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Posts Tagged ‘Roanoke’

Day 204 – Lourdes V.

Posted in Something for others, tagged , , , , , on July 19, 2010| 3 Comments »

When you look at today’s blog entry you might think, “Reed made a mistake.  Lourdes was the name of the recipient from yesterday’s blog.”  Well, would you believe that the very next day I found another woman named Lourdes in Roanoke, VA. 

IHOP, Roanoke, VA (photo: Reed)

 

I was traveling to Roanoke to attend the funeral of a family friend.  My father and I stayed at the Quality Inn near the Tanglewood Mall in the southwest part of town.  I saw an IHOP (3926 Franklin Rd SW, Roanoke, VA 24014) around the corner from the motel and suggested that we go there for breakfast.  

Our waitress came over to our table and I saw the name Lourdes written on her name tag.  I told my dad that Lourdes was the name of the woman who I gave my $10 to the day before.  It was almost as if it was some kind of sign to choose her.  She came back with our breakfast and I asked her to take part in the Year of Giving.  She accepted. 

Lourdes (photo: Reed)

 

I asked the 34-year-old single mother of two where she was from originally.  “I was an army brat!” she said sporting a big smile.  Her father was in the US Army and they moved all around the world.  Her favorite place she says is Panama.  Her travel has slowed down though now and she says that she has lived in Roanoke for about 15 years. 

Lourdes was pretty busy and I was trying not to take up too much of her time.  She went to go check on her other customers and came back by a few minutes later.  She has worked at this IHOP for about a year.  “It’s a great place to work,” she says and comments how friendly her coworkers are.  

Lourdes told me that she was going to use the $10 to take her five-year-old daughter and two-year-old son to the pool later that day.  I bet the kids enjoyed that, it has been so hot. 

If you stop in for breakfast, I highly recommend the spinach, mushroom and tomato omelette (I got it without the Swiss cheese)  I was unsure what to get and Lourdes recommended that to me and I thought it was really good. 

We closed out our check and went back to the motel to check out and make our way over to the funeral service. 

Today’s blog entry is dedicated to the memory of Jean Ruth Hughes Bain, 1934-2010.

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Day 94 – Rob W.

Posted in Something for themself, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2010| 3 Comments »

Unfortunately my cousin Ricky passed away on March 12th.  He had a heart attack on Wednesday and later died on Friday.  Although I had not seen Ricky in a long time, I did see his mother (my aunt) much more often.  You never prepare yourself fully to lose a child.  

Welcome to Kroger's!

I traveled to Roanoke, VA on Thursday to be with my family.  While I was there I found myself at the Tanglewood Kroger on the Southwest edge of the city. 

As I walked through the grocery store I found Rob deep in concentration as he studied the Bomb Pops.  I thought I would introduce myself. 

Like me, Rob is unemployed right now.  He was working as a financial specialist for the hospital in Roanoke up until being laid off last August.  Although he would like to find work, he has used his time off to focus on his passion for making music.  He is a one-man recording artist making experimental home-made music.  He goes by the name Sad Wilson and you can hear a sample of his music here.  I listened to a bunch of the songs.  Most of them have heavy tones of melancholy (hence Sad Wilson).  Rob integrates different media into the songs…for example recordings of conversations or telephone operator recordings on top of guitar melodies.  There was something Neil Youngish about Junk Stomp Brain and Pretty Corpse.  All in all not my preferred style, however, I think the experimental approach he has taken is cool and the fact that he does it all himself is amazing. 

Rob with his $10 and favorite Popsicles (Photo: Reed)

I got out my camera to take some pictures…I got a little worried that the Kroger people might come over and ask me to leave or put my camera away.  Jokingly I said to Rob, “They might get upset unless you know somebody that works here.”  He said, well, my grandfather used to be the CEO of Kroger.”  I was like, “really.”  He just looked at me and nodded “yup.”  So…I took some photos! 

Rob plans on using my ten-spot to buy some blank CDs to burn some of his music.  I have a feeling if there is anything left over it will get used for Bomb Pops.  Never met anyone with such an affinity for them! 

Around this time Rob’s friend came by.  I think this was his girlfriend or wife…and I believe her name was Ashley…but I could be wrong.  My note-taking is pretty poor.  Sorry!  They both told me how bad the economy was in Roanoke.  And let me tell you, it looks way more depressed there than in

Rob and Ashley (Photo: Reed)

DC.  Next door to the Kroger is the Tanglewood Mall.  Ashley said, “Yeah,it’s pretty bad…you can find that mall on deadmalls.com!” I checked…she was right.  I also went to the mall…and it aptly listed on the website.  “There’s just a lot of empty buildings around town” she added. 

Although it is sad to see this, it is important to see it.  I think Washington is a little recession proof because of all the government related jobs.  This town needs some life pumped into it.  

I asked the two what they would recommend for someone to see in Roanoke.  They looked at each other, shrugged, and said, “I don’t know….maybe the Star?”  They are referring to the Mill Mountain Star, built in 1949 at the top of Mill Mountain.  It is the world’s largest freestanding illuminated man-made star. (There is a bigger one in El Paso, TX, but it isn’t illuminated)  I had actually seen it before…my cousin Martha got married last Fourth of July at a winery in Roanoke that overlooked the Star.  It was a great view and the Star is pretty at night.   

“Other than that…maybe the Taubman Museum…but it’s weird.  It looks like a space ship” they told me.  The Taubman  apparently has permanent and temporary exhibits and focuses mostly on 19th/20th century American art, modern and contemporary art, new media, photography, and visionary art.  I didn’t have time to visit it this time. 

Give Rob’s music a listen.  It’s good to have artists who are pushing the envelope. 

Today’s blog is dedicated to the memory of my cousin Richard “Ricky” C. Huels, Jr.  (Nov. 27, 1959 – March 12, 2010)

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