A Trip to Richmond

Doug and I decided to go away for the weekend. 

We both took vacation days today, we both needed some time, we both needed to not work, and we both needed to ignore work and do something fun. 

We had planned on going away Saturday through today but the forecast for Saturday was a washout, and we decided to just go on Sunday and come back today. And I didn't want to leave poor Geoff in charge of poor Brodie for the better part of three days. So one overnight would be alright.

We decided to go down to Richmond, VA. 

Doug had gone there while he was doing a contract job after getting laid off from his first job here in the DC area. He said Richmond was cool. We had planned on going there a few other times, but he got laid off, we needed to save money, Brodie got sick, and then pandemic. So this was a long time coming.

Like going to West Virginia, Virginia has some laid back rules about travel. Maryland/DC/Virginia are all like one big state, travelling from our house to the Eastern Shore or down the Charlottesville area, or out to Frostburg, we have a big area where travel is allowed without having to do quarantine upon arrival.  

Just wear a mask, and be a good human.

Upon arrival in Richmond the first thing we did was head to the American Civil War Museum. 

We walked around the riverfront area where Browns Island is, and thought about going out on the walk to the other side of the James River, but it was hot and as you can tell by that picture very beautifully sunny. 

Neither of us were prepared for full-on hot sun (me for hydration, DWG for sunburn and a hat). So we poked around a bit, noted that there are kayaks for rent and hell if that wouldn't have been a good thing to do with a dry bag and sunscreen. 

Next visit for sure! 

The museum was really great. A wonderful walk through year by year, campaign by campaign, with side trips of what Juneteenth, field medicine,  and what being a POW was all about. From McClellan getting replaced to Sherman's march to the sea, and all the way to Appomattox and the terms of surrender, it was a multimedia experience with wonderful displays. Not too much, not too long, not too overwhelming, very aware of the Black experiences, as well as the Union and Confederate experiences. 

Walking out I felt like... Jesus what a fucking waste and a mess and how the holy hell does this happen. And are we up against it again? We spent a good amount of time there, feeling feelings and having thoughts of course influenced by what's happening in our world today. 

"Find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground. Mother Earth will swallow you. Lay your body down."

After the museum we did some more walking around the riverfront, but it was still too early to check into the hotel. We drove around and found Poe's Pub down at the Libby Hill Park area. We were ready for some food and water, and beer. Our waitress was delightful. They had Austin Powers on TV. We soaked in the relaxation, and had the best fried oysters we've ever had. Not just because we were hungry. It was a really nice break.

By the time we finished up there, it was check-in time to the hotel. Doug had found us a nice hotel room at  The Berkeley Hotel, in the Shockoe/Capitol district area of the city. We went up, parked, had a nap and headed back out for on-foot exploration. Walking out of the hotel, we headed down to the Canal Walk, and South 14th street, looked at the river, watched kayakers and talked to a fisherman on the bridge. 

I pointed out he had something on the line, he said "that's okay, I'm mostly just out here to enjoy the weather."

Can't blame you, friend. 

We walked around the Main Street Station area, looking for an interesting bar or foodrinkery but nothing grabbed us. So we  headed up Main back towards our hotel. I was feeling kind of beat, ready for some water and a rest. So many places were closed, permanently and because it was Sunday. We were going to go to one place to watch hockey and have late snack and drinks but ... no hockey on the TV. Only Baseball. So we bailed. Fuck that shit, baseball. Pfth. 

We ended up at City Dog which was right on the block as our hotel. Enjoyed water, some beers, hot dogs, the Islanders vs. Flyers, and some great Emo music on the loudspeakers. Wild. Lovely and attentive staff, good conversation with the other patrons about hockey and Paul Giamatti in the VW commercial he's in lately. 

This morning we got up pretty much on time, knowing that we had parked on the street where it was 2 hour parking from 8am to 6pm. Doug figured we had to move the car by 10am to be legal for that 8am to 10am 2 hour period. 

He met the traffic enforcement officer who was literally sitting outside the hotel door, smoking a butt and playing with his phone. Doug said something about being just on time and the guy said he wasn't in a hurry to start working, that the car could stay there until noon.

"Seriously? You're okay with that?" Doug asked.

"Which car is yours? Where you headed?" he asked. Doug said that we were still getting cleaned up, check out was noon, and that we were probably going to grab breakfast next door. 

"Okay yeah, you got my word,  man. You're all set until noon. You do your thing." 

We were all dressed and ready to head out of the area for adventure but knowing we had time, we were happy to take our time, and just walk out and go to Sam Miller's next door to the hotel for breakfast. A place I would rather do dinner at (they weren't open Sunday night) from the looks of the menu and the establishment, but we had tiny but wonderful breakfast sandwiches and another tremendously lovely waitress. 

