home with two new Christmas ornaments. Justin also picked up at Thomas Jefferson doll for Elijah. They could have done a better job with accessibility, but the center "fits in" with the landscape and is a nice home to some amenities like a cafe, theater, and gallery.

Following our visit to Monticello, we drove to the University of Virginia's campus to walk the lawn. Folks were busy prepping for next weekend's graduation, and the "capitals" of the columns on the Rotunda were draped in black, presumably in memory of the recently murdered lacrosse player. Otherwise, the grounds were alive with a wedding and college kids entertaining their visiting parents. We ate lunch at an excellent deli in "the Corner," Little John's. The sandwiches were unique enough to be interesting and huge enough to be quite filling.

Justin and Kim usually find Charlottesville's atmosphere a bit pretentious, but today, that was eased by good company. If you go, we also recommend eating at The Virginian, also on the Corner, for a lighter lunch, but we do not recommend Bodo's Bagels, a UVa institution, for anything other than breakfast. The Charlottesville Downtown Pedestrian Mall is a fun stop for leisure shopping and has a Caspari store, something you can find only three places in the world, along with numerous unusual gift shops. You can take the trolley there from the campus area. The farmer's market is also worthwhile and sells some non-perishables routinely. At last check, UVa's bookstore still allows the browsing of the stacks--a shopping treat for academic book nerds like ourselves. You can also make a longer trip with historic homes, visiting Monroe's Ash Lawn as well.

On our drive back to Roanoke, we stopped by The Factory Antique Mall just outside Staunton in our second visit this year. The mall is big and full of non-pushy, interesting vendors on the weekends. It's a great place to find vintage toys, beads, postcards, documents, and books with a particularly good book stash near the back and two finely-organized, reasonable postcard outlets near the front. Highly recommended.

'Round Town

Elijah's swimming lessons are wonderful--and they have encouraged us to enjoy half-Saturday trips in our own backyard. Today, Kim headed to the Salem Postcard Show. If you've never been to a postcard show, it's a great place to start an inexpensive and addictive collection. The clientele is largely serious, older collectors--and it's a lot quieter and cleaner smelling than a comic book show. This year's show "graduated" to a spiffier location at the Quality Inn. Kim spent over an hour looking at just two tables, coming away with a few nifty treats, including some rare Busch Gardens the Old Country cards from when Loch Ness was one of the world's most modern coasters (at 31, it's still a goodie). Also found: a folio from Michigan's Wooden Shoe Factory, old shots of "motor inns" in Gettysburg and Williamsburg, and a night view from atop the NYC Twin Towers (only $0.25!).

After that, it was time for a little shopping at Salem's Nancy's Candy Co., a store branch of the Meadows of Dan factory with Lakeside memorabilia on the walls. We must visit that factory sometime. There was also a quick trip to Buy the Season, an antique/secondhand collectible/consignment store, where some additional Americana was found, includng a tiny Myrtle Beach Pavillion tin plate.

Our day was not complete without a meal out. Kim picked Red Jasmine, a Thai place hidden in Vinton. It's a restaurant full of fresh, flavorful, and healthy food. Kim recommends red curry with tofu and anything containing duck. Justin enjoyed his second Thai experience ever--particularly the mango and sticky rice dessert--but for Father's Day, we will probably go somewhere that sells cheeseburgers.