Cyrstal Creek Drive is a crooked road without shoulders or guardrails that winds past dwellings that range from battered log cabins to substantial homes to landmarks like the old Toby's Lodge, a famed party place that operated until the 1970s.
Back Creek tumbles over the rocks, and ducks feed and blue jays streak upstream at low altitudes.
Roanoke County's effort to enlist the Virginia Department of Transportation in a plan to improve the road -- straightening it, taking out the blind curves and making it less frightening -- went on the shelf in the early 1990s after citizens complained.
It seems almost incredible that the area by the creek -- well out in the country in the 1930s and '40s -- has remained so untouched. It's a wild place just a short walk from heavily developed Cave Spring, where, during rush hour, thousands of vehicles using multilaned U.S. 221 create a swift sea of sheet metal that can be hard to break into.
Crystal Creek Drive is full of anomalous, eclectic, even incongruous dwellings. Just off Brambleton, through the trees to the right, stands a brick manse with columns in front. Downstream sits a deep-red-colored house with windows that give it a vaguely Alpine air. On the opposite bank, stands a 1940s-era log cabin on 2.31 acres. It's reachable by a wooden footbridge less than 2 years old.
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Come stay at Isabelle's cottage only if you want to "escape" from home to a haven of solitude. Let the rippling river lull you to sleep and the birds wake you each morning. The colors of blue and yellow throughout the rustic cabin will make you feel as if you are outside even when you are inside. Play a game of cards, work on a jigsaw puzzle, or read a favorite book to get away from the hustle and bustle of ordinary life. No TV and no phone. Just you and creation....
For information regarding reservation and rates, call Ed at 540-293-2318.
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