It’s now July 17th and Steve DOS and I have been to my hometown of Roanoke for a week now. This is the first trip we’ve taken since March, when we were last here and flew home in the midst of the up-and-coming Covid pandemic.
We decided to venture out of our comfort zone (i.e. home in Florida) to visit my Mom in Virginia, (who is in assisted living), celebrate my brother Andy’s birthday, and help my sister Jenni (who was visiting from Maryland) cleaning out my parent’s old house, which we will eventually put up for sale. As DOS and I are still both uncomfortable flying (as well as the greatly reduced flight schedules) we decided to drive up to Roanoke, and break up the trip with a couple overnight stops.
DOS drove my Audi Q5 on the trip, as the car had hardly been driven over the last six months while I was wearing my neck brace. While my brace is off now, my neck is still a bit stiff, and I still don’t turn my head fully so I didn’t feel comfortable driving. We loaded up the car, and headed out for our 3 day driving adventure!
We only drove about 4 hours a day to make the trip more leisurely, and made two overnight stays: one in Savannah, and the second in Charlotte. Other than the hotels, the only other stops we made were rest areas, gas stations, and drive thru’s for food. We were pleasantly surprised to see the majority (perhaps 90%) of people we encountered wore face masks in public. With the COVID virus in full force, the masks are highly recommended and many stores require you to wear them to enter.
Along the way we passed the exit for Jekyll Island, which is about an hour north of Jacksonville, Florida. We would have loved to have stopped there for a couple nights, but with COVID curtailing a lot of the activities and restaurants we like to visit there, it wouldn’t be the same as usual; plus we needed to get up to Roanoke anyway. We’re scheduled to go back to Jekyll for our annual pre-Christmas holiday in mid-December, so hopefully things will be more normal then.
Our first night stay was at the Hyatt Place in Savannah, Georgia. We stayed at the Hyatt Place, (which was right off the interstate) rather than venturing into downtown Savanah which was another 1/2 hour out of the way. While we would have preferred the Hyatt Regency Riverfront, with the COVID thing going on, we didn’t feel comfortable venturing out to full service restaurants we weren’t familiar with.
Not to worry, the Hyatt Place was very nice and we picked up some takeout food from Longhorn Steakhouse and brought it back to the hotel. The food was good, but the plastic to-go silverware was not. Maybe these normally full service restaurants can offer some better quality silverware as an upgrade for a couple bucks? It sure would make cutting a steak easier than using a plastic fork and knife! LOL!
We were surprised to see quite a few people in the hotel, but it was mostly families taking their summer vacations; preferring to drive instead of flying due to COVID. Almost everyone was wearing masks coming in and out of the hotel, so that made us feel more comfortable. Still we brought with us our Alen BreatheSmart Hepa Air purifier from home and carried it with us throughout the trip. We had recently bought a couple of the Alen Air Purifiers for home and they really do noticeably filter the air. I have asthma, and I could tell a difference in the quality of the air almost right away after we purchased these air purifiers.
The next day we drove another four hours or so from Savannah to Charlotte, North Carolina where we spent the night. We stopped only for fast food from the drive thru, fuel, and a couple rest stops. Again we were pleasantly surprised to see almost everyone wearing a mask in public places, even outdoors at the rest areas.
In Charlotte we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn near Charlotte Airport. The hotel was wonderful, and sparkling clean. There were sanitation signs everywhere, and quite noticeable such as this one sealing the door to our guest room, indicating no one had entered since it was cleaned.
DOS picked up barbecue take out for dinner and brought it back to the room. We had a spacious one bedroom suite, and as the hotel was located in a corporate office park (and on a Sunday night) it was very quiet.
On Monday morning we had breakfast at the hotel. Hilton Garden Inn usually has good breakfasts and a small buffet, which is complimentary for Hilton Diamond members such as myself. Due to COVID, the breakfast was much more simplified, without a buffet, and order/pickup service at the counter, with disposable plates and utensils used with our food. Still it was nice, and the lobby and restaurant/bar itself were empty of people (and tables and chairs socially-distant from each other) when we ate around 9:30am.
We then checked out of the Hilton Garden Inn, and drove the remaining 3 1/2 hours from Charlotte to Roanoke. When we got to the Virginia welcome center, we took a short break and walked around, taking a couple photos of “Love” and “Mountains” signs. When I was growing up and living in Roanoke, the Virginia marketing motto for travel was “Virginia is for Lovers”, and it is still used in marketing today.
As we drove along, it was exciting to see the first glimpse of the Blue Ridge Mountains, not unlike when we spot them from the air flying into Roanoke. The Roanoke Valley where I grew up is surrounded by the mountains, and even though they aren’t colorful now like in Autumn, they are still beautiful and frame the surrounding countryside well.
Upon arrival to Roanoke, we stayed at Mom and Dad’s former home, located on the same street as my brother Andy and his partner Art. Mom is now in assisted living a couple miles from there, where we had her moved after Dad died back in March from the Elk’s facility in Bedford. We haven’t put Mom and Dad’s house up for sale yet, so we stay there when visiting Roanoke.
