Although I suppose Roanoke’s characteristic iron-rich dirt looks more tan than red today. It still was a canvas for some of nature’s eye-catching patterns.
Man oh man, I would have loved to play on that Jurassic-looking soil with my toy dinosaurs when I was six years old.
Seen from Towers Shopping Center.
At the threshold of a summer thunderstorm. August 2018.
Church Avenue between the Circuit Court and the Texas Tavern. The impressive church that you see (this town has a lot of them) is Greene Memorial United Methodist Church.
Salem Avenue and Campbell Avenue, just south of the railroad downtown.
5th Street Overpass near the Virginia Museum of Transportation. Mill Mountain is in the background. If you look closely at the sixth photo, you can see what looks like a gutted fighter jet to the right of the two antiquated trains. I can only assume those are connected with the museum. (So, too, is the rusting hulk in the seventh.)
These are just a few shots of the City of Roanoke in the vicinity of Mill Mountain. I really like the style of the houses here, although I don’t know what it is. They’re truly immense, despite looking a bit boxlike.
Again, Mill Mountain rises to about 1,750 feet, and I think my friends and I were at the overlook at or near its summit. These videos don’t do justice to the view, although the second one at least gives you the best sense of looking down at the world. The slope is so steep that peering down nearly induces vertigo.
I don’t know how true this is, but I read somewhere that Roanoke is the only American city with a mountain that is actually inside the city limits.
My Side of the Mountain. Looking for Frightful and The Baron.
That view is extraordinary, isn’t it? Mill Mountain rises to around 1,750 feet, and these were taken when my alumbuds and I were at or near the summit.
More mountain madness with the Mary Washington College kids.
I DO realize that those blurry car shots are weird. I just find them trippy and dreamlike! I’ll probably never stop posting them. (And that third really blurry shot makes me think of Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game.” The bright, laterally-racing greens just give it a sense of urgency.)
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 