As I mentioned on Friday, my sister and her family were in town for the weekend, and with this being her first visit to Roanoke, we wanted to show them some of what the area has to offer.

Okay, we did a lot of eating and drinking.

We started out at lunch on Friday at the Ballast Point Tasting Room and Kitchen in Daleville, about an hour northwest of our home. It’s a beautiful setting with fresh beer and really good food.

Though lunch was terrific, we made room for a fun dinner a few hours later at Jake’s Place, back at the lake. It’s a casual waterside restaurant with an extensive menu (including a brunch menu!) and it’s a bonus to eat dinner while watching boats pull up full of hungry people. While it’s super-relaxed, the service is fast and the food is great.

Up early on Saturday morning, we made it to the farmer’s market in downtown Roanoke, followed by lunch in Grandin Village, a historic neighborhood just a couple of miles from downtown. We truly enjoyed lunch at Grace’s Place Pizzeria (every pizza combination you can think of, all available as calzones, too YUM), and I look forward to working my way through the restaurants in that area.

Grandin Village is also home to Black Dog Salvage, so that was a must-do.

I decided that a first trip to Roanoke should include a visit to the Mill Mountain Star, where we took a slightly posed photo.

Then it was back to the lake for a relaxing afternoon (particularly because our guests brought us a set of inner tubes and a floating cooler!). We had a terrific time and I sure hope that the family wants to come back soon so we can do even more.