About a week ago a reader (who currently lives out of town) emailed and asked me to post an update with some recent pictures of the new Taubman Museum of Art, which is scheduled to open in just a little over a month.

And finally by late this weekend the rain had stopped and the weather cleared up enough for me to head downtown and snap a few photos.

(If there is something in Roanoke you’d like to read about or see pictures of just drop me an email and I’ll work at putting it on this site.)

A sign in the side/back yard of the museum confirms the opening date of November 8, 2008.

The view as seen standing at the intersection of Salem Avenue and Williamson Road. Hotel Roanoke visible to the right.

Looking down Salem Avenue, Wachovia Tower in the background.

The height of the museum is basically at a comfortable eye level when standing on the nearby Williamson Road bridge.

The back side of the museum is in close proximity to the railroad tracks.

A view from the side/back when standing on the sidewalk of the Railwalk.

It’s been getting cooler outside lately around Roanoke. Days with highs in the lower 70s at best are replacing days previously reaching the 80s and 90s. And at night the temperatures are flirting more and more with the 50s, resulting in some of those crisp mornings associated during times when the leaves change color and fall from the trees.

It’s officially the Fall season in Roanoke (and, well everywhere!).

By the time I left work yesterday evening around 6PM the rain from a coastal storm was already falling and the wind had picked up a bit. All put together it made for a somewhat chilly walk to the car. The weather hasn’t been cool long enough for me to develop the habit of wearing a jacket, but at this pace by next week I’ll be making that addition to my daily attire.

But, that’s autumn I suppose. I know it’s not even October yet but I really like the Christmas Season, and the cooler weather reminds me that that time of year is not really too far away.

In other news, gas prices seem to be back to “normal” around Roanoke after the unwarranted panic we all experienced a couple weekends back. Last night I filled up at my usual station (Sheetz on Apperson Drive) and paid $3.69.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Noke News explores parts of Roanoke by foot, equipped with a camera and a notepad, in hopes of learning something new. Perhaps you will too.

Just after walking along the bridge at Walnut Avenue, I set out to check out this bridge along South Jefferson Street which was only a short walk away.

Here are some stillframes of my experience:

An interesting aspect of this old bridge (circa late 1920s according to a plaque) is that the bridge marks the end/beginning of Williamson Road.

This bridge is near what used to be an old mill (left) but I believe a large part of the area seen here has been acquired by Carilion for the expansion of medical facilities.

Looking out from over the edge, I-581/Route 220 seen to the right.

The bridge offers a wonderful view of Mill Mountain.

This old locomotive part, now gone, used to sit off in the brush about a stone's throw from the bridge.

(Note: My visit to the bridge took place some months before this railroad piece was moved, you can read about that in this article.)

Looking back in the direction of the Walnut Avenue bridge.

I travel along Brandon Avenue just about everyday. Whether going home from work, or coming back across town from Salem the road is a primary route that I use frequently to get around.

This weekend I was the passenger in a vehicle coming back towards Roanoke from the Salem area, and I snapped a few photos of some of the sites along the way:

The railroad is never too far away at about any spot in Roanoke, and just off the street here. This is technically Salem (and Apperson Drive) but the back of the sign that marks the border can be seen to the right.

A wooden fence marks a vast and open field that exists at and just beyond the intersection at Peters Creek Road Ext.

(Note: I explored the above section of Brandon Avenue in a previous post.)

The recently renovated Patrick Henry High School can be seen in the distance when waiting for the traffic light to change at the intersection with Grandin Avenue.

Lakewood Park seen just off to the right of Brandon Avenue.

(Note: I explored Lakewood Park in a previous post too!)

Towers Mall is bustling with shoppers.

Related Posts

Scenes of Roanoke - Around Town (#1)

Scenes of Roanoke - Late Spring ‘08 (Nature) Edition

A short and informal dissertation about why this blog tends to focus on the bright sides of Roanoke.

As readership of this blog has increased modestly over the past several months I have become more and more conscientious about what I post. I don’t mean that I censor myself or place restrictions on what topics to post about. But, I mean that I genuinely try to provide thoughts, pictures, and overall hopefully enjoyable insight into a few of the many aspects that make Roanoke unique.

Long-time and new readers alike can proabably pretty easily observe that as a whole Noke News tends to focus on positive aspects of Roanoke. I suppose this came about naturally. I live here, as do many of you, and it makes sense to me that I should write more about the pluses, and not so much about the minuses. If I wrote too much about the minuses this site would actually seem to me to be a series of reasons to move away.

