We took off in our rental car on Wednesday, October 27, and headed toward Salem/Roanoke, Virginia to visit granddaughter Malarie at Roanoke College.

We took the opportunity to do some sightseeing along the way. We sampled hard cider at Albemarle Ciderworks and bought some fresh Virginia apples (and a bottle of hard cider!).

Next stop was Del Fosse Winery.

We tasted a bunch of Virginia wines and bought a couple whites.

Malarie at Roanoke

We finally made it to Salem, which is where Roanoke College is (why isn't it in Roanoke?), late afternoon and saw Mal's dorm room and went on a quick tour of the campus,

"The Party's Here!" - that's Mal's welcome mat.

The Campus.

Looks like my young Sigma Chi "bro's" are alive and well at Roanoke.

Downtown Roanoke

After checking in to our hotel we picked up Mal and drove to downtown historic Roanoke where we saw the Hotel Roanoke and the Roanoke Star.

We had a great dinner at "Metro"!

The next morning we explored Main Street Salem and had lunch and Mac & Bob's, the world-famous local eatery. It was great to see Mal and spend some time with her. Note: She does not yet have a Virginia accent nor does she say "y'all" yet.

Heading back we stopped at Wade's Mill where flour is made the old-fashioned way utilizing a water wheel to stone grind the locally grown grain.

After another wine stop, we headed to Staunton and the Sunspot Studios where we actually tasted more Virginia wine while admiring the colorful glass thingies which are blown/made right there in the back room.

We hit a couple downpours on Wednesday but Thursday was beautiful. Fall is in the air and the leaves are turning - the scenery was great!