By Gail Lambert

This is outdoor family fun that used to exist only in children’s books for non-farming families. Today you can drive to Layman Farm, in Bedford County, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, only 15 minutes from downtown Roanoke. The Pumpkin Festival runs on weekends from September 19 through November 14, right when the summer heat has vanished and wintry winds have not yet arrived, when nothing will do but a day in the country.

Admission fees, starting at $10 for adults down to free for the under-2 set, include the 11.5-acre Corn Maze -- the first one in Virginia. My family was awed by the height of the cornstalks, and was entertained by the questions and clues at cornstalk junctions.

Save time for a hayride out to the 25-acre Pumpkin Patch, to pick out and haul back for purchase a Halloween pumpkin and shop the Farm Store. Shoot the Corn Cannon at targets in a field and the Pumpkin Blaster, a giant slingshot contraption. Little kids have a 10-car Cow Train to ride and their own Mini Pumpkin Maze, hay jump and sandbox alternative called the Corn Crib. There are rubber duck races, tube slide down a hill, a goat walk bridge and farm animals.

No outside food is permitted, but there’s a concession stand with drinks, hot dogs & barbecue and picnic tables. Bring a flashlight for after dusk.

For more information, contact Layman Family Farm, 1815 Mountain View Church Road, Blue Ridge, VA 24064. Visit www.laymanfamilyfarms.com.

By Gail Lambert

Wineries are much-beloved places to relax and enjoy the taste of an essence of nature. Even better, Valhalla Vineyards sits atop a mountain at 2,000 feet in elevation with views of the Roanoke Valley mere minutes from the Star City. With leaves beginning to blaze, the views are even more spectacular, but the wine is what it’s all about.

And what wine it is! The vineyard is producing world-class, award-winning cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay and many more; Valhalla is the first vineyard outside California to produce Alicante Bouschet. The secret lies in the climate and decomposing granite soils similar to the Rhone Valley of France. Owners James and Debra Vascik claim the premier terroir on the East coast.

The vineyard is open through December 20 on weekend afternoons, although closed on Fridays during November and December. Tours include the vineyard, winery and Barrel Cave, where barrels of wine are stored 60 feet underground for steady humidity, cave-cool year round temperatures, and darkness for the proper aging of wine. Tastings take place at the Cellar Door, built in 2004.

Also taking place at the Cellar Door are the Wine Maker Dinner Series, featuring the Harvest Gourmet Wine Dinner on October 16 and Holiday Gourmet Wine Dinner December 18. Executive Chef Jason Pollard, previously of Fess Parker Winery in California, will preside over the food with wine and fun to match. Call for reservations, 540-725-9463.

For more information, contact Valhalla Vineyards, 6500 Chestnut Road, Roanoke, VA 24018. Visit: www.valhallawines.com

By Gail Lambert

Having spent a summer in Greece several years ago, I am a fervent fan of all things Greek. I revel in stories about the rural Greek way of life out-of-doors, putting food on the table from gardens and late night dancing, feasting and singing. They sleep late, nap in the afternoons and live to be 100!

We can at least play at being Greek the weekend of September 18 – 20 at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, on Huntington Boulevard, in northeast Roanoke. Church volunteers cook and serve Greek favorites such as, souvlaki, moussaka, pasticcio and baklava and many other choices, with servers explaining the unique qualities of each dish. This year a drive-through facility located next to the SunTrust Bank on Williamson Road should make it easier for people to try out authentic Greek cuisine.

The Orpheus Band, a traditional Greek band, will do what Greek bands do best – make people move, dance and breathe in the good life. Costumed Greek dancers attract throngs as they move to the age-old music with mesmerizing strength and grace. Shouts of “Opa!” are returned in kind, while men seem to stand a bit taller and women a bit prouder.

Greek souvenirs are sold in the parish hall, converted temporarily into the agora –marketplace; and two round trip tickets to Athens will be raffled off. Proceeds go to the church and community charities. Admission to the festival is free and church tours are part of the offerings.

For more information visit: www.roanokegreekfestival.com or call 540-362-3601.

By Gail Lambert

At a recent Saturday night concert just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, mere minutes from Galax, Virginia, the moon was on the rise, a mountain chill was in the air and old time mountain music was on the stage. The kind of music that’s bringing together college students and mountain grannies. Call it bluegrass, Scotch-Irish heritage music, gospel, country & western, or roots revival, the Blue Ridge Center is all about preserving and performing music here in the heart of one of the great sources of rural roots music.

