ROANOKE, VIRGINIA ⛰️ 🚵 🍔 | Home To The World's Largest, Man-Made Star ⭐ (4K)

welcome to episode 10 of Kevin Across America this week I'm in Roanoke nestled in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains [Music] Nick shell executive director of pinball might have the most interesting job in Roanoke yeah we do try to have a mix of old and new here Michelle left the corporate world to manage the Roanoke Pinball Museum it has around 70 machines dating back to the 1930s the oldest machine is actually right up at the front here it's called try a light and you can see the spelling up here try a light because it's three every time you get three and a triangle it will light the bulb that is enclosed by the balls that you get this is from 1935 and back in the day this was quite a novelty because it had electricity Metallica Doctor Who and the Monsters Among the dozens of themed rectangular boxes ready to catapult you back to Childhood each game is kind of a time capsule in terms of Americana and pop art and as you move through the through the decades you can kind of see how things change and once we get into the 80s and 90s they start licensing movies like The Adams Family over there Gilligan's Island and so forth but before then they kind of made them up as they went like this Fireball at bow and arrow these are your flippers and when you press the button you see that it actually pulls in here half artwork half engineering shell showed me the allow elaborate underbelly of a pinball machine and sometimes we have to make them sometimes we have to actually build the parts to be replaced video games and arcades wreaked havoc on the pinball industry during the 1980s and it's like a little little theme park you know underneath glass but the love for lights bumpers and ramps has become cool again they are still making machines and they can't seem to make them fast enough because they are selling out and making them as fast as possible even at five six seven eight ten twelve thousand dollars they are still selling like crazy people love having these things it's kind of a really kind of a status symbol if you think about having a machine like this in your house you know this is an amazing amazing toy for Shell pinball is a physical experience that a TV phone nor computer can replicate sometimes when you lose the ball you'll hear the music go um and then over here you have Captain Fantastic with Elton John to share a little-known museum fact this Gilligan's Island is special because it turns out uh Dreama Denver is Bob Denver's Widow and Bob Denver of course was Gilligan in the in the TV series well she lives in West Virginia she came over here to visit us and while she was here she signed this translight it's kind of one of those little things little Easter eggs that we have hidden in the museum the Pinball Museum is on the second floor of Center in the Square a building filled with other small museums in the heart of downtown Roanoke tickets are ten dollars for kids between the ages of 2 and 10 and 13.50 for anyone older that gives you unlimited access to every machine where'd the ball go there the museum also does parties weddings and monthly membership plans and for a city of any size this is already a pretty impressive collection but especially for Roanoke so uh so we're pretty proud of that open 24 7 the Texas Tavern is a Roanoke institution you leave your status outside you come in we treat you like a millionaire Matt bullington's great grandfather opened the No Frills restaurant in 1930 during the height of the Great Depression in those days fast food was a novelty and if you look at the original White Castles it's just a stainless steel counter inside of The White Walls maybe you had a little castle turrets well my great grandfather picked a chili recipe up in San Antonio what's the most famous old building in Downtown San Antonio it's got a little Arch it's the Alamo so that's why he did that like that is like a little homage to Texas Tavern the Alamo the cash only establishment has 10 red and white stools it jokes that it seats a thousand people but only ten at a time White Collar Blue Collar no collar Saint Sinners preachers prostitutes everyone in between it's a temple of democracy you know you may have a judge sitting next to a guy that just got out of jail sitting next to a banker sitting next to a little old lady a couple of kids and a Hell's Angel everyone it's all walks of life they're all kind of in here rubbing elbows that was more or less my experience when I stopped in late Saturday night my girlfriend and I ordered a hamburger hot dog bowl of chili two sodas and a cheesy western the total was like twenty dollars with the tip I often tell people you know new employers say listen you're like a bartender without the alcohol and we don't serve alcohol we got plenty of people maybe even drinking late at night where our jobs to sober them up but you want to have an app ability you want to talk to them joke with them because as people come here for the food they come here for the Ambiance kind of like man the place hadn't changed but they also like the banter back and forth where your employees are kidding around you know with the customers that's a big element of it that's really important aside from the cash register security camera system soda machine and the people behind the counter not much has changed since the Texas Tavern first opened 92 years ago he got a lot of his hey Chris he got a lot of Bullington confessed that's by Design I like to call us a um a cultural Mooring everything changes so fast everything's homogenated cookie cutter people crave places that are authentic that are unique it's worked for us for 92 years I stopped at three other restaurants while in Roanoke and would recommend them all the first Crescent City Bourbon and Barbecue I ordered the three meat platter with two sides for 32 dollars the waitress brought a big serving of pulled pork pulled chicken sliced brisket green beans and mashed potatoes the bar has an extensive bourbon and whiskey collection and there's a nice outdoor dining area number 2. Jack