And that’s certainly not how I feel and it’s not the message I want to convey.

Now, I know Roanoke does have its share of crime, hot-button issues, crooked politicians (or just plain irresponsible ones), poverty, and other unpleasantries.
 
Those negatives exist without question, but in large part I’ve choosen not to put them in the limelight or give them publicity on this site.

Why?

Well, it’s not because I don’t have a personal opinion on a particular matter.  The answer is simply because I sometimes find that Roanoke is victim to a bit too much negativity already. And I believe there are many other unique and favorable aspects about this great city that are more deserving of the limelight.

From a greenway down by the river, to a quaint park with paths made out of pebbles and small boulders for sitting, to a meaningful memorial at the top of the mountain, there really is a lot of neat stuff around Roanoke.  Even now in looking back at the over 120 articles posted here I’ve only scratched the surface in mentioning just a handful of them.

But, to me all of this stuff deserves a place at the front of the line (or on the front page) every now and then. And I’m here to put it there.

In other words, I think being positive about Roanoke can be contagious and I hope to pass it on.

Noke News explores parts of Roanoke by foot, equipped with a camera and a notepad, in hopes of learning something new. Perhaps you will too.

I associate Walnut Avenue and this bridge as basically being the foot of the mountain leading up to the Mill Mountain Star.

Like other bridges in the Roanoke area, this one seemed to be a joint effort by the City and Railroad to allow passage over the tracks. According to the plaque this one was completed in the 1920s.

Here are a few sights of and from the bridge:

Walnut Avenue bridge in Roanoke, Mill Mountain (and off in the distance The Star) seen in the background.

Plaque at the Walnut Avenue bridge in Roanoke (which could use a polishing/cleaning).

The start of Williamson Road seen to the right.

View of the railroad tracks below, and I-581/Route 220 in the background.

Gas prices were up, and so were the temperature and humidty (pictures below) over this past weekend in Roanoke.

I may go so far as to call the former the Gas Price Panic of 2008 in Roanoke. By the time I left work in the early evening on Friday, all gas stations I passed were jam packed with at least 2-3 car deep lines waiting to fill-up. I had never seen anything like it before.

Normally, out of habit, I keep my tank at a minimum of 1/2 full at all times. This is partly for pyschological reasons so when I see the total on the pump I’m not shocked at the huge amount. Also, by just keeping plenty of gas in the car it’s one less thing to worry about in my busy life. I have a smaller car and only about a 12-gallon tank anyways.

But, I was scheduled to go out of town this weekend and had let the gasoline gauge fall to below 1/4 of a tank. Big mistake.

So, I just went home, fixed dinner and went about my normal business.

Later in the evening around midnight I went back out and managed to fill-up at the Sheetz at the corner of Apperson Drive and Electric Road. At that time they only had the 87 grade and for $3.79. I didn’t have to wait in line but most of the pumps were kept busy.

On Saturday, I traveled to Covington and along the way don’t recall any gas station being out of gas completely. As in with blank price signs or grocery bags on the pump handles. And most of them were $3.79-3.99 with no lines or anything.

I wonder why things seemed to go so crazy in the Roanoke area? I certainly hope no one paid anything in the $4 or higher range!

We also had a real hot and hazy day yesterday in Roanoke. I had nearly retired my A/C unit for the year and had to crank it back up. That machine probably ended up getting more work this past weekend then it had the whole previous week.

But, it looks like things will be cooling off now.

I’m ready.

 Here are a couple pictures I took yesterday while driving to Salem.

Clear view to the mountains in the background as seen when traveling on Brandon Avenue towards Salem. (9/14/08)

Apperson Drive in Salem, VA. (9/14/08)

The past couple days around Roanoke have been a bit dreary, and even gloomy. Rain off and on and clouds covering the sky. (I’ve been spoiled by a lot of the sunshine this summer.)

A cloudy day looking over to downtown Roanoke from I-581/Route 220. The new art museum seen in the middle. (9/10/08)

A wide angle view looking towards downtown Roanoke from 1-581/Route 220. (9/10/08)

All in all, over the past couple weeks I think we’ve made up for the several weeks before which led many to worry about potential drought conditions.

Fall is coming, both slowly and surely. However, this weekend is supposed to be really nice with highs in the upper 80s, perhaps the last, warmest days of the year.

Afterwards, the change of the helm from Summer to Autumn is not too far away. I love the summertime, but I’m ready for it to cool off a little bit.

How about you?