It was a lazy slow start to the day as we were in no hurry to get anywhere in particular. We enjoyed breakfast before opening the door of the perfectly formed apartment at 10am and were greeted with some sprinkling of rain. I was ready to demand our money back and go straight home until Karen pointed out that it was raining harder there.
After 2 minutes the rain stopped and was just enough to wet the pavements. We headed off up Mill Mountain to visit the Roanoke Star.
Unsurprisingly the road up was quite steep, and we were not too sure what to expect when we got there. The star was quite large, in fact it is the biggest man-made star in the world – some 27m high and when lit up at night is visible from 60 miles away,
The view from the vantage point was good although there were still clouds in the sky which made it look duller than it was. We overheard someone talking about a live web cam on the star and so I found the web site and we could see ourselves on it. Immediately I thought I would message a few people so we could wave to them. As we would have predicted only Ellie responded whilst we were there and sent us a screenshot of us waving to her.
We had a pleasant wander around a wildflower garden that had been created on the mountain top. Karen was today suffering from the hike yesterday, so we sat for a while enjoying the sunshine as it broke through.
Time for a medical update. Karen is still feeling discomfort in her right thigh and groin which we assume is from the surgery. The consultant and physio still believe it is muscular, and it will sort itself out. Karen is now starting to be less convinced and so she will probably seek another opinion when we get back.
And how about me – thanks for asking. My back is holding out for now. I have taken extra precautions with my foot and purchased on my podiatrist explicit recommendations some Hoka Clifton trainers for the trip along with some specified hard orthotics. They seem to be working so far but as with most Hoka’s only come in a very lurid colour for which I can only apologise. At least I can be seen in the dark. I could not believe the price of them even with the 50% discount I got through Vitality but as Karen pointed out the cost is only the equivalent of 2 physio sessions that they should save me from needing.
We timed our walk back to when the nearby ‘Discovery Centre’ opened. Karen got herself a coffee whilst I fetched our picnic from the car. We sat on a couple of rocking chairs on their back porch had our food and drink. We spent a blissful hour in the sunshine admiring the beautiful scenery.
Eventually we decided to drive onto the Blue Ridge Parkway and head to the visitors’ centre. The drive was pretty, and we soon found ourselves at a set of large buildings set in a clearing with enormous but almost deserted car parks. We wandered into the visitor’s centre trying to find details of a short trail to do. The one we selected was the illuminight one which was less than ½ mile which still to her great annoyance caused Karen some difficulty which she still put down to the longer walk yesterday.
I am only just getting to grips with the American use of the terms ‘hike’ and ‘trail’. In my mind they always signalled long multi day walks involving wild camping and carabiners whereas they in the main just mean a walk of any length. So when Americans say they are going hiking I am much now less in awe of them.
At the end of our trail was a tavern called Twin Creeks that had stood since 1762 and was open selling craft beer. I had a glass of their finest water whilst Karen went for a pint, or the US equivalent of a craft beer called ‘Summer Crush’. She considered it to be very drinkable.
Whilst supping this, Karen had the bright idea that we should go to the National D Day memorial which was about 30 minutes away. We had considered stopping on the way yesterday, but it was a bit off the direct route.
It was a jolly good idea especially as yesterday had been the 81st anniversary of D Day. We waved our students cards and got in for $10 dollars each.
This is one seriously impressive memorial and extremely well done. We wandered around the shop before heading out in now quite excessive heat which was reflecting off the concrete. The sculptures and what they portrayed were very moving as was the story laid out as we walked around. They were still set up for the ceremony that had been held here the day before and we realised that it was probably a good thing we didn’t try to get here then. Today though we almost had the entire site to ourselves.
The giant marble arch in the centre was a great focal point. We found the statue of Churchill. The memorial didn’t over play the Americans part or underplay the role the UK had. It was all very well done, and we were very glad to be able to visit and pay our respects. It was one of those places where we didn’t know whether we should smile in the photos we took.
Trip Advisor apparently rates the place in the Top 10% of all places to visit in the world. I am sure that must be a positive rating although I would need to see a list of the others
From here we decided to head back and have dinner in the local Outback which was literally just off the Blue Ridge parkway. I had another steak whilst Karen enjoyed her Shrimp and Pasta when they finally brought her the right order.
Then some 9 hours after leaving the apartment and not knowing if we were going to be able to fill the day we arrived back, tired but very happy with the day we had had.
As a treat we opened one of the small wine boxes we had bought somewhere along this trip and found ‘National Treasure’ on the TV which we watched until we retired for the night.
