We made a weekend of it, and decided to travel the several hundred miles to see this city. We were very disappointed. We traveled the entire length of the city and its suburbs, from east to west, on Route 460…from Vinton right through the city of Roanoke to Salem, then to Interstate 81. What we found was a depressing, old, broken-down town with a downtown and Farmers’ Market that looked like people were trying to make it look quaint, but the surrounding areas just dragged it back to Shantytown. Now, don’t flame, this is what we saw. No, we did not see ALL of the city, perhaps there were newer areas that are nicer. We did see the star, which was very nice, and we loved the beautiful mountainous surroundings. But the city itself was a real disappointment. We were looking for a shining beacon of what a southern city could be in the 21st century, and what we found was a town about 150 years after its prime.