Spring break is undoubtedly a huge deal in college regardless of whether you’re going home for the week, catching up on homework, or going on vacation with some friends. For me, Spring Break is all about going home, and the weeks leading up to it are full of homesickness and trying to plan out where back home I need to relive before another two and a half months of classes.
While Roanoke is understandably not on most college students’ vacation lists, it’s definitely a completely different world from life in Northern Virginia. At first, the old train town seems like there’s not all that much to do once you’ve visited the Roanoke star and a few shops downtown, but when you’ve lived there for over a decade, you learn to find the hidden gems of the area.
1. Hotel Roanoke
When you’re going on vacation, you probably wouldn’t think of a hotel as a vacation destination, but I wouldn’t call Hotel Roanoke a particularly normal hotel. The 138-year-old hotel is a staple of Roanoke that was initially built to accommodate the growing number of travelers using the new train systems that made Roanoke what it is today! The hotel has since gone through a major renovation to include a full restaurant, a bar, a steam engine themed Starbuck and plenty of gorgeous areas to roam and explore.
If you ever decide to visit Roanoke between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, you can also see the Fashion for Evergreens event where locally owned organizations and hospitals from across the valley decorate Christmas trees across the hotel. The event is completely free and is honestly my favorite part of the holiday season.
2. The Grandin Village
Whenever I tell people at Mason about my hometown, they always dote on the idea of small-town life, and that’s exactly what you find in Grandin. This little stretch of the Raleigh Court neighborhood is home to tons of small businesses, a historic movie theater and about as authentic of a small-town vibe as you can get.
The Grandin Theater alone is enough reason to visit the village for the mix of mainstream and indie films they play that you might not get to see anywhere else. After the movie, you can walk down to Pop’s, a 50s/60s themed ice cream and soda bar with a ton of awesome food!
3. Mama Maria’s
Mama Maria’s is my own personal slice of heaven when I go back home for breaks. The restaurant itself serves a plethora of authentic Italian food with homemade pasta, pizza and gelato. It also has lunch buffets on Tuesday and Saturdays if you wanna try a little bit of everything they have! It’s a little ways out from the heart of Roanoke, being in the smaller suburb town of Salem, but I promise you it’s worth it.
4. McAfee’s Knob
Considering Roanoke is smack dab in the middle of the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains, we’ve got an insane amount of hiking trails. The trail is a little bit out of the way from Downtown Roanoke, but once you see the view at the top, you’ll realize it was totally worth it. I can’t say I’ve ever personally been since I’m not really the hiking type, but I probably see one of my friends posting pictures of them hiking the trail two or three times a month. I highly suggest you do an image search of the trail, I promise you won’t be disappointed.
5. Dr. Pepper Park
This outdoor stage is a tribute band’s paradise during the summer. I can honestly say I had no idea it even existed until my mom asked me if I wanted to see a Fleetwood Mac tribute band last summer. I cannot express how incredible this band was or how amazing the experience as a whole was, but it’s one that you just have to see for yourself.
If you need more convincing, here’s a list of just a few of the tribute bands visiting this summer: Queen, Poison, Kenny Chesney, Fleetwood Mac, the Bee Gees and Prince.
6. Mill Mountain Coffee
The amount of high school essays I wrote in this coffee shop is kind of terrifying to think about…
Named after the mountain housing the Roanoke Star, Mill Mountain Coffee is a locally owned coffee shop with six locations across the Roanoke Valley. The atmosphere and music at Mill Mountain Coffee just capture the rustic, southern atmosphere of Roanoke in ways that I really just can’t describe. They also get an extra plus for how good their food and pastries are to top it all off!
7. Black Dog Salvage
You wouldn’t think a store that has a TV show about it would be on hidden gems list, but I still have yet to meet anyone who’s ever heard of “Salvage Dawgs” outside of Roanoke. Regardless, Black Dog Salvage is an antiquer’s paradise, complete with both original pieces the company found and restored from around the Roanoke Valley and an area filled with local vendors selling their antiques. In 2012, DIY Network noticed the incredible pieces the Black Dog Salvage team was making and sent camera crews to follow them and their black dogs that hang around the store throughout the Roanoke Valley. So if you can’t make it to Roanoke in person, “Salvage Dawgs” is a pretty awesome way of seeing the area too!
Going to school in Northern Virginia has been an incredibly eye-opening experience for me, but there’s a part of me that just can’t let go of the small-town life I get in Roanoke. I’m constantly telling my friends they should come visit just because people don’t realize just how many cool things there are to do there. Who knows, maybe this article will convince some of you to take an impromptu trip to Roanoke this summer.