This year's plan was to drive to Florida via the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. So instead of the brutal traffic on the I95 Baltimore-Washington, DC corridor, my route was I95 to the 495 Beltway to I66 to I81. And how odd....the traffic was pretty much the same - 70 mph, slam on the brakes, 50 mph, bumper to bumper....eeesh!
So 5 hours later, I pulled into Roanoke, Virginia. Roanoke is the tenth largest city in the commonwealth of Virginia and has a population of approximately 97,000. Roanoke was originally called Big Lick after a large outcropping of salt which led wildlife to the spot on the Roanoke River. During colonial times, Roanoke was a important hub of trails and roads, including the Great Wagon Road, one of the most heavily travelled in 18th century America. The name Roanoke means "shell money" in Algonquian.
Some beautiful buildings I saw here are St. Andrew's Catholic Church and the Taubman Museum of Art.
