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A columnist is being criticised for mentioning that a mountain much like Mt. Washington in Roanoke, Va. should have a restaurant on it.

Sounds unfortunately familiar.

Before I get to the electronic mail, I’ll share a recent voicemail I received from an anonymous caller annoyed by my column citing the need for any restaurant on Mill Mountain to have a view:

Miss Flowers, pack up your rent-to-own furniture and move to Pittsburgh.

I don’t rent my furniture, but it’s probably time to buy something a little more up-to-date. My basement, with its dated white, overstuffed leather sofa and chair, looks like a throwback to the disco era.

As for a move to Pittsburgh, don’t tempt me. It’s a very cool city.

Man, I absolutely LOVED the article today and your points were so well-stated. Though you’ll probably be shot by dinnertime, you deserve kudos galore. Great job, baby!!!!!!!!

– Betty Price, responding to the same Mill Mountain column.

As of this writing, Betty, I’m still alive. But I took my hits. Read on.

Shanna, while in Pittsburgh, did you look UP at Mt. Washington??? Surely, you would not want Mill Mountain Park to resemble a mountain that’s privately owned and has been commercially and residentially developed for well over a century.

– Gail Burruss

I compared views, not mountains. If Roanoke is going to have a restaurant on Mill Mountain, it needs a view. If that means taking out some trees, take them out. Editor’s note: Burruss and I agreed to disagree, and she thoughtfully even offered to bring me a cup of tea. I politely declined.

Here is the editorial that this is all in reference too:

The one thing the Roanoke area lacked was that very special restaurant with a view — the place where you would go for special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries, and to which you could proudly take visitors. Almost every large city has its “restaurant in the sky” situated on top of one of the tallest buildings in town or on a nearby mountain. From the “Top of the Pru” in Boston and similar locations in Philadelphia and Atlanta to the restaurants on Mount Washington overlooking Pittsburgh, we always seek out such places that offer nourishment for the soul as well as the body. But there was no such place here.

Source: Roanoke.com