College trip to Roanoke - please help
 

Once again I'm planning a trip to take my son to look at a college - in this case, Roanoke College. While we're there we may also look at Randolph and Lynchburg, but my son is pretty sure they are too small - we'll see. Anyway, at this point it looks like we will be arriving about 2PM on a Sunday, have that afternoon to look around, then Monday visit the college. Any suggestions as to where to stay, where to eat, and what to do? Outdoor stuff is best, definitely NO shopping! It will be mid-October, so I imagine the Parkway would be jammed - true?

We live in Roanoke and work in Salem. The cities bump right up against each other. Staying in either would be fine. How much are you wanting to spend for a hotel? That will help. Lynchburg is a little over an hour from Salem/Roanoke. What do you prefer when eating out? price? cuisine? I can give you some more pointers if I have a little more info.

Whoo-hoo! I'm an RC grad of long ago. Good to see that your son is checking it out. I loved it while I was there and have always been grateful for the small liberal arts college experience. He'd be making a great choice, IMHO.

The Roanoke Valley should be beautiful in mid-October. You might want to drive to Smith Mountain Lake.

When you're at the college, ask about places to eat in the vicinity that a student might chose.

I was pretty vague - I was in a hurry, but that's no excuse. Hotel: inexpensive, clean, and near the college. I saw what looked like some neat B&B's, but I do that with DH - not with an 18 year old boy who is happy as long as he has cell phone reception and can text. Places to eat: he's not a steak and potatoes person at all - very adventurous and loves trying new cuisines, although he is currently tired of Indian. Pizza, sushi, and Thai are always welcome. Good burgers - not adventurous, but always welcome. Places students go. Is there a retail/restaurant area near the school? Since you live/work nearby, lakeside, and since you went there, Betsy - how is the campus situated? Is it off to itself, in a suburban type area, in the city? Would it be easy to get to things (stores, entertainment, food) or do you need a car (or a friend with a car)? Smith Mountain Lake looks great, Betsy. We're in Florida, but Brent spent two years in Vermont at a boarding school for kids with dyslexia - and he loved the cold weather and mountains. One of the draws of Roanoke is the outdoor club.

Quick reply before I dash off to the farmer's market: RC is situated just adjacent to downtown Salem, with shops, banks, restaurants, etc. within a block or two of the campus. I'm not sure about the exact mix of shops, because it's been a few years since I've been there. Larger retail such as K-Mart, Penneys, maybe Target are farther away. Lakeside77 will be a better resource in that department.

I'm not sure about places to stay, either, but there are several chain hotels in the area. You could google "hotels Salem VA" to get a list. Any of the chains would probably be fine for one or two nights.

A few years ago we stayed at the Hotel Roanoke on the way to Smokey Mtn NP. The hotel was beautiful. Roanoke itself had nothing to do.

We walked across the bridge over the railroad tracks and found one commercial street with a few restaurants. I don't recall the name of it, but we ate at an Indian place that was pretty good.

OK...I'll try to respond the best that I can with the info you're seeking.

Where to stay...Hotel Roanoke is at least 15 minutes away and not a place I would choose to stay for a college visit. It's just off I-581 at the downtown Roanoke exit.

There are no places directly near the college to stay, but several within 5 minutes. There's a nice Holiday Inn on Wildwood Rd. at exit 137 off I-81 (Roanoke College is just off exit 140). They just opened a Comfort Suites, also on Wildwood Rd. at exit 137. I've had family stay at the Holiday Inn and it was nice. There are other options, but those two would be the newest and nicest in the Salem area. Make sure you get the ones on Wildwood Rd. because there are others of the same hotel brand in the Salem/Roanoke area that aren't as nice as the ones on Wildwood if you choose to stay there.

About 10 minutes from Roanoke College is the Valley View Mall area of Roanoke. There's a 2-story mall there with several restaurants nearby - TGIFRiday's, Olive Garden, Carabba's, Logan's, and more.

Restaurant suggestions: Macado's (right across from the college) - they have a gazillion types of sandwiches and a local favorite of mine. Over by Valley View Mall, a few different places would be Shaker's (menu similar to O'Charley's but much better food in my opinion). It's also a local place - a few of them scattered around SW Virginia. Also by VVMall, they have Abuelo's (nice Mexican restaurant) and Flat Rock (more pricey fish and seafood), but normally pretty good.

Hope that helps on the food. You can mention some other types of what sounds good. Salem is a smaller town with a few restaurants near to the college and others scattered around the town. Salem has Walmart and K-Mart...not much more except for little local shops.

The area near Valley View Mall is easy to get to and has everything - regular mall with Macy's, JCPenney, Belk, AmEagle, etc. Also a Walmart, Target, Best Buy, movie theater - all in the same area.

The area mentioned by BarryK near Roanoke Hotel is called Center on the Square - very inconvenient from Roanoke College, but has a variety of restaurants.

Things to do...there's a lot of hiking around the area, including areas around Peaks of Otter. No trip to Roanoke is complete (according to locals) without a trip up to the Roanoke Star near downtown Roanoke. It's up on Mill Mountain and overlooks the valley - beautiful during the day and at night.

Other options - if you're into the arts...the Roanoke Symphony has performances on various Mondays, and Mill Mountain Theater in Roanoke has some really good productions from time to time.

Hope that helps some. If you have any more questions, let me know.

And mid-October should be beautiful around here, depending on how much rain we get for fall colors.

Oh a couple other suggestions...for eating out - Mac & Bob's on Main Street in Salem (a block or two from Roanoke College). They have really good calzones (recommend the kendall zone - smaller version that's still huge). They also have a really nice outdoor dining area around back with patio heaters and a fireplace.

We were just at Smith Mountain Lake for an afternoon last weekend and loved it. It's a beautiful area.

Thanks. The Holiday Inn sounds good, and Macados and Mac and Bob's were both mentioned on the college website - maybe lunch at one and dinner at the other. I've heard of Peaks of Otter - I went to Virginia with my parents years (as in about 40) ago, so I guess it had to be from that trip. I do hope fall colors are good. We moved back to Florida 14 years ago and I miss fall, but not enough to make up for winter! Betsy - it's nice to know that the college is close to downtown. He's looked at a couple that are in the middle of nowhere, which isn't good if you don't have a car.

I don't know what size city you are used to, but Roanoke College is one street back from what is considered "downtown Salem." It's an area of town with shops on each side of a 2-lane rd. This is where Mac & Bob's and Macado's are. But it's not what I would consider a "downtown" area even though people around here call it that.

I was quoting Betsy about the "downtown", although it's probably not that much smaller than our downtown - and, with it being near a college, probably has much more going on after offices close! I was thinking in terms of having places you can walk to - we've been to a couple schools where you would couldn't get to anything without a car.

We got back from our trip last night - and I wanted to thank you all for your help. The Holiday Inn was pleasant and quiet, we had a good lunch at Mac and Bob's, and we got in about two hours on the Parkway - the leaves were gorgeous! Brent got to spend the night on campus with two freshmen, so we didn't have time to get out to Smith Lake or do any thing but drive along the Parkway and stop at some overlooks, but the stay on campus was worth it - Roanoke is now his top choice. It was even cold: 34 when I got up yesterday morning and I had to scrape very heavy frost off the car windshield - something I hadn't had to do in 14 years! I'm happy at 80 degrees, but Brent was happily wondering around in a t-shirt with an unbuttoned flannel shirt over it - he's not my kid!

Glad you enjoyed your visit in Roanoke/Salem. The weather took a huge shift this past week. It's a great area for the fall weather and colors.