At the concert we were asked for a show of hands for first time attendees, many hands went up including mine and my family’s, proving that the good word is getting around. The Summer Concert Series ends September 12 with Bill Kirchen, songwriter, singer & guitarist and the Harris Brothers, an old-time North Carolina foothills string band; admission $15. Bring a lawn chair, blanket & flashlight. The free Mid-day Mountain Music sessions, however, continue Sundays through Fridays ending November 1st with mountain music, stories and songs held in the Visitor Center breezeway. Just pull up a rocking chair! Most sessions run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Save time to browse the excellent Music Heritage exhibits adjoining the breezeway, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with free admission.

When you drive the Blue Ridge Parkway for the fall colors, come to Milepost 213, two hours south of Roanoke, and experience the music that reveals part of the American soul.


For more information call (276) 236-5309; visit www.blueridgemusiccenter.org.

By Gail Lambert

 

As I traced the route of the first Blue Ridge Marathon on the parkway the easy way – in my car –two deer sprinting up wooded Roanoke Mountain stopped to watch the car go by in a late morning drizzle. They’ll have plenty to watch on April 24, 2010 when the marathon, an event touted as the No.1 outdoor recreation activity in the country by the Outdoor Industry Association, gets underway in celebration of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s 75th anniversary.

The marathon gets its name from an ancient Greek messenger’s run of 26 miles from the Plain of Marathon to Athens with news of Greek victory over the invading Persians. To up the ante, Roanoke’s marathon will be conducted not on a flat plain, but on a course that includes downtown city streets and two mountains. There’s Mill Mountain at 1,740 feet elevation, the scenic Spur Road, a short span of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Roanoke Mountain, elevation 2,172 feet -- the place to go for the sport of hang-gliding. The finish line is downtown in front of the Hotel Roanoke & Conference center. A half marathon will be held at the same time as the marathon.

Marathon entry fees are $80 before Dec. 31, $90 before March 15 and $100 through April 22. Proceeds will benefit the Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway, a nonprofit with a focus on preserving the parkway. Early registrants are coming from California, Canada, Texas and the Midwest.

To register visit: blueridgeparkwaymarathon.com

By Gail Lambert

On a clear day Sharp Top and Flat Top, better known as the Peaks of Otter, can be seen from Roanoke – an hour’s drive away on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Get on and go north atop the scenic spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains until you come to the small visitor center at Milepost 86.

Behind the visitor center is an amphitheatre used by park rangers for nature talks, mountain music concerts and more. Programs are open to all and free of charge. Cross the road and take a walk around beautiful Abbott Lake, stocked for fishing.

Past the lake is my favorite picnic spot in all the world, called Little Stony Creek, where picnic tables and charcoal grills are situated beside the stream beneath the shade of hemlocks and hardwoods. Above the picnic area is a Parkway campground with campsites for $14 per night.

Hikers take note that the strenuous climb to the summit of Sharp Top at 3,875 feet takes an hour or more to achieve. Or you can take a concession-run bus (late spring to early fall) to within 1,500 feet of the summit and hike to the top from there. Either way, you’ll find the rockbound summit and spectacular views worth the exertion.

Call 540-586-4496 for information about programs at the amphitheatre including mountain music on Labor Day Weekend and a Civil War reenactment at Johnson Farm in October. The season ends with Scary Halloween Night Oct. 24 at Peaks of Otter Lodge.

By Gail Lambert

These are glory days for food lovers, what with cooking shows on TV 24/7, destination dining and celebrity chefs achieving rock star status; when the trendiest place in town is the farmers’ market on a Saturday morning.

Enter the first Taste of the Roanoke Valley Food Expo – a food show for farmers to show the public what’s available locally. White tents were set up on a grassy field surrounded by Blue Ridge Mountains at Greenfield Recreation Center in Botetourt County.

Sponsored primarily by Farm Bureau Virginia, Virginia Tech and Virginia Cooperative Extension along with dozens of local groups and businesses, admission was just $2. My husband and I visited booths piled high with vegetables and dairy products; there were also lists of cuts of beef available from local cattle farms. Food samples were incredible: whole baked apples from the Fincastle 4-H Club, grilled London broil, sliced peaches, sweet corn, lamb stew and cheeses.

Live bluegrass bands and Master Gardeners added to the mix and a Chef Challenge starred chefs from Local Roots Café in Roanoke, Zeppoli’s Italian Restaurant in Blacksburg and West End Market at Virginia Tech.

