Our trip north starting with visiting Curt and Diane outside St. Augustine. Fun quick visit, then over the bridge toward Virginia, Floyd Virginia, to visit Joanne and Greg in the Blue Ridge mountains where they summer in the Airstream.
Was fun to get some cool air and see hilly countryside as we headed north. Our cute 1927 hotel,
Pine Tavern Lodge, was picturesque and a tad quirky making it our kind of place. Current owners decided to retire back where they went to college - Virginia Tech. They decided to buy, renovate the lodge which took 5 years. With Covid, the historic roadside restaurant next door had closed. So we were unable to enjoy their well liked meals. Hoping they reopen with new owner.
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| Pine Tavern Lodge |
This area is an odd, interesting mix of super conservative and super liberal thinkers. So a yoga studio may be next door to a home covered with Trump paraphernalia. The old farmsteads, barns and side roads were rustic and real. It made me wonder how long the countryside would look like this as more people search for livable areas outside of cities. Floyd is only 55 miles outside of Roanoke.
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| typical old barn alongside roadway |
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| just a part of the property's messaging |
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| happy Turk gets to hike |
The town of Floyd, as was explained to me by the Lodge owner, was a farm town back in the 60's when college kids started setting up communes in the area. He claims there were at least 3. The locals, though conservative and not hippy friendly, merely put up with the kids and the kids didnt cause problems. Over time, and with maturity, everyone just got along for the most part. The kids who stayed settled into homes, built businesses and contributed to the community. Today, largely from this influence, there is an abundance of artists, especially potters, bakers, organic farmers, and holistic practitioners.
Weekend evenings, everyone meets downtown for impromptu live music. We noticed some clogging as well by kids and oldsters. Seems everyone has an interesting dog, and the evenings were busy with people catching up with old friends, and entertaining visitors with their stories. No focus was on the Trump rally, apparently a weekly happening outside the Confederate soldier statue in front of City Hall.
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| you think this is for tourists? |
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| civil war era graves in town |
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| general store across street from city hall |
We got some RV experience hanging out at the park with Joanne and Greg. A beautiful setting, but RVs are nestled very close to one another. One learns to respect your neighbor's space. Because the park is small and most of the residents are owners, it seemed like a tight knit, friendly group.
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| the chefs were busy |
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| Turk finds a grill everywhere he goes |
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Joanne (left) me (right) as deer ornaments
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We drove out to Roanoke one day, visiting some breweries along the way. Many, many breweries!
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| one brewery, complete with Joanne and Greg |
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| Turk's fave brewery due to wood fire pizza oven |
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| field of sunflowers at brewery |
We ended up at Black Dog Salvage that had a show on DIY until 2020. Fun to explore their warehouse and grounds, especially after watching their business grow over the years via the show.  |
| Black Dog Salvage fans |
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| one of their trucks |
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| an art installation at their picnic grounds |
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| cool art deco piece |
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| so many cool architectural pieces |
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| Black Dog apparently goes to bathroom |
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| ya, boxes of all kinds of things |
We got to do a beautiful hike near Blacksburg, complete with waterfalls! A fun, beautiful day with friends.
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| babbling brook |
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| Turk looks tiny |
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| people were swimming downstream |
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| posing ! |
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| amazing rocks |
Eventually we had to go home, but still saw rustic Virginia farmlands, and whimsical creatures.
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| tractor has seen better days |
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| typical run down barn |
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| saw THIS at entrance to homestead |
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| Friendly dinosaur on exit to highway |
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| closeup of Igor |
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| our escort out of town |
