Billy and I woke up and headed down Monument Ave. As quoted by the brewmaster "Monument Avenue is the world's best collection of 2nd place trophies". It started with Arthur Ashe then Matthew Maury. Matthew Maury was the first person to chart ocean currents. The others were Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, J.E.B. Stuart, and Robert E. Lee. Surrounding Monument Avenue was the Fan District which is filled with beautiful homes, and for architecture nerds like us we were salivating.
After viewing Richmond's trophies we went down to the water to see the Civil War Center and Tredegar Iron Works. The best part of this was the view of the James River and old bridge pylons destroyed during the Civil War.
To make the morning more about death we went to Hollywood Cemetery where James Monroe and John Tyler are buried. In addition there is a memorial to the 18,000 Confederate soldiers buried nearby. I had never been to a cemetery where there were such beautiful crypts in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright could be seen. Not only were the markers beautiful but the view of downtown Richmond couldn't be beat.
After a dreary morning of memorials we topped it off by eating pig, and lots of it. Billy is the foodie so he did research on the Food Network and talking to locals about the best Richmond BBQ. We ended up at Buz and Neds where the pig was fresh and atmosphere festive. He has warned me that as we make our way south I will be eating many lunches or dinners at BBQ joints. This was a wet mop while cooking but BBQ sauce didn't come on the sandwich.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at the state capital. Virginia has a part-time legislature only in session for 60 days this year. It was a beautiful beautiful building with many laws that differ from any other state in the union.
Our final Richmond adventure was to St.John's church where Patrick Henry gave his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech.
No comments:
Post a Comment