Adventures in Tennessee
Part 7
Tuesday, October 18 was the last day of our trip. When this day was over, we would be back home. Between then and then, though, we had lots to do. In Roanoke, we each mostly did our own thing, and it was a pretty chill day. Elyse got together with Fred, and they mostly busfanned, while I went out and photographed a few familiar sights with the drone. I left around 11:00, while Elyse left a little bit before me. After I got the car all packed, I headed up to the Roanoke Star.
Before I left, Woomy took a moment to survey his surroundings. He didn’t like it, but such is to be expected – there’s no pleasing a curmudgeon like Woomy.
The Roanoke Star.
Downtown Roanoke as viewed from the star. There were definitely a few new buildings compared to the photos of downtown that I was accustomed to looking at.
The Poff Federal Building, which underwent a renovation in recent years, which replaced the entire facade, among other changes to the building.
The Valley View area, with the airport beyond.
Bridge carrying Elm Avenue over I-581/US 220. The I-581 designation ends at this bridge, and the road continues as US 220.
Then I fired up the drone, and went for a flight over the star. I was annoyed that the light was going the opposite direction than I wanted, but that’s what happens sometimes.
The view from the star, as seen from the drone.
Mansion at 1801 Prospect Road SE, just down the mountain from the star. I had seen this house from a distance before, but had never really been able to get a decent look at it. I imagine that the views from here are amazing.
I then headed over to Tanglewood Mall. Chicken Salad Chick was open, so that’s where I had lunch. I got a very peppery chicken salad from them, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I definitely recommend the place. I also went over to Perrywinkle’s, which is a store in the mall, to look for a product for Elyse, which unfortunately, they did not have.
The various highway message signs around Roanoke had been showing this message, and so I pulled over on I-581 to get a photo of it. It reads, “NO, YOU’RE NOT GOOD AT TEXTING AND DRIVING”.
The former JCPenney turned Carilion children’s medical facility, seen in daylight.
Framed signage in the men’s restroom at Chicken Salad Chick. It draws attention to the fact that the restaurant is themed toward women, and while it does talk down to the menfolk a little bit, at the same time, the way that they do it makes it kind of adorable, coming off as cute rather than condescending. There is similar signage in the women’s restroom, and that’s adorable in its own way.
Interior of Tanglewood Mall, facing southwest. Tanglewood was a little bit emptier this time than I remembered.
The mall entrance to the former JCPenney, now largely walled in. However, there is a new elevator next to the old mall entrance, intended for easy access to the upper level entrance from inside the mall. The original mall elevator is some distance away, near the center of the complex.
Interior of the former Applebee’s restaurant at Tanglewood Mall. Chicken Salad Chick, while located in the former Applebee’s space, didn’t take over the entire former Applebee’s space, only occupying the front half, closest to the parking lot. The back half of the space is still vacant.
I then went up to the parking lot of the Texas Roadhouse across the street from the mall, and launched the drone. My goal there was to photograph Tanglewood Mall from above. Noting the issues that I had when I had previously photographed the mall property in early 2003, where I had been shooed away by a security guard, doing it from off the property seemed like the best move. That worked because (A) they don’t control the airspace over their property, and (B) I was off of their property, so they couldn’t tell me to leave, and (C) I was hidden from their view on purpose, so all that they could see was the drone. Plus, with the Texas Roadhouse location’s being on a big hill relative to the mall, it also meant that I had a great line of sight and excellent remote signal.
Interchange between the US 220 freeway, Franklin Road, and Electric Road. The freeway (upper left) ends at this interchange, and it continues as a surface road (bottom right). Franklin Road, meanwhile, comes out of the city from the top right, and then the Franklin Road designation ends up in the bottom right with US 220. After Franklin Road goes through the interchange and joins US 220, the other road continues into Roanoke County as Electric Road (bottom left). Confused yet?
Electric Road, facing approximately southeast, as it passes Tanglewood Mall.
Tanglewood Mall, viewed from the air. While the mall itself might be pretty sad, there were some new outparcel buildings since the last time I was there, as well as more going up.
Carilion children’s facility in the former JCPenney building. They did a pretty decent job on the exterior, though it’s still quite clear that it was once JCPenney.
Barnes & Noble, Kroger, and AMC buildings adjacent to Tanglewood Mall.
View along the edge of the Tanglewood property, near the Kroger, facing back towards the Texas Roadhouse where I was parked. The US 220 off-ramp is at the left edge of the photo.
