It is tradition for Greg and I, and friends Ruth and Ralph, to visit the Roanoke in the month of December to celebrate the holiday season. We stroll through the halls of the Hotel Roanoke, originally built in 1882 by the Norfolk & Western Railway as a Tudor Revival landmark, and enjoy the beauty of the trees that have been decorated by local businesses and organizations in a decorating competition. Visitors vote for their favorite tree and every dollar donated supports a meaningful cause.

Our tradition was derailed a couple times by illness, but we managed to get to Roanoke twice and these are some of the images that I captured. The first is the fireplace in the lobby of the Hotel Roanoke.

The next is the Pedestrian Walkway that connects the Hotel Roanoke to the historic downtown and allows folks to see the railroad tracks that led to Roanoke, originally called Big Lick,to become one of the premier railroad cities in America. For a century, Roanoke was home to the Norfolk & Western Railway.

The next three are murals seen during a morning stroll around the historic downtown area

If you’ve not been to Roanoke, Virginia, you should visit sometime.