Romantic Fall Getaway: Roanoke Virginia
Planning a romantic weekend? Engagement photos? This post is for you! Where to stay, eat, and visit.
We recently took a romantic weekend to Roanoke, Virginia. The main reason for the visit was our engagement photos. Fall is my favorite time of year, and the Blue Ridge Parkway is a must visit! Also- so very photogenic.
Planning a visit to Roanoke was pretty easy. We used Google maps to get an idea of the surroundings, drive time, and where would be most central to the things we wanted to do.
Where we stayed: The Liberty Trust Hotel
This hotel is a historic building, once a bank, in downtown Roanoke with charm, elegance, and history. The hotel restaurant & bar “The Vault” is gorgeous. Inside you’ll find the original bank vault built in 1910. Just 1 year before the Titanic was built. The best part? You can reserve the VIP Vault room to have dinner & drinks. Hello! Drooling. Dying. Living. My fiancee surprised me with this, and I died on site.
Parking was a little tricky, it is downtown after all. You can add parking with your hotel reservation and it’s just a quick walk from the parking garage to the hotel doors. There is a 15 minute guest check-in area in the front of the hotel, so fear not friends, you won’t be struggling down the sidewalk with your luggage.
Another adoring add-on is the hotel’s “romance package” which includes champagne & chocolate covered strawberries delivered to your room as well as breakfast the next morning.
Bonus points: Safety - In order to use the elevator you need to scan your room key. So there’s no fear of randoms floating in off the streets and wandering the hotel halls. The only area(s) accessible to the public are the hotel lobby and The Vault eatery.
What to do:
There’s many local museums, places to eat, and stores. We visited the Blue Ridge Parkway. There’s many overlooks to pull off on and admire the beauty of the mountains and trees. They’re especially beautiful as all of the colors are changing.
We also visited Terror Manor, a short 8 minute drive from The Liberty Trust. As a lover of all things spooky, I was really excited for this! Terror Manor is on it’s 4th year running a haunted trail through an older historic building used during the Civil War. As you walk through the building you’re “welcomed” by many haunted items, people, and some pretty awesome animatronics and special effects machines. I won’t spoil the fun, but definitely recommend it if you’re in town. They also put on a haunted tour for Christmas & Valentine’s Day. Um… YES PLEASE!
You’re sure to find something that intrigues you during your visit. Our primary goal during our visit was our scheduled engagement photoshoot…. and we nailed it! More on that in a future post. *wink