Brown's beer and Burger Joint it sources its 100 American wagyu beef burgers from a family owned and operated business in Boise Idaho Jack Browns which has 16 locations across the southeast has a punk grunge feel to it the total with two burgers two beers fries and tip was around 50 bucks and number three local roots in roanoke's Grandin Village the menu lists the Growers farmers and purveyors the restaurant sources from I ordered the Bramble Hollow chicken with rice and sauteed kale my girlfriend had the pork chop with pumpkin Al braised cabbage and roasted baby potatoes with one round of drinks dessert and tip the total came to a hundred and fifteen dollars [Music] Roanoke has a growing Brewery scene on Saturday night I visited Big Lick Brewing Company and golden Cactus Brewing they're right across the street from one another in what feels like the Apex of a hip new neighborhood golden Cactus is located inside of an old soda Factory and Brews weekly it is covered in color with tons of succulents and cactuses golden Cactus describes itself as visiting your grandma's greenhouse on a warm spring day it has three pinball machines a place to play video games and a great outdoor space [Music] a local band named Liv Sloan and the die-hards were playing in the Beer Garden at Big Lick Brewing Company stringed lights four sitting areas with fire features and cornhole games made for a really warm and Lively environment I ordered my beers in the tap room where there's more seating a little stage and a foosball table the beers run the gamut with lagers sours ipas ales and more you can order food from nearby tuko's Taqueria or Beamer's 25 restaurants which will deliver right to your table at Big Lick foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] skip a beat [Music] [Music] foreign on Sunday morning I drove up Mill Mountain in the rain it's a big Urban Park most well known for the Roanoke star at 88 feet tall it's the world's largest man-made illuminated star and a serious point of Pride for the region in 1949 a local Sign Company designed and built what was supposed to be a seasonal Christmas decoration but the star became an instant hit and so the city decided to keep it in place year-round the Roanoke star is connected to a steel structure it has two thousand feet of neon tubes and sits more than a thousand feet above the city every evening up until midnight the star is lit up bright white however for five holidays each year including the 4th of July the star is red white and blue as a sign of patriotism there's a viewing platform right below the star where people can gaze out over the Roanoke Valley Mill Mountain also has a little zoo that takes about 45 minutes or so to cover the zoo's animals include a red panda bald eagle black bear and some more common ones like pigs goats and a raccoon the zoo is open seven days a week tickets are between eight and ten dollars per person [Music] Natural Bridge State Park is an easy 40-minute drive Northeast of Roanoke Cedar Creek a modest Mountain stream ate away at this massive body of limestone in turn creating the Natural Bridge it stands 215 feet tall and is 100 feet wide the bridge is taller than Niagara Falls at a fine hour works at The Visitor Center information desk she told me the king of England sold Thomas Jefferson the land in 1774 for 2.40 that was two years before the U.S even gained its independence Jefferson kept the property until he died it then bounced between private hands up until 2016 when the state of Virginia turned the Natural Bridge into a state park well one of the things I like to tell people is that Thomas Jefferson built a cabin here and it's approximately the hotel stands right now and he used to like to show off his Bridge he'd bring his his friends to the bridge he built purposely built a two-bedroom cabin so he could have company and they used to lower people down from the top of the bridge to them to see it really yeah which I wouldn't do Legend has it George Washington surveyed the site as a young man two decades before Jefferson ever purchased it The Story Goes Washington scaled some 23 feet up this gray Limestone wall and then carved out his initials which you can still see today yet fine hour said she's a bit skeptical I'll leave that up to the historians to figure out whether that's really true George Washington was a surveyor I don't know if you ever surveyed this bridge so Natural Bridge State Park spans 1500 acres has seven miles of hiking trails and is open year round a mission is nine dollars for anyone 13 and older and six dollars for kids ages 3 to 12. before leaving make sure to drive across the Natural Bridge using Virginia route 11. the national D-Day Memorial is another solid option for a day trip it's around 40 minutes east of Roanoke so we're gonna head down this way Emma Jean Morris took me on an hour-long tour of the memorial and explained why it's located in the Tiny Town of Bedford Virginia we have the dubious honor of having had the highest per capita loss of any Community across the country on D-Day itself we lost these 19 young men in the first 15 minutes basically of the beach invasion one more later that day you have a community of only there's about 3 200 people that's a really heavy burden to bear the memorial is broken into four sections we began in an English garden a sculpture of General Dwight D Eisenhower stands within this Folly a tile mosaic above Eisenhower's head depicts his bold and complex D-Day invasion plan he actually carried a handwritten note in his pocket on D-Day where if it failed he was going to take personal responsibility and resign that's a leader there are six bus in the garden Morris referred to the men as Eisenhower's War cabinet they were in the room when Eisenhower gave the go the large plaque that we have here this is Eisenhower's order of the day the retired teacher is going to give you a homework assignment if you go to YouTube and you plug in Eisenhower's order of the day you can hear him deliver this soldiers Sailors and Airmen of the Allied expeditionary Force you are about to Embark upon the great Crusade