Not often are you treated like a star unless, of course, you are a Hollywood celebrity or famous athlete. But, the people of Roanoke made me feel like returning royalty including Mayor Bowers, whom I met at the top of Mill Mountain.
David Bowers, Mayor of Roanoke
You see, decades ago I attended Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, one of the cities in the area now known as Virginia’s Blue Ridge. While a student I entered the Miss Roanoke Valley pageant and surprisingly won! I did not go on to become Miss Virginia but the experience was memorable and the scholarship money helpful.
Miss Roanoke Valley
Now, after way too many years, I finally returned to Roanoke and found the city itself had earned starlet status- a shining example of living up to its title as the Star City of the South and to downtown revitalization.
Back in the early 1970’s, the city center was nothing to brag about. Today, it thrives with a farmer’s market open seven day a week and many boutique shops and restaurants. The Taubman Museum of Art is the new queen hosting a stellar collection. Plus, the O. Winston Link Museum is an absolute winner for photographers and railroad buffs.
Taubman Museum of Art
O. Winston Link Collection
On my tour I saw only two businesses that I remembered from the past. One was the Texas Tavern, a tiny hole in the wall eatery which sits ten and continues to sell burgers for $1.25.
The other building I fondly recall is the Hotel Roanoke, a magnificent Tudor-style mansion sitting on the hill overlooking train tracks. The hotel’s history is closely tied with railroading. The venue (constructed 1937-38) was originally owned by the N & W- Norfolk and Western Railroad, the company that transformed sleepy Big Lick into Roanoke and established their headquarters and a major intersection of the north-south and east-west rail lines.
Hotel Roanoke
Sadly, the Hotel Roanoke fell into disrepair and closed her doors in 1989. But, like Sleeping Beauty, growth and change took place around her as she snoozed. Awakened and reopened in 1995, she once again reigns with fashionable rooms and a new conference center that blends into the old architectural style.
Dining tradition continues with the hotel’s famed peanut soup and spoon bread. I was lucky enough to sample a cup of soup topped with chopped peanuts and a tiny skillet of warm cornbread oozing butter. Yum. The hotel insisted my group partake the luncheon buffet: a bounty of entrees, salads, vegetables and six to eight desserts. A splendid curtain call.
I could go about my heavenly trip to Roanoke, but I’ll save more description on Virginia’s Blue Ridge for a later blog post.
Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance as fog lifts from the city of Roanoke.
My Dad was a Veteran of WWII and served in the Air National Guard for many years. Rising through the ranks, he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel—two grades below General. Toward the end of his life, he tragically suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for more than ten years as it inexorably ate away his memory. Like the saying, on July 8, 2011 at age 92, the old soldier finally faded away.
He was bestowed the privilege of burial in Arlington Cemetery for his valor during combat duty in the Pacific. The National Cemetery schedules 27 internments a day, including burials of active duty soldiers serving in Afghanistan–we waited nearly seven weeks for Dad’s cremated remains to receive a proper military service. Our family opted not to wait until November 3rd, the earliest date available for full military honors including a caisson to carry him to the gravesite.
As anticipated, plans and procedures were meticulously carried out despite the earthquake that hit Virginia a day earlier. We entered the main gates and it was so humbling to see mile after mile, row upon row of perfectly aligned white marble slabs, identifying more than 320,000 servicemen’s graves. The mere sight will snap even a civilian to attention.
We were directed to the Administration building and then to a gathering room for families awaiting ceremonies. A television monitor displayed live coverage of the soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, something that transfixed the grandchildren’s attention.
My 91-year-old Mother and I handed over the required documents and were given a map with a marker denoting my Father’s plot. We drove to his internment location, past the Air Force Memorial whose spires of steel evoke the vibrant force of flight. A squad of soldiers awaited in formation to escort Lieutenant Colonel John Palmer, Jr.’s urn to the gravesite. Our family and friends followed. A highly decorated military chaplain delivered a brief service with the utmost dignity and care. His speech was passionate and he praised my Dad for serving his country in a courageous way. He honored my Dad and all the others buried in the hallowed sanctuary and hailed my father as a true American patriot.
A three-volley salute was fired by a formation of seven soldiers stationed to our left. A lone bugler played Taps, a somber farewell muted by the enormity of the endless grounds. The flag, held over the urn during the service, was precisely folded by six members of the unit and delivered to the leader for inspection. He then passed the triangular shaped cloth to the chaplain who presented it to my Mother. Although the chaplain did not know our family, his warmth was genuine and you could feel his sincerity.
An Arlington Lady approached my Mom, a representative of the wives of soldiers buried here, and paid her respects–a truly noble gesture by this group of volunteers. Then we stood and filed by his remains placing a red rose on the stand.
The ceremony didn’t take long but it was a poignant and most dignified way to send off to a man who loved his country and proudly served. All is well and now he gently rests in the Nation’s shrine.
If you go:
Arlington National Cemetery lies across the Potomac River from Washington, DC and is open from 8 am to 5 pm except from April 1-September 30 when it stays open until 7 pm. Paid visitor parking is off Memorial Drive. Access to the cemetery is free and visitors may walk to see John Kennedy’s grave or the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; however it is a mile uphill. To avoid the walk, purchase tour bus tickets at the Visitor’s Center to see Robert E. Lee’s house and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
This poem is authored by Lolete Barlow, the wife of an AF officer who is now deceased. Mrs. Barlow attended the October 2006 dedication of the Air Force Memorial and was inspired to write this poem. She gave it to the Air Force Memorial Foundation so that it could be shared with all of you.
