AP Travel News – We love to bring attention to great places that just beg to be noticed by travelers moving along in every direction of the compass on super highways. Most of these cities and places are just a few more minutes away from the highway than the usual fare of fast food, fast fuel and a quick hop, skip, and jump back onto the highway locations. This is one of those times of year that travelers, by vehicle or RV, whether they be Floridians, snowbirds or one-week tourists are on the move and quite familiar with I-95, I-75 and I-81 but quite unfamiliar with locales that these great routes let us speed-along by.

Most of us rush to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, almost always driving along, above and beyond the posted speed limits in a pell mell rush to somehow (foolishly thinking we are saving time, that just cannot be saved) get somewhere quicker than anybody else.

So if you are that person who enjoys stopping to smell the proverbial roses. And if you believe the trip itself should be part of the overall adventure and vacation, then read on.

Just a couple of minutes from I 81, we decided to stay at The Hotel Roanoke, a Doubletree Hotel and & Conference Center. This fabulous hotel was a total treat in every way. The rooms are first-class. Comfort and then-some was the rule here. The hotel was designated a Historic Hotel of America in 2001. It originally opened in 1882. After a recent $42 million renovation the now, 332 luxuriously appointed guest rooms well compliments the new conference center. The service at the hotel was impeccable, I mean that you felt that every day the staff really appreciated their positions and whether they got a pep talk from management or not, they were there for you with style and caring service (they even won a national award for service). There is a plethora of amenities available at the hotel. Go: www.hotelroanoke.com for information about your potential visit. There is an excellent opera and symphony orchestra in Roanoke and even a museum of railroading among the other terrific exhibits.

A skyway from the Tudorean architectural style hotel over and across the railroad terminus and railway runs (what a treat for kids of any ages seeing the big trains rumble by right under your feet) to Market Square that offers a quaint and excellent farmers market stall-center for home-agricultural producers & distributors to show and sell their produce, plants and flowers. We found a vast selection plants to choose from and we did take some home to Tennessee for our gardens. We ate sumptuously in the famous Regency Dining Room and frankly it would be difficult to recommend any one menu item, as we found each of the dishes we tried to be plate-licking good but plate-licking with a jacket and tie somehow just didn’t fit (I snuck a last lick anyway). In any event, be prepared to be spoiled at the Regency Dining Room. The conference center and hotel employs more than 400 people. This means that if all rooms were taken by singles there is 1.4 employees to each registered guest.

If you like to golf, fish, eat at a different restaurant each night of the week, every day of the year, than Roanoke and sister city Salem can accommodate you. We spent just one evening and part of day in Roanoke and we are going back for at least a week to visit some of the fine museums and take in an opera too! See you there, huh?

Here’s how to get all the information from the friendly dedicated folks at the Convention and Visitors Bureau that you need to have a great heads-up on your Roanoke City adventure: 1-800-635-5535 or on the WWW. Go www.visitroanokeva.com