Last weekend while my Mother was here visiting, we made a point to head down to our local city market. We are very fortunate to have a thriving downtown area with a great Farmer’s Market and lots of interesting shops.
Of course, when we go, we usually park in the same parking garage which affords us a view of the Wells Fargo Tower, the largest building in Roanoke. It is a pretty building and the day was super clear. I am sure if I had a super telephoto lens, I could have seen our reflections in the glass.
Since we were parked on the top level, we also had a good view of South Jefferson Street where Corned Beef and Company is. It is a nice local restaurant with good food and lots of things always happening.
They have an outdoor patio on the roof and a great painted reproduction Coca-Cola sign on the side of the building. There are several great painted signs throughout our downtown area. I have taken other pictures on my trips downtown and you can see them here in my gallery on FAA.
Here is another neat sign that is on Campbell Avenue, across from the garage we normally park in. Not all of the neon was on today, but when it is going it is a great vintage advertising sign.
While we were walking to the city market, we captured a glimpse of Fire Station No 1, the oldest Fire Station around. There is a park between the fire station and the parking garage and the sun was coming through the empty trees giving it a kind of magical look. The station was modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia and is a great architectural gem in Roanoke.
As we walked towards the shops and the Farmer’s Market I almost missed this fleeting chalk art graffiti. The sun was shining right down on the brick and if you were not looking for it, you definitely would have missed it. I love that someone drew these hearts on the brick and I was happy I was paying attention.
We have a lot of neat and unique shops in our downtown area. One of them, La De Da, a shop with over the top window displays no matter what the season is. This year they did a sweet candy dress for Christmas. It was just amazing.
They said it took more than 100 hours to create by the shop workers and I believe it. I mean look at the detail. Wow! What a window display. What unique art!
We had a great time not only shopping downtown that day, but we were also presented with free art everywhere we went. From architecture, to signs, to window displays. Not to mention local crafts and art for sale by artisans at the Farmer’s Market. I am glad to live in a place where art is everywhere, you just have to make sure that you open your eyes and see it.
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