So Saturday was my last day in Virginia. After that day, we had to go back home and leave our brother in his apartment for the fall semester. But it was fun! On Saturday, we traveled around the rural areas of Virginia. To be more exact, Roanoke, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was something that I haven't really been accustomed to, because my whole life, I've been living in a suburban environment. But it was an interesting and fun experience!
We first visited the Blue Ridge Parkway community, which was really cool. They community there lives almost the exact same way as the early settlers did, only they still have paved and painted roads, cars, and better cooking technology. As we drove along the parkway, I noticed something quite concerning. Because this is a rural community away from most technology and people, the trees and paths are filled with wasp nests... I'm not even kidding. Every few seconds or so, there would be an empty wasp net on a tree. Why is this so concerning? Because the nests are empty, which means they've likely to be somewhere else. And there are ALOT of them. I hate insects of any kind, and to think that there are a lot of these things scattered everywhere gives me the creeps. Ach, just thinking about it sends chills up my spine. I was honestly pretty scared to be walking around this community Because of this. But as we entered the first destination, there were less and less around, so I was able to calm down a bit.
The community there is very peaceful and welcoming, which was a huge relief, considering what was happening just a few days ago in Charlottesville, Virginia. That does not mean I am a racist or anything. It's just that with the events that's been happening the past few days, and the fact that we were close to this town with many other white people around, and very few people of other ethnicities, we had a reason to be concerned. But it turned out to be a great and accepting community! They had a bunch of things to see and do there. I even got to play checkers with man-made checker pieces and a board table.
They even had a working watermill! We were able to see the inside and how it works.
We continued down a walking path of this community, along a bridge, and to the home-food restaurant that the end of the path. It is actually a very popular travel destination, because the food was home-made, recently caught, and really good eating. Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of the food, but it was still a fun experience!
No, that is not part of the bridge, don't worry xD
After the rural community in the lower parts of the parkway, we continued on the parkway up the mountains. The higher you are on the mountain, the better the view of the entire landscape, and there were more communities and attractions as well. Including a zoo!
This was our first stop at a viewing peak on the mountain.
This was the last viewing peak we visited before we continued up to the top without stopping. I don't remember how high we were, but I remember this peak being the 3rd to last peak to view before the top. Of course we got to the very top of the mountain, but we just continued driving and didn't stop because of how tired we were.
After our trip up and down the mountain, we visited Roanoke and the Roanoke Star. That was an unbelievable sight to behold.
The view was amazing to see. It the clear skies wasn't bad either. If we were still in Virginia during the Solar Eclipse, this would be one of the best places to view.
Thanks for reading! If you like what you see, please let me know in the comments below! Also, please upvote if you like it! I'm currently using the steemit platform as a side-way to making money for my college expenses! Thank you so much!
~ Joshua A. I.