Road trip, Michigan to Virginia

We left Grand Rapids a little after 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 28. Pointing the Mini east we headed first to Detroit and then cut off toward Ann Arbor and continued on past Toledo. Just south of the city we caught a glimpse of the new (?) Greater Toledo Islamic Center, just off the interstate and seemingly out in the farmlands of northern Ohio. Odd perhaps but reassuring that the world changes even in the US.

Four hours after we entered Ohio we passed into West Virginia near Marietta, Ohio and then through Parkersburg and Charleston and finally stopped at Beckley where we spent the night. After checking in to a nearby Comfort Inn ("mediocrity is our middle name") we drove to the nearby Tamarack Artisan Center which intrigued us so much we went back the next morning before getting on the road. (photo above: Tamarack center in Beckley, WV)

Anyway we asked around for a good place to eat. "Well you can try Applebees." Hmmmmm. Anything in downtown Beckley? we asked. "Nothing but dentist offices and lawyer's offices. But it's a pretty little town though!"

We settled on The Outback, just across the street from our motel. As we walked in we couldn't help but notice the place was packed and our wait time was 50 minutes. OK so it was Saturday night but come to find out there were two proms that night in Beckley and many of the kids had opted to come to the Outback for dinner. So we sidled up to the bar, ordered some wine and watched the floor show: lots of kids dressed in ill fitting clothes, acting goofy and so we enjoyed ourselves immensely. (After we got seated we at a table across from us a young well-endowed woman, wearing a very and I mean very snug, dress, spent much of the evening constantly shifting her breasts up to keep her dress from falling down.

The next morning we checked out and drove over to the Tamarack again and checked out some of the local artisans -- pretty impressive stuff actually and well worth a stop if you're driving past this way.

Another beautiful day saw us on the road again, this time I-64 in the direction of Lexington, Virginia, but in fact we were going to Roanoke, Virginia with plans to see old friends for the evening.

We left the interstate at route 220 and turned south through the hills that make up the far end of the Shenandoah Valley. As we pulled into Daleville, just outside of Roanoke, we stopped at a local barbeque place, the 3 Lil Pigs and had lunch (pulled pork BBQ of course). The sun was strong, the sky clear blue and so naturally we had to sit outside and soak up just being back in the south again.

But eventually we had to return to the highway and soon afterwards scooted into Roanoke. We drove past our old house on 26th steet, up to Mill Mountain to see the Roanoke Star and of course the view of the city. Lots of changes since we first came up to the star more than 20 years ago. But hey everything changes, right?

After we left the star we drove to Towers mall and checked out Ram's Head Bookshop where I worked in 1981-82 when I took a year off from grad school at UVA. Although it was Sunday the store was open and one or two folks were actually browsing.

Leaving Towers we drove past Tanglewood Mall and then on to the home of Bob and Margie B. where we would be spending the night.

It had been four years since we had last seen each other and so the four of us spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on all the news.

That evening we drove into town and the four of us met up with friends John and Lolly at Billy's Ritz, where we had all eaten together after our wedding in 1983! The food was still OK after all these years although the wait staff was different. . . But more than anything else it was the friendship that circulated around the table once again that evening that keeps drawing us back time after time.

The next morning we said thanks to our hosts Bob and Margie, loaded our things back into the Mini and headed north up I-81, toward the Mason Dixon Line.

Next: Maryland and points north.