My Mini Vacation to Roanoke
Over this past weekend, I traveled down to Roanoke to visit some of my friends from college. The first thing I did when I got to Roanoke was visit my alma mater, Roanoke College. Seeing my friends and sorority sisters (plus our new home!) was a much needed break from stressful post-grad life. Here are a few highlights from my weekend down south!While day one consisted of visiting RC, day two consisted of visiting a few favorite restaurants with some of my favorite people. In downtown Roanoke there is a restaurant called Beamer's 25, which is an AMAZING American style restaurant. I don't think there is a single thing on the menu that I wouldn't eat, which is probably one of the reasons why it is on the list of my favorites. I went to lunch at Beamer's with my good friend and "big sister", Stephanie. We got Frank's Fries to split; French fries with salt, garlic and truffle oil. We also both got the Southwest Burger, a cheeseburger loaded with peppers, onions, jalapeños and chipotle aioli. These pictures don't even do it justice, but trust me, it was delicious!
On day three, my friends and I traveled out to Fincastle, Virginia, to spend the afternoon at Virginia Mountain Vineyards. This was my first visit to a vineyard as well as my first wine tasting. We ended up buying a few bottles of wine to enjoy out on the patio for the rest of the afternoon.They lit a small fire, we played some music, and had a great afternoon! I really wanted to buy some rosé, but since it was so popular this year they were completely out until next season!
We had been planning to go to Mac and Bob's (simply referred to as Bob's) in Salem for a month before I even arrived in Roanoke. Bob's is the best place on Main Street to go for brunch on Sunday's and also for the infamous wing night on Wednesday's. Brunch for me consisted of French toast with strawberries, a mimosa, and a stolen bite of my friends biscuits with sausage gravy. To say I miss Bob's while I'm home in Boston is an understatement. We spent the rest of the day carving pumpkins which I oddly have never done before. I think they turned out pretty great!
This entire vacation was relaxing and definitely a much needed break for me. I met my best friends while I was in college and living so far away from them doesn't seem to get any easier. Although it was just one weekend, it was amazingly fun and I am so grateful to have such wonderful people in my life!
Emily Riane