Six Memorable Travel Encounters in Roanoke, Virginia

Mayor Bowers with his Spanish-speaking dog. Photo by Clark Norton

Most memorable travel moments revolve around people as well as sights and activities — often chance encounters on the road, sometimes fleeting, other times resulting in more long-lasting friendships.

Here are a few snapshots from my recent stay in and around Roanoke, Virginia, made possible by the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, which sponsored me and a number of other travel writers and photographers so that we could get an overview of the area, dubbed “Virginia’s Blue Ridge.”

In Roanoke, some of my encounters were pre-planned, others serendipitous.

My fellow writers and I were privileged to meet the mayor of the city, David Bowers, who greeted us on an overlook atop Mill Mountain, below the city’s iconic 100-foot-high illuminated star. (Read more about the star here.)

The mayor brought his “Spanish-speaking dog,” who, while not actually… Continue reading →