Taking A Walk

by Dwayne Phillips

Today we walked through Mint Springs, Greenville, and Steeles Tavern, Virginia. The first and the last were wide spots in the road. We covered 15 miles.

The weather was odd. We started at cloudy, windy, and 55 degrees F. We ends at light rain, windy, and 52 degrees. Is this September?

Mint Springs was a wide spot in the road. I have called several towns by this name. What I mean is that they have a simple sign on the road as shown in the photo. There is no historic downtown or any town to mention. Sometimes there is a Post Office, but more likely not.

South of Mint Springs, Route 11 became a “country living” development. Farms and farm-related businesses were replaced by newer homes on on-half and one-acre lots. Nice places for commuters to live, but they have to cut all that grass!

Next up is Greenville. This is a town with a Main Street lined with houses and a few businesses right on the road. Greenville breaks the pattern in that its “Main Street” is one block off of Route 11. We walked up Route 11 and back down Main Street. There wasn’t much in this small town. Here is a photo of the Greenville United Methodist Church – the most impressive structure in town.

After Greenville, farms and farm businesses returned. Ah, I understand this – farms in a rural area.

Steeles Tavern was the last town of the day. It was a wide spot in the road. Here is a photo of one of the few buildings inside the simple green signs. It is the U.S. Post Office. If you look closely you will see that some of the letters have fallen off the building. Oh well.

Now to the title of the post – Motels to Apartments. Along Route 11 so far, I have seen a couple dozen of the old Motor Court Motels. Some of these have cottages, some cabins, and some two or three different buildings to hold the motel rooms. Many of these have gone to the weeds as people travel I-81 instead of Route 11. Some, however, have been converted to apartments. Here is a photo of one that is south of Greenville. It isn’t much to see, but it is a trend on these back roads highways.

Another trend is the death of the Diners. Some, like the one in this photo, have been converted to houses. I suppose being a house is better than being a home for rats and snakes. It is too bad that these businesses couldn’t survive the onslaught of the Interstates and the Golden Miles.

One more thing, the title “Valley Pike” has been replaced by “Lee Highway” on the street signs along Route 11. I am not sure what that means.