My sister Jenni joined us later in the evening, and stayed the week at Andy’s house, after having driven down from the Washington DC area. Jenni, DOS, and I worked on and off during the daylight hours with the tedious (and sad) process of cleaning out Mom and Dad’s old house. Sad at times, funny at others, it was quite a trip down memory lane, as well as finding old photos and memorabilia from the family’s history, including grandparents and even great grandparents, as well as the family portraits at various ages in our lives.
I only wish we had asked more questions of my parents, and grandparents of their early lives and family ancestry while they were still alive. Things are obviously so different today with new technologies, travels, etc it would be nice to know more about the “good old days” when families had dinner without interruptions from cell phones, text etc, as well as the non-electonic childhood games, education, lifestyle in general.. We found many very old photos, fortunately most of them Mom had labeled, but would have liked to have known more about our ancestors lives. Here’s a couple more photos (among thousands we need to convert to digital), this one of Mom holding me, and another of me standing on my head – a favorite past time back then! LOL!.
Each day we took turns visiting Mom at Harmony Assisted Living. Jenni would visit in the mornings, and DOS and I would visit in the afternoon. Upon entering Harmony, the receptionist takes your temperature, verifies you are wearing a mask, and asks you three COVID exposure questions. Upon leaving, the receptionist also takes your temperature again as you sign out. We felt comfortable visiting Mom with these added safety precautions, as well as everything was constantly being cleaned. The Harmony facility itself sits high on a hill, overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Mom was so glad to see us, and recognized DOS and me even though we were wearing masks. Mom has a large apartment, and it was decorated nicely and very clean. Some of the nursing staff and aides had posted lots of cards on her door to the bedroom, and there were photos, mementos, flowers etc decorating the living room.
Jenni had also brought some flower arrangements, and DOS and I brought a Duck trio arrangement we found in the old house to make it a bit cheerful. Mom had a collection of duck memorabilia, and she would some time ‘quack up’ when she was laughing over a new duck addition for her birthday or Christmas.
Prior to visiting Mom, we had ordered a Grandpad tablet for Seniors and had it delivered to her room. I had done the initial setup prior to coming to Roanoke, via the online app, however this was the first time I had seen the Grandpad in person. The Grandpad is similar to an iPad, but is simplified for Seniors with limited or no computer skills, and allows them to make and receive video calls as well as view photos and video, weather etc, as set up by a family member (or others) who do the administration on it. When not making or receiving calls, it sits in a cradle which automatically charges it.
The Grandpad allows Mom to make a phone or video call to any of the preprogrammed contacts, and likewise only those contacts can call or video Mom. It’s easy to setup, and the nice thing is you don’t have to worry about getting SPAM or UNKNOWN calls as only the people in contacts can call her. I also uploaded several family photos remotely via my computer, and they were immediately available for Mom to see as a continuous slide show when the Grandpad was not being used to make or receive calls. Mom really enjoyed viewing and using the Grandpad, and it was a good conversation unit as she liked to reminisce with the family photos.
DOS and I watched some of the slide show with Mom on the Grandpad, keeping a safe social distance in our face masks. We even included the short videos of the neighborhood fireworks from July 4th as seen in the last blog post.
Monday was Andy’s birthday (and Jenni and Art had also had recent birthdays) so we took everyone out to Frankie Rowlands Steakhouse, in downtown Roanoke.
Frankie’s is Andy and Art’s favorite restaurant, as it is for Jenni, DOS and me when visiting Roanoke. We had a wonderful dinner, and Frankie’s spaced tables apart, with the wait staff wearing masks for safety, as did we the diners when we entered/exited, or went to the restrooms.
As always, dinner at Frankie Rowlands was a fun and special night out with outstanding food and service! Afterwards we went back to Andy and Art’s for some birthday cake and presents for the birthday boy and others.
In the afternoons during the week we were in Roanoke, Jenni, DOS and I would have lunch outdoor on the terrace area of Mom and Dad’s house, taking break from the cleaning up project we were working on. We had Chick fil-A take out each day as it was close by the house, as well as having delicious food. I love the market salad as well as the nuggets!
A couple nights we had dinner at Andy and Art’s house, with Art doing the cooking, and me bringing the vino. We like going to their house, which is walking distance just 5 houses up the street from my parent’s house, as we can see Barnabas, their adorable little miniature poodle. Barnabas has to be the most lovable dog in the world (I know everyone says that about their pet), but he refuses to be left alone, he has to be with someone and will follow you room to room or jump up in your lap.
The last night in Roanoke we went to Luigi’s Italian Restaurant for dinner. This family-owned Italian restaurant has been in Roanoke for over 50 years and the hostess matriarch of the family is always so welcoming to her ‘home’ as she calls it. You truly do feel like a member of the family when you go there, and she always warmly welcomes us back. We had great food and service at Luigi’s as usual, and again felt comfortable with the social distancing practices they observe.
Tomorrow is Saturday, and DOS and I are heading back to Orlando after being gone for the last week. We both have doctor/dentist appointments next week, so we will start the two day drive back home to make them. We do plan to come back to Roanoke in less than two weeks, however, for Mom’s birthday. It’s been a great week in Roanoke, and we look forward to coming back to my home-town “Star City” soon!
