If you have never been to...
by svillegirl
If you have never been to Richmond....
1. Monument Avenue - drive down in day or night...
It Is Southern History.
2. Shockoe Bottom / Slip - This is GREAT area for pubs & clubs!
Tons of funky little bars and restaurants.
3. Hollywood Cemetary - More history...I am wondering if I have a morbid fascination with graveyards...this one has a rich political history to it!
If visiting Richmond...here is some helpful information:
http://www.virginia.org/home.asp?Try=Yes The day I was married. Our reception was at Maymont Gardens. It couldn't have been more perfect.
You can learn more about the Maymont Estate at:
http://www.maymont.org
Uptown Richmond
by b1bob
Everybody knows downtown Richmond with all its gleaming skyscrapers, but who has ever heard of uptown Richmond? Uptown Richmond is a specific stretch of West Main Street known for its bright, multicoloured buildings. If you didn't know you were in Richmond, you would guess you were in the Caribbean- a place such as Curaçao- where such colourful buildings are common.
VT Pagemaker
by zrim
Nat Atkins, aka B1bob, is a VT pagemaking machine. Here he is poised to finish his guide to Columbia, South Carolina. All the latest equipment at hand to complete the 38 tips in record time (he returned home from South Carolina and Charlotte on Monday evening and by mid-morning Wednesday there were already 30+ new Columbia tips on an another excellent B1bob chronicle).
Nat is also the epitomy of Southern hospitality. He'll give you the shirt off his back (not that it would smell all that good), buy you supper and plan an all-encompassing tour of Richmond. Still, he will think he is not doing enough. Believe me Nat, you are an extraordinary host.
Conservative or liberal Richmond?
by matcrazy1
I saw many signs of upcoming presidential elections in Richmond although it was three weeks before. Right many cars had bumper stickers with names of presidential candidates: either Bush or Kerry.
At the gas station in Mechanicsville I asked a guy where to buy or get them? He replied that they were available in local Republican and Democratic party office and asked me many questions. Nice guy and conversation, however a little bit difficult for me. His English was not like the English I heard out West a year before. He sounded a lot like "b1bob".
In Richmond and generally in the South more people put up signs for Republican candidates. It seems that Richmond was a more conversative than liberal city. However, even in the South, the cities are more friendly than Democrats largely due to high black populations and rich Northern transplants (locally derided as "come heres"). The cities of Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta, Memphis, and New Orleans supported Kerry even as their states (and nearby suburbs) went heavily for Bush. The city of Richmond, for example, voted 56-44% for the Kerry-Edwards ticket. (We saw just as many, if not more, Kerry-Edwards posters and stickers as we did Bush-Cheney ones along Monument Avenue). Hanover County, where "b1bob" lives voted 71-29% for Bush-Cheney and Nat's polling station voted even more solidly Republican than the county average.
Common Downtown Richmond animals
by matcrazy1
Nat was very surprised when I started to take pictures of squirrels running fast on the Capitol Square in the downtown of Richmond. Well, I had to explain him that squirrels were not common animals in cities of my country especially downtown. And our, European squirrels, are more red than grey in colour.
For me their presence is evidence of clean and safe environment for animals (although some give their all as they try to cross Broad Street), not so easy to find in many cities of Poland. That's why I was always surprised to see many squirrels (more than human beings :-) in parks located in dowtowns of many cities in the South.
THE PURPLE SQUIRREL OF CAPITOL SQUARE
Nat (b1bob) told me the following story:
Way back before modern copy machines, most offices used mimeograph sheets which are purple. They were only good for one use and they were tossed in the rubbish. Well, you know how squirrels like to forage through the rubbish to get what kind of food they can get or things to furnish their nests. This one squirrel lined his nest with that used purple mimeograph paper and, from sitting in it, it turned his fur purple. The purple squirrel of Capitol Square caused quite a stir among Capitol employees. At first, their bosses thought too many of them had liquid lunches if you know what I mean until they figured it out.
Sign in with Facebook
Statue of George Washington
entry hall of the White House of the Confederacy
my buddy and congressman Eric Cantor
fried chicken, fries, and collard greens
