653 - Mill Mountain Star
Today we almost hit about 20 deer.
We were on our way back to Roanoke after driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, and it was pitch black out. The thing about mountain roads out here is that no one takes them at night because there’s faster highways pretty much everywhere.
Unless you’re sunset hunting. Like us.
Now we were actively trying to escape this hellscape of a highway. Deer waited for us around every bend like it was Leap Frog- except we couldn’t jump and we were going 50 mph in a 3,000lb metal object.
The wild thing about it was that the deer came in randomized intervals. One would appear, then another wouldn’t pop up for five minutes. Then all of a sudden they were around the next three bends.
And after a full day of photography, my mind was melting. Every single thing looks like a deer after you’ve seen three. Every sparkle. Every swaying branch. Every rock.
But somehow, after a miracle of all miracles, we made it to the Mill Mountain Star. Our final destination for the evening.
What’s the Mill Mountain Star, might you ask? Well, if you search “photography spots in Roanoke,” this is the thing at the top of pretty much every list. The star is also on every street sign, every poster, and every menu in town.
It’s safe to say this extremely original idea of a star overlooking a town makes up Roanoke’s entire identity. Therefore, for the sake of bucket lists, it needed to be photographed.
We pulled into the massive parking lot, ready for whatever awaited us. The spot turned out to be kind of like a teenage make-out spot, except mainstream. There were families taking photos, sidewalks, bathrooms, and even a whole observation deck for observing the star.
And fun fact, this is the largest freestanding illuminated star in the world, coming in at 88.5 feet tall. Goll-ee:
So there you have it. That’s the pride and joy of the “Star City of the South.”
And yes, I realize I’m coming off as a little sassy pants in this blog. But that’s only because I grew up in Castle Rock, Colorado, which also has a giant illuminating over the entire town.
There can only be one.