Looking down Franklin Road, with the interchange at the bottom left of the photo, and the Texas Roadhouse where I was parked to the right. Also, for what it’s worth, the Walmart that hosted that singles’ night event back in 2005 is visible on the left side of Franklin Road, just past the Home Depot store. That building now houses a Kohl’s after Walmart relocated to a larger facility down the road in 2011.
Back on the ground at the Texas Roadhouse following a successful flight.
While I was flying, I got a call from Dad about a potential solution to my car problem. He had found some used 2022 model year HR-Vs at the Honda dealer in Staunton, and brought them to my attention. I told him that I currently had a drone in the air, and that I would give them a look after I landed. Giving them a look after landing, these cars were very nice looking – essentially upgraded versions of the car that had just been totaled. However, they lost me on the price, as these used cars only cost $1,000 less than a new 2023 model, and for that little difference, I might as well buy new. That was the thing about used cars’ being so high in price at that time: if they’re comparable in price to new cars, I might as well just buy new. Therefore, as far as I was concerned, the used cars had priced themselves right out of the market. And ultimately, I ended up buying new, as I went up to Shockley Honda in Frederick (where I got the original HR-V) and put down a deposit for a new HR-V the day after we got home.
Leaving the area around Tanglewood Mall, I returned to Mill Mountain and did some more flying around the Roanoke Star. I wanted to try some different shots that I had thought of while I was around Tanglewood, so I went back to try them.
My idea at the star was to just fly straight out from my location and get different angles on things. I had photographed this area from the star many times in the past, but with the drone, it was a whole new experience.
The interchange between I-581/US 220 and Elm Avenue, this time from the air.
Downtown Roanoke, viewed from above.
I flew the drone back home manually, flying in a straight line back to my origin point, with the camera facing outward, shooting stills the whole way back. I kind of regret not taking a video, because I could totally see this as being like the end credits sequence to Family Matters, where they zoom out from the Winslows’ house and show all of Chicago around it.
Looking back towards the star.
Back at the star, and coming in for a landing.
Leaving the star, I headed down to a storage facility to meet back up with Elyse and Fred. Talk about a confusing visit. I had been to this storage facility before to see Andrew’s elevator collection, and I was under the impression that the other unit was nearby. I ended up wandering around the whole upstairs looking for the storage unit, only to find out that it was not up there. I eventually called Elyse, who directed me to the location, which was on the first floor, in the back.
Elevator panel at the storage facility.
Woomy took a look at the elevator panel at the storage facility, and then declared, “I don’t like that!”
Once I found Elyse, Woomy hitched a ride on her shoulder.
The museum space for Commonwealth Coach and Trolley.
Fred and Elyse double-stacked once again, this time in the opposite order, though.
We then headed back to Andrew’s house, since Elyse had forgotten a few items there. At this juncture, we also said goodbye to Fred, and then headed downtown to Texas Tavern so that Elyse could get a “cheesy western” to go.
While we were at Andrew’s house, I got a few aerials, because why not.
Elyse sits at the counter at Texas Tavern.
Elyse’s change after paying.
From there, we drove the approximately 85 miles from Roanoke to Stuarts Draft, stopping for gas before leaving Roanoke. There, we discovered yet another easter egg in the Renegade: a spider that says “CIAO, BABY!” behind the fuel door.
The spider behind the fuel door. We named it “Reginald” after the Japanese spider crab of the same name. This was just the latest discovery of many, many, many easter eggs on this thing. Finding all of these easter eggs definitely made for a fun experience, but there were enough features on this car that annoyed me, mostly with the infotainment system, that would make me never want to actually own one of these things.
The visit with my parents went as a visit with my parents typically goes. Among other things, we changed those light bulbs, and took the “bad” bulbs with us, leaving them the remainder of the box that we bought for their future use. I kind of amused myself when I noticed that I was treating the whole wrong-color-bulbs thing like it was contraband or something. But now I felt better, with the lights all the same color, though I suspect that it will be a near-impossible task to get my parents (Dad in particular) to understand and appreciate different color temperatures, and why you need to read the label on a box of light bulbs so that you know what you’re getting, much like food nutrition labels. We also fixed some computer problems that Mom was having, so all was well on that front.
And from there, we started the final leg of the trip, to return home. We made some brief stops in Fishersville, Harrisonburg, and Front Royal, and we got home around 12:40 AM.
All in all, I’d say that we had a good trip. We saw lots of new places, we had a bunch of new experiences, and we got to visit with friends and family. It wasn’t a particularly restful trip (rest assured that I was exhausted at the end of it), and I spent a not-insignificant amount of time dealing with the fallout from the car accident that happened less than a week prior, but it was still a fun and enjoyable trip that left me wanting more, and looking forward to another trip down there in the future.