& Hwy 122; adult/child $7/5;
h10am-5pm). Among its
towering arch and flower
garden is a cast of bronze
figures re-enacting the
storming of the beach,
complete with bursts of
water symbolizing the
hail of bullets the soldiers
faced.
The surrounding
countryside is speckled
with vineyards,
including an outfit
that specializes in the
juice of apples, pears,
peaches and chili
peppers. Peaks of Otter
Winery (%540-586-3707;
http://www.peaksofotterwinery.
com; 2122 Sheep Creek
Rd, Bedford; hnoon-5pm
daily Apr-Dec, weekends
only Jan-Mar) stands out
from other viticulture
tourism spots with its
focus on producing fruit
wines (the chili pepper
wine is, by the way,
‘better for basting than
tasting’ according to
management).
White Rock Vineyards
(%540-890-3359; http://
http://www.whiterockwines.com;
2117 Bruno Dr, Goodview;
hnoon-5pm Thu-Mon), on
the other hand, is a more
traditional winery. A few
acres of green grapevines(well, green in the right
season anyway) seem to
erupt around a pretty
house; if you head in for
a tasting, we’re fans of
the White Mojo Pinot
Gris.
Learn more about the
many vineyards here via
the Bedford Wine Trail
(www.bedfordwinetrail.com).The Drive » Take VA-122
(Burks Hill Rd) southbound for
about 13.5 miles. In Moneta,
take a left onto State Route 608
and drive for 6 miles, then turn
right onto Smith Mountain Lake
Pkwy. Go 2 miles and you’re at
the park.Start: 9 Roanoke
Located about 42 miles west of Roanoke, Blacksburg is another higher education-
centered community in the mountains of highland Virginia. But this is no small,
liberal arts college town. Blacksburg is the home of the largest university in Virginia:
the Virginia Polytechnical Institute, better known as Virginia Tech, V-Tech or just
Tech. The local, odd mascot? That would be ‘Hokies,’ also known as the Hokie Bird.
It’s basically a turkey. Sort of. Well...
OK, here’s the skinny: the world ‘hokie’ comes from VT’s nonsensical fight song,
chanted at all university athletic events and many a Blacksburg bar. It has nothing
to do with turkeys, but a wild turkey was the team’s mascot for much of the 20th
century. Said turkeys were the reason the team was nicknamed the ‘Fighting
Gobblers’: ‘Gobbler’ is North American slang for a turkey, but it has some, well,
pejorative connotations, so the university amended the name to ‘Hokie Bird,’ invoking
the school’s fight song. Now, go enjoy pub trivia, or feel free to look around the green
2600-acre campus; a good place to start is the visitor center (%540-231-3548; http://www.
visit.vt.edu; 925 Prices Fork Rd, Blacksburg; h7:30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8:30am-2:30pm Sat,
1-5pm Sun).
Blacksburg as a town basically revolves around Tech. The nearby Smithfield
Plantation (%540-231-3947; http://www.smithfieldplantation.org; 1000 Smithfield Plantation Rd;
adult/child $8/3; h10am-5pm Mon-Sat, 1-5pm Sun), built in 1774, is an excellent example
of late-colonial architecture. We highly recommend a drive on Catawba Rd (Virginia
Rte 785), which rolls past stunning murals of farmland, streams and forestscape.
To take this detour, take I-81 westbound, then exit at 118B to get on US 460;
follow this road westbound to Blacksburg.BLACKSBURG
DETOUR:
VIRGINIA.TRIPS.25
.BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY