The Day Hiker underwent rotator cuff surgery after the first weekend of the month and so, given her fear of and slight penchant to trip over roots and rocks in the woods, we went all-urban, all-smooth, all-flat for the month.
October 1. (pre-surgery). Biking the Blackwater Creek Trail and James River Trail in Lynchburg (about 15 miles); walking from home to Wasena Tap Room via Roanoke River Greenway (about 4 miles).
Inspired by our ride on the New River Trail a few weeks earlier while I was in an Achilles-rest boot, we decided to explore part of the Lynchburg trail system. We got off to a bit of a false start on the Creekside Trail, given its steps and other non-bike-friendly aspects, and turned around after about a mile, to start instead at the western end of the Blackwater Creek Trail, which leads into the Riverwalk, where we paused for lunch at the Depot Grill, which was enjoyable and complete with passing train. The ride east from there is easy, pretty and along the river. Back home for the evening, we got a four-mile walk in with a nice visit to the Wasena Tap Room & Grill.
October 9. From home along Roanoke River Greenway to The Green Goat and back. 4 miles.
With The Day Hiker still in early stages of recovery, we were back on the local greenway for an easy walk to one of our favorite eateries.
October 15. From home along the Roanoke River to Go Outside Festival and Fork in the Alley and back. 6 miles.
Among the highlights at GOFest was watching a dog jump more than 30 feet out over and into the water. The food trucks all had gloriously long lines, so we trekked on over to Fork in the Alley for lunch before returning for more fun at GOFest.
October 22. Charlottesville’s Rivanna River Trail and city streets to the Pedestrian Mall and back. About 8 miles.
We had the very good fortune to see Todd Snider on Friday night, though for the first time in our several visits for live music in Charlottesville we could not get a room near the mall. Todd was at his story-tellin’, crowd-pleasin’, peace-lovin’-hippie best, and for his encore reached way back into the American songbook for a delightful version of “Young at Heart,” having used the song we’ve seen him close with—his own “Good Fortune”—as the opener for the show. It is a compliment to Todd Snider’s talent, catalog and temperament that he can perform pretty much any set of songs and tales he likes and you will leave fully pleased, and with no feeling at all of oh, I wish he’d done such-and-so.
And since the city-looping Rivanna River Trail was near our lodging spot, we hopped on the next morning for the week’s hike. We ended up back down on the mall in what turned out to be the best walk of the month.
October 29. From home through Old Southwest Roanoke to Athens Corner Grill and back. About 6 miles.
Completing an entire month of pretty much walking to eat, we headed toward another favorite place—the wonderfully Greek flavors at Athens Corner Grill on Jefferson Street just south of downtown Roanoke.
