Some notes on Richmond, VA

A very productive day yesterday, in that I got my actual address of the apartment which will be home for the next three years. With that,

will be able to get the power changed over (though not yet, people living there now) and also was able to find what internet providers provide service as an exact address is needed. Much like the Charlotte move, the internet has been a real good tool. I have been able to get a great deal of information on many necessary things from the web. Great sources of information are the local newspapers (always good for many points of information), various web sites (some good and some not so good) and for this transfer bloggers. I have gotten a real feel for parts of the city by reading blogs. Of course some are shall we say "artistic" to a point that its difficult to figure out what they are actually about, but even some of those are pretty informative. The web is a great tool though once again as it has been in the past. Back in the Navy days, different places were learned about via asking people who had been there, and of course books. All those are still important, and have been lucky to get information from those sources as well.

Of course, while all that is good, nothing beats actually being there. This photo above was another taken during the November 8-9 trip, and is of downtown Richmond. It was interesting to me in that the two large buildings are Bank of America in the center, and Wachovia to its left. Funny, in that the two largest buildings (or at least Bank of America is) are those same banks.

Charlotte is a town I have really enjoyed exploring....one which calls itself the city of the "New South." Constantly growing and adding to itself, the skyline of Charlotte is dotted with overhead cranes and new construction. Charlotte looks at an old building and sees a condo, or a NASCAR Hall of Fame (opening soon) or a new arena. Going to Charlotte after a few weeks, one is struck with the changes you discover. Charlotte is like a thing alive, constantly changing.

Richmond on the other hand, seems to change much slower. Both Charlotte and Richmond are older cities; both have history dating back to the American Revolution (though Richmond is much older I believe). Richmond though uses its old buildings in new ways. There are few old things in Charlotte that one can point too, but Richmond has a great many old buildings. That gives the city a certain charm I am used to. Louisville, Kentucky where I am from has a lot of older buildings as well. I often visit Louisville, and am sure to have some photos of that city on my Flickr page. You can also see some photos of Charlotte there as well on my page, in addition to many of the Richmond photos.

My next visit to Richmond will be the first weekend in February. That is also when I will be moving into the apartment; before that have to get some items for "the second household" and also of course will be doing more research. More on that in an upcoming post.