Buchanan

One of the locations that I did not expect to wow me was Buchanan. My brother and I were passing by and got caught in traffic for hours. My brother put the U-Haul in park and both of us began to doze off. What we did not expect was the beauty right around the corner from the Wattstull Inn in Arcadia. We decided to take the car off of the haul and go for a drive down US Route 11. We drove under Interstate 81 and we approached the James River. The town was quaint and picturesque. But what wowed me was the people. We found the North Star Restaurant open at the unbearable hour we initially were caught in traffic. The moment we entered this diner, we were seated and treated as family. The nearby tables were refilling their cups with the morning coffee. One man came over and refilled both of our cups with a heartwarming smile. Nestled in the Appalachian Mountains north of Roanoke, this town continued to roll with hills and with amazing people. My brother and I later returned to North Star for dinner and later found a bar and had a beer where someone spotted the New York license plates and overheard that my brother is a veteran and had paid for our drinks as a thanks and welcome. Back at the Wattsull Inn, we climbed back up to our beautifully perched room to take in the Shenandoah Valley scenery and for a nap before continuing on to New York City. The earlier accident had been cleared but our hearts were now full of a new place to temporarily call home.

Manassas/Bull Run

The start of the American Civil War was right around the corner from where we were staying. Driving and walking around this area was not only eye-opening, but also very personal. The decades following the Civil War have shaped ever facet of American life. That day was the beginning of almost 5 years of unbelievable bloodshed among families in the same country that ended about 150 miles south and with President Lincoln assassinated about 30 miles northeast.