Random Ten List of Places to Go in Roanoke, Virginia:

Our good friend Jason, well we have many friends named Jason as well as a cousin named Jason (perhaps there are even people in Pakistan named Jason), but I am referring to Jason Turner who has an outstanding web site called 'Roanoke Doesn't Suck.'

It is designed to help local folks and tourists know what is going on in Roanoke. While his blog is more specific to Roanoke, I am going to stray over some city and county lines, and include things which are in relative proximity to Roanoke, such as the Statue of Liberty (ok, New York is an eleven-hour Greyhound bus drive).

But, we will include places in Blacksburg, Floyd and Salem.

Of course, this means we will have to inadvertently snub some places we like in Roanoke itself, including Kirk Avenue Music Hall, the Village Grill and Happy's Flea Market as well as Showtimers Theatre, which is now staging the musical-comedy "Once Upon a Mattress."

However, we think this list will help anyone looking for the proverbial thing to do rather than sit at Starbucks and read "Infinite Jest" (the late Daniel Foster Wallace's novel is some 1,100 pages long):

1) A Little Bit Hippy: An always unique place inside Towers Shopping Mall which offers cool tye-dye t-shirts and organic soap..........yes, they are the reason why we have '60 activist Wavy Gravy pictured.

2) The Bazaar:  This shop across from Towers offers records (we can't promise that you will find David Bowie's 'Let's Dance' there, but you just might), vintage clothing and live music.

3) The Taubman Art Museum

4) Mill Moutain Zoo

5) CUPs: This Grandin village coffee shop features a very large collection of bobble-head dolls. They also have Trivia Night on Tuesdays (yes, they are the reason for the image of coffee beans which we found via Turkish Wikipedia).

6) The Lyric Theatre (Blacksburg): A great place to see movies in Blacksburg; the critically-acclaimed film "Before Midnight" starts there on Friday.

7) Fork in the Alley: A great place to eat outdoors in the Crystal Springs neighborhood.

8) Third Street Coffeehouse: This little gem-of-a-palce is only open on Friday nights and we had a hard time finding it (use Mapquest or ask a friend), but there is some great local music there.

9) Star-Lite Drive-In (Christiansburg): Along with Hull's Drive-In in Lexington, this is the last remaining drive-in within driving distance from Roanoke.

10) The Salem Museum


http://www.roanokedoesntsuck.com

http://www.showtimers.org

http://www.alittlebithippy.com

http://www.taubmanmuseum.org

http://www.cupscoffeeandtea.com

http://www.forkinthealley.com

http://www.salemmuseum.org

There's more on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time," regarding Things To Do in Roanoke: http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

The Backpackers Are Beside BestBuy (entry 6 of 6)

NOTE: This is the final entry in the series. The odd-numbered ones can be found at Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time (www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.com)

Tuesday, August 16, had been a dreadful day though it was less hot than it had been in the days and weeks prior to it, if my recollection is accurate on that.

But, as evening struck, I was ready to take a photograph of the seventh and final sculpture in the public art displays as part of Art in Roanoke's civic campaign.

That seventh sculpture was "The Happy Wanderers" (pictured here, but obviously not in its present location) by Floyd County artist Charlie Brouwer, who was an art professor at my alma mater Radford University for 21 years. The sculpture was located near BestBuy at Valley View Mall. It consists of two backpackers, one is a man and the other is a young child (yes, it is the reason for the name of this series).

According to the Art in Roanoke web site, Brouwer was inspired by a hike he took with his 3-year-old grandson. He has made similar sculptures, including "The Pursuit of Happiness" that depicts a man carrying what appears to be a birdhouse. Brouwer has also made "Together," conveying what appears to be a mother holding her infant daughter.

"The Happy Wanderers" is made from locust wood, screws and preservative staining.

I knew the piece was near Valley View Mall, which is arguably the most congested part of Roanoke, Va., a city that has somehow not changed population in fifty years. In fact, an article in "The Roanoker" magazine said the city had just gained 68 people from the 1960 U.S. Census Report. Those 68 people are probably all working at Valley View Mall, which was built circa 1985.

At first, I expected that I would see the sculpture from the road. After all, it seemed improbable that one could not see a wooden sculpture, even if SUVS or Humvees were tail-gating one's bumper. But, that wasn't the case.

So, I went into Dick's Sporting Goods Store, and an employee said these words: "The backpackers are beside BestBuy." In all actuality, they are between Target and BestBuy, but it was those directions which eventually lead me to the sculpture. Though I had to circle the parking lot of the adjoining mega-stores to find it.

"The Happy Wanderers" is a nice sculpture, but of the seven, it seems to be the one that is the most misplaced. But, I can imagine the folks at Art in Roanoke had a difficult time finding a place suitable for it given that it seems to be a piece that would go better with a rural landscape.

Amazingly enough, even though Roanoke has not grown much in population, there seem to be very few open spaes left in the city. But, there are several eye-sores and vacant buildings as is seemingly the case just about everywhere else in the region.

SIDEBAR: The answer to last week's quiz about the distance between Murphy and Manteo, NC, two cities in the same state which are actually worlds apart is
d) 9 hours, 25 minutes.

The Backpackers Are Beside BestBuy (entry 4 of 6)

We had great difficulties finding an image of "In Flux" by All Creations, which consists of two Wyoming artists Matt Rink and Bland Hoke, so we also went with this image of a big black dog, since the public art display is located behind Black Dog Salvage off Memorial Avenue in Roanoke, Va.

The fourth image of Art in Roanoke that I photographed is also the hardest one to find as there is a sharp curve behind the Black Dog Salvage antiques store which leads to Vic Thomas Park where "In Flux" is located. The turn comes right after one passes Memorial Bridge, and if you literally blink you will miss it.

The artists state that their mission is to: "Try to make constantly evolving work that adapts to a landscape."

"In Flux" is perhaps the most complicated of the seven sculptures, and it is one that makes the passerby study and scrutinize it more closely than some of the other pieces.

SIDEBAR: We are happy to report that DJ Cigdem Arca is returning to WUVT (90.7 FM-Blacksburg, Va.) with "The Turkish Music Hour," from 1:00-2:30 p.m. on Saturdays this fall. WUVT-FM is the student-run college radio station of Virginia Tech. The station also airs "The Greek Show" from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturdays.

Thanks to "The Turkish Music Hour," I have become more aware of contemporary pop singers like Nil Karaibrahimgil which is quite refreshing given that the likes of Sezen Aksu ( who has been called The Turkish Madonna) and Tarkan, the internationally-known singer who has dominated Turkish pop for well over a decade.

The Backpackers Are Beside BestBuy- Entry 2

Actually, this entry was supposed to be on "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time," our sister blog, but we got mixed up. Perhaps because we are posting this blog from a local library where there are all sorts of distractions; I'm sooooo glad I don't have kids! (Entry One in this series is on that other blog)

At any rate, I left off the first entry in downtown Roanoke where I had taken several snapshots of "Connect," the second of the seven art pieces from Art in Roanoke, that I had photographed.

My next destination was to go to Williamson Road to rediscover "Starburst" by Greeley, Pa., artist Tom Holmes. The piece is one of the easiest to find around town as it is located beside the Williamson Road Library.

There was a bit of annoying traffic on Williamson Road, which is known for being a place where teenage boys and girls cruise in search of potential members of the opposite gender. It is sort of like the Discovery Channel in that aspect, I suppose.

According to the "Art in Roanoke" web site, Holmes likes to make his work unique to its environment, and the sculpture is made out of wood.

I noticed that the landromat across the street from the library was filled with patrons. If I were an intrusive professional photographer, I would've seized the opportunity as if I were a crocodile pursuing a zebra in the jungles of Zimbabwe. But, I simply had other things to do.


SIDEBAR: Only in America, will one see a liberal blogger plugging a gun show, and that is the case here. The VFW 115 Flea Market and Gun Show in Hillsville, Va., is somehow the largest event taking place in Virginia on Labor Day weekend even though Hillsville is in southwest Virginia, far away from the DC and Richmond-metro areas.

But, the event draws 500,000 visitors into Carroll County from Friday until Monday. The Town of Hillsville is strongly advising those interested to come early.

I should add that there are many great antiques (full dsclosure: it is the family business) at the flea market.

Those coming in from Roanoke and points east should know there is also a Virginia Tech football game against Appalachian State in Blacksburg, which will likely bottleknock traffic from Salem to Christiansburg en route to Hillsville. The game starts at 12:30 p.m.