January 26: Mill Mountain’s Star and Monument trails to Roanoke and downtown; back via Roanoke River Greenway. About 5 miles
Photo Above: The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All pauses at the intersection of the Star and Monument trails before heading on around the mountain toward breakfast.
With a mid-day-Saturday grandson basketball game preempting a Saturday hike, we had Sunday wide open before us.
But wait, no . . . The Greatest Day Hiker Of Them All also carries some level of superlative for her fandom of UVa men’s basketball as well, and with a noon game time, she suggested juggling our usual order of things and head out early toward something we can’t remember ever having done on a hike: breakfast.
And so we got on the Star Trail at the parking lot in Southeast Roanoke, climbed it to the Monument Trail to skirt the mountain and head down through South Roanoke and to downtown’s Scrambled restaurant. And it was good: fine French toast for the Day Hiker and a dense skillet blend of potatoes, eggs and more more me.Â
But alas, our timing was off slightly, so as we took the shorter return route to the car—back through part of town and then onto the Roanoke River Greenway—The Day Hiker was on the phone to check on the score of her beloved team here in a season marked by the inability to close out the close ones.
And we were back home in plenty of time for the exciting second half, marked by the Wahoos closing out a close one! The Day Hiker’s reaction was not so much elation but relief.
