Sailing with the Suters: Relaxing in Roanoke 2023

We're in a special group that started with a few Corvette owners/lovers in about 2018. Our founding father/leader was Galen Shank. He organized the Power Tours and he started saying he'd be at our local Dairy Queen on their outside patio on Sunday evening. RIP Galen.

One week, my bonus daughter, Krista, observed that all the Corvettes and other sports cars parked in a row at DQ were owned by men who were raised Mennonite. Thus our unofficial name "Mennonite Corvette Club" was born!

It has evolved to be about 12 of us and we meet for dinner at different restaurants every Sunday evening. Some have gone on Power Tour trips and the Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise together. In 2019, we went on day trips to places such as The Homestead, The Greenbriar, Graves Mountain Lodge and more.

Sharon Menefee suggested we go on an over-night trip to Roanoke this summer. Roanoke is about 100 miles south of Harrisonburg. Sharon gets full credit for doing all the legwork to get us going - Thank you, Sharon. We left on a Tuesday and returned on Wednesday..... a short time but we packed our activities in.

We started out at the Virginia Museum of Transportation. https://www.vmt.org/ , which features travel of people and the transport of goods throughout history.

One of the highlights is in their outdoor railyard area. The "star" of the show is the Norfolk & Western J Class 611 steam locomotive .

The Hotel Roanoke was built in 1882 and had 54 rooms. Now it has become a hotel and a conference center with 384 rooms.

It certainly is an impressive place and they've preserved the classy "old" look featuring beautiful wood everywhere.

(Click on any photo for an enlargement.)
(Depending on whether you're viewing on your phone or computer, the pictures might appear rather helter-skelter.)

The "Mennonite Corvette Gang" dining at the Hotel Roanoke

Bill and Becky


Gail and Larry


Whit and Sharon

Gary and MaryMay


Wilmer and Shirley


Marietta and Richard

The afternoon took us to a famous salvage yard where the focus is taking the fixtures, knobs, wood treatments, and any other interesting parts of old houses or buildings. Then they refurbish and recycle them.

The TV series "Salvage Dawg" was filmed in Roanoke and other places. It lasted for 8 seasons! Mike Whiteside, one of the guys who starred in the show, stopped to talk to us.

I asked how the show started. He said it was one of those drinkin' and fishin' deals with a Navy buddy. These guys dared each other and it worked!

Here's the history: https://blackdogsalvage.com/about-us/history/

A few of our group had watched the show so it was like seeing a movie star. Mike was very down to earth and friendly.

We checked into the hotel and got ready to go to dinner.

We used a walkway that went from Hotel Roanoke, over railway tracks and to the downtown streets. We came out near the restaurant.

We had a wonderful dinner at Billy's Roanoke restaurant. Billy's was built in 1912 and has the atmosphere of an old pub. I almost died from pleasure from eating my hot, gooey brownie topped with ice cream for dessert. I likely gained 5 pounds but it was worth it!

On Wednesday morning, we walked over that same bridge for breakfast at Scramblers. The guys had heard of the famous Roanoke Wiener Stand so they went to check it out. Larry Martin just had to try one - even though he'd just eaten a full breakfast!

One of the most famous tourist spots in Roanoke is their star. The Roanoke Star, also known as the Mill Mountain Star, is the world's largest freestanding illuminated man-made star in the world.

It was constructed in 1949 by the local merchants association to draw publicity and it is 88 feet tall.

It can be lit solid white, red, white, and blue, or any variation thereof, and has also been known to blink or pulse.

The Guys

The Dolls

The highlight of our trip happened just as we were leaving the lovely view on Mill Mountain. Along came people with big cameras and video cameras. One gal was carrying a mysterious black box.

She was from the Virginia Wildlife Society. Someone brought a Red-Tailed Hawk with an injured wing to them. They had nursed it back to health for 4 months and it was ready to take flight.

All the cameras were from two TV stations who came to film the hawk's release.

I'm hoping my videos will play....

Turn your volume up. 1 minute

THE RELEASE

24 seconds

We asked if they put a tracker on the hawk. She said that it's very expensive to buy and monitor the trackers. So they don't do that for normal rehabilited and released birds.

Our Corvette Club's trip to Roanoke turned out to be an interesting and relaxing venture, even though it was short. Seeing that Red-Tailed Hawk released was an exciting ending and we hope he adapts and prospers.

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Click on the links below to see previous blog posts about the "Mennonite Corvette Club!"

Power Tour in 2017 Corvette

What is the Power Tour? 2018

It Started at DQ 2021