toward which we have striven these many months the eyes of the world are upon you the hopes and prayers of Liberty loving people everywhere march with you in company with our brave allies and brothers in arms on other fronts you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe and security for ourselves in a free world good luck and let us all beseech the blessing of almighty God upon this great and Noble undertaking the Memorial's second section uses this large Plaza to symbolize troops crossing the English Channel to Normandy France the Bedford Boys as they're called were part of company a it was almost the lowest of low tide they had a beach the depth of at least three football fields to cross with virtually no cover how'd anybody make it it just amazes me company a goes in on D-Day with 170 Men by the end of the day 91 dead 64 wounded this will leave 15 to fight another day they're just decimated with that bronze plaques along the plaza bear the names of the more than 4 400 Allied service members that were killed on D-Day one side lists all of the American names the opposite side contains the names from all of the other Allied Nations that's our bullets going off to be like bullets hitting the water the curve structures with the darkened windows are to be like the German bunkers and they just wipe us out there are no waterfalls on the beaches that's there for noise nothing I'm sure compared to real life but it gives you a little bit more of the feel for it the tan for our beach it's my understanding we do have some sand from Normandy mixed in with that a triumphal Arch stands in the Memorial's third section with the word Overlord inscribed on its facade that was the official operation name for D-Day the black and white stripes were called the pattern Allied Forces put on their aircraft to prevent friendly fire it is 44 feet six inches for June 6th of 1944. it is remarkable the details that have been built in there are flags for all 12 Allied Nations big and small that took part in D-Day our flag comes first in the position of honor the rest then are in alphabetical order so Australia the next one is Belgium so many times I have visitors want to say oh that's Germany I'm like really think about that one no uh Canada as close as you can get today to Czechoslovakia then France on the other side Greece Netherlands New Zealand Norway Poland and the United Kingdom the Memorial's fourth and final section contains a copy of a sculpture that honored 42 men from a small French Town killed during the span of World War One then over two decades later on D-Day of all days she was hit she was knocked over she was damaged and our copy shows the same damage missing part of the face the jaw the neck with that the reason they left the damage was to be a constant reminder of how fragile peace is the national D-Day Memorial is open year round but there's plans to add so much more it's free for World War II veterans active duty military and kids under the age of six tickets for everyone else are between six and ten dollars online Roanoke is located along I-81 in Southwest Virginia by car it's three hours from Charlotte four hours from DC and seven hours from both New York City and Atlanta four airlines fly in and out of the Roanoke Blacksburg Regional Airport to Major hubs including Atlanta Chicago Charlotte DC and Philadelphia Amtrak also serves Roanoke with the train station right in the heart of downtown it sits at the end of one leg along Amtrak's popular Northeast Regional line the ride from Roanoke to Washington DC's Union Station takes right around five hours when I visited in November of 2022 Amtrak had two daily departures and two daily arrivals with only two days in Roanoke I I didn't make it to every place on my list that included the Taubman Museum of Art it's a futuristic looking building in the heart of downtown the museum has 10 galleries a tall glass Atrium plus an interactive Art Space for kids the talbin is free but heads up it's only open on Fridays Saturdays and Sundays [Music] right across the railroad tracks sits the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center originally built in 1882 the Tudor style property has hosted dozens of politicians and celebrities Eisenhower Nixon Ford Carter Reagan and George W bush have all stayed here Black Dog Salvage is a forty thousand square foot Warehouse stocked with Antiques and unique items the DIY Network featured the business for eight years on the hit show Salvage Docks it's become quite a destination The Grandin theater is nearly 100 years old and plays both new and vintage films on Fridays Saturdays and Sundays the grand Inn shuttered a few times over the decades but now appears to be on solid footing movie tickets are between eight and ten dollars [Music] Roanoke calls itself the Star City of the South it's clean safe laid back we just want to spread the joy of pinball really and the people are noticeably friendly is that a couple from New Orleans last week my only mistake was not staying for an extra day I don't think he can imagine that we're still here yeah yeah I couldn't imagine that right for sure [Music] I wanna play [Applause] [Music] if you enjoyed this video subscribe to my travel journalism Channel hit the like button and leave a comment below my next Journey a 16 hour overnight Amtrak ride from Jacksonville Florida to Washington DC for now from Roanoke in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains I'm Kevin across America foreign

Channel: Kevin Across America

Views: 11,995

Keywords: roanoke, virginia, blue ridge mountains, texas tavern, pinball museum, national d-day memorial, bedford, natural bridge state park, mill mountain, mill mountain star, southwest virginia, hamburgers, big lick brewing, local roots, crescent city bourbon bbq, jack brown's, golden cactus brewing, neon star, mountain biking, greenway, bedford boys, amtrak, black dog salvage, hotel roanoke, grandin theatre, taubman museum of art, tourism, sights, attractions, roanoke virginia

Id: phjNVT6_sZ0

Length: 23min 31sec (1411 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 20 2022