I didn't get her name but we talked a lot about "getting away," which she knew we were doing. "Where you from?" she asked. I guess they do a big tourist business so she was happy to have customers, and we looked touristy. We told her where we were from and how we just wanted to get away, that we were bored of the couch and living room. 

She said she totally understood, and last month she took herself to Portland, Oregon because her plane ticket was under $150 round trip so she couldn't pass it up. She went from Portland to Bend, and up to the coast to Cannon Beach. She was impressed with our Oregon knowledge, so thank you semester in Oregon in 1988 and Aaron in Astoria. 

We told her about Aaron and asked if she went to Astoria but she didn't make it there. We told her to be sure if she's ever there again to find him. We recommend.

She had a big tattoo on her right arm that said "This too shall pass" which made me smile. I asked her if she knew about OK Go and their wonderful song and two different videos (Rube Goldberg and Marching Band) for the song of the same name. I wrote it down for her and she said she'd for sure check it out. 

She told me that she would have hugged me if it weren't for Covid-19, and how she just shouldn't. I told her I considered that a hug. It was a really lovely time. 

We headed over to the Poe Museum, which Doug had checked into, and Trip Advisor listed that it was open on Mondays. But. It was not. We couldn't walk around the grounds and just look at the property, everything was chained up.

This image is from one of the signs out front, the windows were all boarded up, protected, probably due to the recent riots in Richmond. 

There were so many lovely pieces painted on the signs, but this one really struck me. 

I loved it. I felt it. I needed it. 

The entire area around the Poe Museum was messed up, so many broken windows. A rather depressed area in the first place but my heart was broken for all of the businesses and first floor apartments that had suffered the wrath of the city. 

Because the museum was closed, we decided to go over to the Hollywood Cemetery. 

When Doug was in Richmond last, he came here to walk. Similar to Boston's Mount Auburn Cemetery, it is a garden and tree-rich property with wonderful wandering roads through all the sections. 

There is an enormous CSA (Confederate States of America) soldiers' section with a huge pyramid to their memory. There is a good map, and a beautiful area called the Presidents' Circle where Presidents Tyler and Monroe are buried. Somewhere on the property, not sure where, Jefferson Davis is also buried. I saw information on how "three presidents" were buried here. Not sure I count Jefferson Davis as a president but some documentation does. 

The view of the James River is outstanding, and we sheltered under some trees as a small passing shower visited upon us there. 

The Iron Dog is a feature, guarding the grave of a small girl who died in 1862 but I don't know much more of the history of the dog or the girl. I decided that when I die I want a good dog statue by my grave, protecting me.

After we left the cemetery, we decided to drive over to the Robert E. Lee monument, which is kind of a mess right now, as an understatement of what it is. A focal point for protests in the past several years, I cannot believe it is still standing where it is. 

I'm not a fan of anything "Confederate" in this the year of our lord 2020. It all needs to be taken down. No one will forget who Robert E. Lee is if this statue isn't there. History does not disappear, is not erased, does not vanish. 

But people who have been subjugated and victimized by what other people think is a reminder of "their heritage" every day, there's no need for it. 

I would write a lot more eloquently about my thinking here but I just can't right now. 

It is just time to let it all go and if letting it go means taking these statues down, putting them into museums or storage or whatever, and getting them out of the faces of people who for hundreds of years feel this is a big "fuck you" to them - let's just do that.

When we moved here, I told Doug I was not comfortable moving into a town where Robert E. Lee road/highway/street/avenue or Jefferson Davis road/highway/street/avenue were the main drags. I am barely comfortable living here in the south. I for sure didn't want to live somewhere that I'd have to give someone directions to my house that included "turn left on Jefferson Davis and then merge onto Lee Highway." 

No. 

And standing here today in front of this, the graffitti speaks to years of pain and anger, all arching back to this man, that war, those days, the days before him, and the years since. 

He's no hero. Not to me. I don't feel bad for him for the choices he made with his career in the US Army and how he had to make the horrible choice to leave and come back to Virginia to join the Confederacy to fight for his state. 

He had the chance. He could have said no. But he did not.

I spent a great deal of time thinking about how horribly broken our country was, what it went through, what we're now going through, and how horribly broken we still are. And are things better or no. No.

Richmond, it's a nice city with some serious beauty and wonderful people, but overall, the South is not for me. The longer I'm here, the more I am convinced. 

All that said, I loved my weekend away. I loved not working today. I am dreading actually working tomorrow. but it is what it is. I'm happy to have a job and for the next 4 days will do the hell out of it.