May Get-Away: A Day Trip to Black Dog Salvage, Roanoke, Virginia

If the picture above looks familiar to you, then you might recognize it from the popular HGTVshow, Salvage Dawgs. Located in Roanoke, VA, Black Dog Salvage is where it all began! Founded in 1999 by Mike Whiteside and Robert Kelp, Black Dog Salvages now boasts two locations featuring architectural details, custom upcycled designs, furniture paint, regional artisans, and salvage-inspired furniture. Their latest editions include The Stone House, a fully renovated guest house and event venue, and The Dog Bowl which is an outdoor music and event venue.  

My friend and I made the trip to Roanoke on Saturday, May 1, and Black Dog Salvage was our first stop. This was my fourth time visiting and it never disappoints! There is so much to see that I'm sure I miss a lot, and being a salvage company, their inventory is constantly changing. They have large architectural pieces, like vintage doors, shutters, lighting fixtures and some beautiful stained glass windows, but I'm usually drawn to the smaller antique items like vinyl records, old coke bottles in wooden trays, and on this trip there was an entire bin of candy cigarettes! Does anyone else remember those? It's distasteful to think of it now, the way it encouraged children to transition from candy to the real deal, but it was the 60's! Neither of my parents smoked when I was growing up, yet I still recall buying a package of these from time to time and imitating the movie stars I saw on tv. I can only vaguely remember what the candy itself tasted like, but it wasn't very good, I can say that. I'm surprised the ones I found at Black Dog had lasted, which I discovered by gently rattling one of the boxes. Though I almost always leave with something in hand, I didn't come across anything I couldn't live without this go around, but it's still so much fun just walking around and perusing the wares. My friend found a couple of unique pieces for her garden, and I was tempted to buy a t-shirt as she was checking out, but even on clearance the price was too high for my blood. 

As we were about to leave we noticed a Loveworks on the property, probably one of my favorites. Loveworks are a really popular thing in Virginia, and are a take on  the state theme, "Virginia is for Lovers". But the one at Black Dog Salvage, in keeping with the theme, is made entirely of salvaged materials.

We spent a few more hours in the area, and had lunch at Taaza, which has the best Indian food around. There Samosa is to DIE for! I could easily make a meal of it. But we split it as an appetizer and I had the Mugulai, which is SOOO good! We also ordered Garlic Naan, and I'm just saying, if you've only ever had what you buy in the store, you're missing out! The restaurant is just a couple of blocks from Black Dog Salvage and located in the Historic Grandin Village, which is also home to my favorite movie house, The Grandin Theater. A couple of years ago we went to dinner at Taaza, took in a movie after and then finished the night with ice cream at Pop's Ice Cream and Soda Bar.  But for this trip we skipped the movie and dessert! 

While we were in the area we made a quick trip downtown to the Roanoke City Market. My friend bought a few succulents, but all I managed to leave with on this trip was a disc of Taza Dark Chipotle Chili Chocolate, which I first discovered in New Hampshire and was excited to find again. It is stone ground mexican chocolate that has a unique texture and flavor, but I personally love it, especially the Chipotle Chili flavor which is probably my favorite chocolate combination. Keep an eye out for it if you're interested. It's typically carried in specialty/touristy shops, but if you have trouble locating it, you can also order it online.

If you're ever in the Roanoke area I highly recommend checking out all of the places I've mentioned, ESPECIALLY if you like Indian food, Taaza is a must! And I also can't recommend the Historic Grandin Village enough! It's small but quaint and lovely to peruse!

I'm hoping to be intentional about sight-seeing and visiting some of the little towns in the region this summer and I'll be highlighting them here, so be sure to visit again!

Don't let the little things pass you by!

Kim

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