On leaving, we were asked if we would like to see a Food Expo next year. We had to laugh. Who wouldn’t want another Food Expo? Later, event sponsors called the Food Expo “a smashing success.” I believe that makes it official: expect great food in the Roanoke Valley and environs.

By Gail Lambert

Roanoke’s awesome outdoor recreation opportunities just got better with the demolition of a dam that has created the Roanoke River Blueway. For folks that like to “mess about in boats,” you can put in your canoe or kayak at Green Hill Park in west Salem and paddle downstream all the way to Wasena Park in Roanoke, a journey of about two to three hours. At Wasena Park you have a sandy beach for boat take out as well as car park spaces where you can load your boat and leave, or be picked up by a friend with a boat rack.

Salem and Roanoke are not far from the river’s headwaters in neighboring Montgomery County, and so the river is still narrow and rather shallow in places -- a good river to practice paddling on or just relax and let drift. The 400-mile river that begins in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains empties into Albemarle Sound in North Carolina.

Then again you can drive north on I-81 from Roanoke to Buchanan, Exit 162 to Twin River Outfitters on the James River in a half hour. TRO rents canoes, kayaks and inner tubes on the James (“America’s First River”) and Maury Rivers in Botetourt and Rockbridge Counties. Options range from a river tubing trip (minimum age 6) with shuttle service to overnight canoe camping trips.

For Roanoke River Blueway information contact Roanoke City Parks & Recreation 540-853-2236. Twin River Outfitters, 653 Lowe Street, Buchanan, VA 24066. Phone: 540-261-7334. Visit: canoevirginia.net

By Gail Tansill Lambert

When I see “Back to School” ads in the middle of summer, I take that as a personal invitation to end the day at Smith Mountain Lake’s Portside Grill & Bar at the Virginia Dare Marina. “Come as you are” means a colorful T-shirt over a swim suit, straw hat or baseball cap and one of a thousand styles of flip flops. People cruise in by speedboat or arrive by Airport Road, which dead ends at the Virginia Dare Cruise Boat building and Marina.

There, I’ll be, sipping a margarita and peeling and eating shrimp. The live music heats up and people are dancing and singing along to “Montego Bay,” “My Girl” and “Wooly Bully.” Jimmy Buffet and the Beach Boys belong here in this tropical paradise of a shack over the water and straw umbrellas on the deck. Special live music features steel drums.

The food is good and just what you want after a day on the lake: buckets of icy cold beer, wine and cocktails, burgers, Cuban sandwiches, grilled kabobs and veggies, pina colada chicken salad and barbecue on a bun. And key lime pie for dessert, of course. You order what you want at the bar and come get it when it’s ready, so be prepared for some friendly pandemonium when it’s crowded.

Portside is open Friday through Sunday afternoons and evenings through Labor Day weekend.

For more information, call (540) 297-7100 or visit vadarecruises.com. Portside Grill & Bar is located at 3619 Airport Rd., Moneta, Virginia, 24121.

By Gail Tansill Lambert

I know, I know. Georgia is the Peach State and South Carolina has that colossal peach water tower beside I-85 in Gaffney, but peaches grown in the mountains of southwest Virginia are just coming in and the harvest is “monstrous,” according to a local peach farmer. Stung by drought and spring frosts the past few years, this year’s crop received just the right amount of sunshine and rainfall to produce a sensational banner crop.

The Star City celebrates this stellar gift of Mother Nature Friday, July 31, and Saturday, August 1, at Elmwood Park in Downtown Roanoke. On the menu are peach cobbler, peach milkshakes and peach shortcakes with live music performing on the amphitheatre stage. Proceeds benefit the Northwest Child Development Center.

At the peak of this bountiful peach season, you’ll want to carry home a sack of peaches from the Historic Roanoke City Market, the oldest continuously operating outdoor farmer’s market in Virginia, just a short walk from Elmwood Park.

You may also head to Daleville in Botetourt County just north of Roanoke on 220 to Layman Orchard & Produce at 50 Layman Brothers Lane. More peaches are available beside the post office in Daleville. Peaks of Otter Winery in Bedford has nectarines this last week in July with peaches expected to ripen the first week in August. These higher altitude peaches have a slightly later season than the valley orchards, but you can always buy a bottle of peach wine!

For more Peach Festival information call Downtown Roanoke Inc. at (540) 342-0233.