Boston Globe Touts Roanoke Region’s “Unexpected Benefits”

Rain or shine, the Roanoke Region continues to impress visitors and travel writers. The Boston Globe is the latest publication to tout the area as a great place to live and visit with a featured travel article in this past Sunday’s Travel Section titled, “A Washout Brings Unexpected Benefits in Roanoke, Va.“

Globe travel correspondent Diane Daniel made the trip to Roanoke with the intention of exploring the outdoors of the Roanoke Region and taking in the city by riding the greenway system by bike. Her original plans were thwarted by rain and flooding at Carvins Cove and the greenway, but that did not stop her from having a great time. Daniel even caught a surprise marriage proposal at McAfee Knob, an experience she highlighted in the opening segment of the article. 

Also mentioned are the Taubman and Transportation museums, First Friday Art by Night, Grandin Village, City Market, and Mill Mountain Park, among others. Below is an excerpt:

“To the outsider, Roanoke proper feels larger than its population of 97,000, especially because of its sizable downtown and active neighborhoods. Friendly locals I chatted with said the city had come alive in just the past few years, and one former resident I ran into twice, who now lives in Houston, couldn’t stop raving about the changes.
‘When I lived here it was a sleepy burg, and now it’s thriving,’ he said. ‘There’s music, art, the bike trails, restaurants. I still can’t believe it.’
The next day, our challenge was to venture into a few neighborhoods by navigating the scenic Roanoke River Greenway, a popular paved bike trail snaking through town and crossing the river at several points. We made it only a few hundred yards before we hit barricades. Because of the flood, several sections of the trail were under water.
Undaunted, we wound our way through Old Southwest, an architecturally rich residential area, and over to the charming Grandin Village, a revitalized business district born in the 1920s and now home to Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op, a Saturday farmers’ market, the restored 1932 Grandin Theater, boutiques, yoga studio, and the farm-to-table hot spot, Local Roots restaurant. Heading back downtown, we popped into Black Dog Salvage, an architecture salvage operation whose affable owners star in the DIY Network show ‘Salvage Dawgs’ and whose 40,000-square-foot showroom is crammed with vintage columns, doors, windows, and bathtubs.”
The Boston Globe has a Sunday circulation of 362,849, and the article appeared online as well.
Read the online article on the Boston Globe website >>>