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE MEMORIAL
October 2006
They’re not as tall, nor fleet of foot.
Their hair no longer dark, has thinned
Or disappeared perhaps,
And yet the spark of who they were,
These warriors of old, radiates from each of them,
The skilled, the brave, the bold.
Long years ago when they were young
They flew through foreign skies
And fought for home and country,
For freedom and the lives
Of loved ones left behind.
These pilots, gunners, bombardiers,
Ground support and engineers
Fought valiantly a world away
Defending what we have today
Half a century later.
From all the missions that were flown
Too many never made it home.
Instead they sleep ‘neath foreign soil
With fellow airmen—comrades all.
None will be forgotten.
To all who wore the Air Force blue,
To all the men and women who,
Though gone before us, live on still
In memory upon this hill.
We gratefully salute you.
Now spires of stainless steel curve high
And yonder pierce the wild blue sky,
A hilltop tribute all can see
A monument to victory
And heroes who secured it.
This article appears on the AOL Travel Website, however, the author’s photos have been substituted here.
Colonial Williamsburg is the quintessential living history museum. The site includes 301 acres with 88 original buildings, 500 reconstructed houses, shops, public buildings, working craftsmen and costumed interpreters. The popular tourist area, close to Richmond and Norfolk, is known as the Historic Triangle of Virginia, which also includes Jamestown and Yorktown. Take the following true-false quiz and see if you are one of the Williamsburg mythbusters.
1. The College of William & Mary, founded in 1693, is the second oldest college in the United States.
TRUE. Harvard was the first school of higher learning founded in 1636. Classes at the College of William & Mary began in temporary quarters in 1694, until the Wren Building was constructed. The Wren Building, which is the oldest college building in the country, has been returned to its original design by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The College of William and Mary was named in honor of the reigning English monarchs of the time, and was a key factor in establishing Williamsburg as capital of Virginia in 1698.
2. The popular fictional American Girl character, Felicity Merriman, hails from Colonial Williamsburg, and her story is set in the year 1774.
TRUE. Original American Girl doll founder, Pleasant Roland, wanted to find an appropriate Christmas present for her nieces. She disliked the high fashion Barbie-type dolls; hence, didn’t want to buy a baby doll. While in Williamsburg, she came up with the concept of American Girl dolls and formed The Pleasant Company. Ms. Pleasant followed her own American dream, selling off her company to Mattel in1998 for $700 million. And that’s not a Williamsburg urban legend.
Colonial Capitol Building, Williamsburg, VA
3. Patrick Henry made his “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” speech in the Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg.
FALSE. Patrick Henry made his impassioned cry against the English in the House of Burgesses on March 23, 1775, in St. John’s Church in Richmond. Henry was calling for military action against the approaching British army. The urban myth claims that the crowd jumped up and shouted “To Arms! To Arms!” after the speech.
Historians have begun to question the authenticity of Henry’s alleged words, because they were unrecorded until 18 years after his death, but we will never know.
4. Virginia has had three capital cities: Jamestown, Williamsburg and Richmond.
TRUE. Jamestown was the first English settlement in the U.S., and also the first capital of Virginia. The capital moved to Williamsburg from 1698 to 1780, making it the political, social, and cultural hub in Virginia. It then moved on to Richmond at the urging of Thomas Jefferson, who feared the Williamsburg location was vulnerable to a British attack. During the Civil War, Richmond became the capital of the Confederacy and remains the capital of Virginia today.
5. Virginia was named for England’s “Virgin Queen,” Elizabeth I.
TRUE. Virginia was named for England’s famous unwed queen, Elizabeth I. Interestingly, Queen Elizabeth II has visited Colonial Williamsburg twice. Her original trip in 1957 celebrated the 350th anniversary of England’s first settlement in the New World at Jamestown. Her most recent visit in May 2007 occurred during the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown Settlement.
6. The establishment and reconstruction of the colonial capital of Williamsburg was the dream of an Episcopalian priest.
Sign marks the Tavern on Duke of Gloucester Street
TRUE. In 1907 Reverend W.A.R. Goodwin, the pastor of Williamsburg’s Bruton Parish Church, worked to save the original structure. Shortly thereafter, he moved away, but returned to the city in 1923. After seeing the deterioration of the other colonial-era buildings, he dreamed of saving them.
Goodwin looked for support and financing from a number of sources and finally inked a plan with philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and his wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. Their combined efforts created Colonial Williamsburg, with detailed plans for the accurate restoration of much of the city.
FALSE. Although the food served in these Williamsburg restaurants can be traced back to similar fare served to colonists, Williamsburg mythbusters know that the ingredients and preparation take place in modern kitchens. The servers, however, are dressed in period clothing and the dishes, flatware and goblets are authentic reproductions of 18th century items.
Chowning’s Tavern 109 East Duke of Gloucester St Williamsburg, Virginia 23185 757-229-2141 Hours vary
King’s Arms Tavern 416 East Duke of Gloucester St Williamsburg, Virginia 23185 757-229-2141 Hours vary
Shields Tavern 422 East Duke of Gloucester St 757-229-2141 Williamsburg, Virginia 23185 Hours vary
8. Colonial Williamsburg has been criticized for becoming almost a theme park of reenactments.
TRUE. Foundation president, Colin Campbell has said, “Presenting American history in a place that is both a tourist attraction and an education landmark leads to inevitable strains between entertainment and authenticity.”
Sadly, Williamsburg mythbusters, even the Foundation’s 1996 publication conceded that “Colonial Williamsburg bears the burden of criticism that the restored town appears too neat and clean, too ‘spick-and-span’, and too manicured to be believable.”
