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

• 2022 Hot Rod Power Tour
• 2022 Hot Rods Galore
• 2022 What's a Venue? And Other Tidbits
• 2022 Our Favorite - Chop Top 54 Plymouth
  

2022 Hot Rod Power Tour

(Click on any photo for an enlargement)

We once again went on our "summer camp on the road" vacation.  Every year the Power Tour is sponsored by Hot Rod Magazine.  It started in 1995 so this makes Year 28 for this fun event.  It's the 5th time that Gary has gone and 4 years for me. 

We had 10+ cars from the Shenandoah Valley in past years but this year there were only 2 cars - ours and that of Wilmer and Shirley Shank. of us. One could not ask for better travel companions than Wilmer and Shirley. They set up all the hotels, mapped out our side tours, led the way, and were simply fun to be with!

Launched in 1995 by the HOT ROD magazine staff as a way to personally connect with readers, the HOT ROD Power Tour is widely considered to be the finest high-end hot rod–based automotive tour in the world, bringing together more than 4,000 vehicles in 2022.

 

 

Memphis to Nashville to Birmingham to Pensacola, to Atlanta

Day 0   Sunday, June 11, 2022    750 miles  Harrisonburg, VA to Memphis, TN   It was a long day but we did just fine.

Day 1   Monday, June 12   Memphis International Raceway was our venue.  We registered after standing in long, long, long lines.

We then toured Graceland, the famous home of Elvis Presley. 

Graceland was not as majestic as I had expected.  However, Elvis was only 42 when he died so he might have had more palatial homes in his future, had he lived longer.

His living room featured a piano in the adjoining room at the far end and a then-modern TV set.

 

 

The pool room ceiling and walls are covered with a gathered print bright fabric.

While in Memphis, we had lunch at B.B. King's Blues Club on the famous Beale Street. 

Day 2   Tuesday, June 13   About 200 miles   Memphis to Nashville

As always, most of the Power Tour follows smaller roads so we get to see small town America.  This was a nice ride. 

I started noticing the beautiful mimosa trees.  It's a bit too cold in the Shenandoah Valley for mimosas to thrive.  We saw them lining the highways for miles and miles.  Too bad the photos can't portray the beauty of these peachy colored blooms.

p.s.  I need to correct myself.  I just saw a whole row of mimosa trees along Rt. 33.   So, they do grow in the Shenandoah Valley!  I understand they're VERY messy to have in your lawn.

 
Day 3  Wednesday, June 14, 2022   200 miles   Nashville to Birmingham

 

We left a bit earlier than usual (8:30) because Wilmer remembered that there were shade trees along the roads inside the Hoover Met Complex.  We set up our chairs in the shade to watch the never-ending parade.  

 

We parked and went under the stadium where we had the most delicious and hottest (temperature-wise) Chick-fil-A sandwich I've ever had.  Somewhere we took a photo of us at our picnic table but it might have melted.

Yes, you're seeing correctly.  Our Corvette thermometer showed 100 degrees

 

 

Gary and I went inside to get our lanyards punched.

 

We came back to our chairs and watched some more.  We decided to go and came back to our car to see this:

Yes, that says 107 degrees!!!  And here we were walking around on asphalt!  Gary says that's the closest he ever wants to be to hell!!!

We went to our hotel to discover that our room was 63 degrees!  I froze but shook under the heavy duvet for a nap.  It took a while to reset that irksome thermostat and it finally got warmer.   (Keep this in mind - 107 to 63 within an hour.... more later on that.)

Day 4  Thursday, June 15   about 255 miles  Birmingham to Pensacola

We parked next to a guy who has a Pontiac G8 like Wilmer has.  They were having a good time visiting, so Gary and I went into the Venue to get our lanyards punched.

 

Gary with a Drag Race Funny Car

 

Gary with a Dragster

 Nice Wrap Job!

Day 5  Friday, June 17    about 800+ miles    Pensacola to Harrisonburg

Shirley started with a cold and got worse and worse.  We decided together to skip Atlanta so hit the road for another long haul.  We got in at dusk on Friday evening.

Just keep scrolling below for 3 more posts for 2022

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Or, you can click on each link below:
2022 Hot Rods Galore
2022 What's a Venue? And Other Tidbits 
2022 Our Favorite - Chop Top 54 Plymouth

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Posts from Previous Years

It Started at DQ   2021

What is the Power Tour?  2018

Power Tour in 2017 Corvette