Church Hill Irish Festival (March 23, 2014)

Except for this one, put a few photos up that I didnt on my Flickr Photo Page (there is a link to that on this page) from the festival. Yesterday, took a very fun motorcycle ride under sunny skies and a temperature of 77 degrees....it was a lot (and I mean a lot) colder on this Sunday for the second day of the festival (and though I left before it happened, the promised rains also came.
Still, these are very cool (literally) events, and this is one of my favorite festivals. Good food and cold beer; Guinness and Harp among others. Those are some tasty brew.    

Course there was Irish music along with the food and beer, and there were also men in kilts. Had to admire them, cause whatever the high was, it was not warm enough for that (though did see a few people...very, very few wearing short pants too).
Had a good time though had some Irish Chili which was good and different, and always fun to be in Church Hill.
Of areas in Richmond, Church Hill is certainly one of the most historic and one of the most interesting parts of the city. There is a lot to see and do there, and they have a lot of events during the year.   

As you can see from this photo its called "Church Hill" for a reason, walked up this street to get to the festival, down it to the car was a lot better. Looking down this road is Shockoe Bottom, also a notable section of the city with a lot of history.
The city is planning to build a new baseball stadium there, though it is far from a done deal, but has been a big story here.
Will be interesting to see what the year brings to this area, and I am looking forward to some more great times in this part of the City of Richmond.  

First visit to Charlottesville, VA (March 15, 2014)

 Took a quick ride on the motorcycle on a beautiful day in mid-March (apparently just before another damn snow storm) but enjoyed the 70s once again (and did so earlier this week before it turned colder) and the ride. Might have a problem with the motorcycle, though happened after I got fuel so will see after I burn that off. Anyhow, made it there and back. While there had lunch at Michie Tavern which dates to 1784 (and has good food) but this is a mill. Like the tavern, it was also moved piece by piece to the new location not far from Monticello. Yeah, Jefferson's house is there, and no I did not get to see it.   

This is Charlottesville, up in the mountains, or at least real near it. Did not make it up there either, but they were my favorite place to ride in North Carolina, and can't wait to do so here. Nice town, and the home to the University of Virginia. Lots of old stuff there to see including some amazing old buildings, two President's houses (Jefferson as mentioned, and Monroe) and a really great outdoor mall in the historic downtown. I tried to see as much as I could in the time I had to do it, but the one thing I learned today was that I have to go back. Very cool place to visit, and I had a great ride and time there.  

This is the statue of Lewis and Clark: George Rogers Clark was from there. Means a lot to me because I am from Clarksville, Indiana and George Rogers Clark was the founder of that city. He got that as a reward for military action and was also famous as the second part of the Lewis and Clark expedition. If you don't know about him, look him up...you will find out about an amazing man.
Nice city, and a beautiful place to be; ride was somewhat windy (a very breezy day) but was not only fun but was the longest ride of the year for me. Sure am ready for Spring which is just a few days away, but winter does not want to let go.
I have more photos on my Racing with the Wind page, and also on my Flickr photo page, and both of them have links on this page. Thanks for visiting, hope to bring you some more interesting Virginia things over the next year. Looking forward to some great adventures in 2014 both from the motorcycle seat and also from the car.  

Shockoe Hill Cemetery..and other stuff (March 9, 2014)

Made an early morning visit to Shockoe Hill Cemetery in Richmond on Sunday morning, first time to see this-found out about it from a friend from work. Amazing place, with a lot of history, it  was established in 1822 when St. John's Church Cemetery was filled up. Lots of history there, the third Chief Justice is buried there, a famous Union spy, the great great grandfather of George Patton, and a girlfriend of Edgar Allen Poe are all buried there as well as a number of soldiers -Revolutionary, War of 1812, and many from the Civil War both North and South. 

 This is the area where John Marshall (the Chief Justice) is buried. Just a peaceful place to explore with a lot of interesting grave sites. I was able to find a map near the entrance which gave the location of 18 of the notable graves.
As with many old cemetery sites, many of the stones have been worn off, and the names of those who were on them are long gone (though sure the city which owns the grounds has the records) and there is also some damage to the stones due to time and probably vandals.
On an early Sunday morning it was a very peaceful place.  

This is one of the older monuments. I have posted some of the more notable photos of the historic graves on my flickr page, and there is a link to that on this site. Enjoyed my visit here and look forward to a future return.
Had a good time there as I am a huge history fan, and for a great city to enjoy that, there are few places better than Richmond. Saturday during a motorcycle ride got to see the Lumpkin Slave Jail...photos from that are also at the site as well as a previous post here.
From there, went back to my apartment to find...the lights were all out. A car had taken out a telephone pole and the power company was working on the problem.
I went to Crossroads Coffee on Forest Hill Ave for lunch and a refreshing beverage. Then with border collie, took a walk to see some of the sights on the James River.     

 At the James, saw these guys on their Kayak's taking a "stroll" down the James River. That is a popular thing to do, and fun to see them rolling down the river.
Richmond is lucky with the James with has some rapids to run, and that is a popular pastime here. I like the river, reminds me of the days when I lived in Louisville, Kentucky..though there was a lot of bodies of water around Charlotte, NC that city is not on a river, so was a bit of change. Richmond has a lot to offer. 

Finally here is the view of the work crew working on the power outage. Had to replace the pole, and did take Dominion Power a long time to get the lights back on. From the morning accident it was late afternoon before we had lights again.
Was a very history filled weekend, with a very fine motorcycle ride and a good trip in the car...all within a few minutes of where I live.
There are a lot of fun things to see and do in this town, and I am looking forward to a fun filled Spring in the RVA this year.   

Richmond Motorcycle Ride (March 8, 2014)

 Got out for a bike ride on a very fine Saturday after all the winter weather. Went for the first time to "Lumpkins Slave Jail" which is in Shockoe Bottom right behind the train station. It was a very strange place, just felt like a lot of evil had happened there. Strange that it would be that way, but from reading about it in history it was a house of horrors. Next to it is the site of the Negro Burial Field (all the bodies have been moved I read) and was also the site of the gallows. If you are interested in Civil War/US history this is a must visit area...for this was the reason why the Civil War was fought.  

I also made a quick ride by Chimborazo Hospital, which back in the day was the best military hospital in the US North or South in the Civil War. It had the best success rate (though by current standards that is not saying much) in treating wounded soldiers. All the buildings were wood and they are all gone. The building seen here was a weather station (I believe) way after the war, but does have a nice museum in it where you can see some of the medical tools (mostly saws) used back then. The bullets used then would pretty much take arms and legs off, and doctors would finish the job. 

Finally, this view of Richmond from the beer deck of Legend Brewing Company. Richmond has some great places to enjoy beer, and Legend's in one of the best with good people, great beer, and this fine view. I like to come here often and never have a bad time there. From time to time they make some new beers, and have yet to find one that was not very good. Course there are a few really good brewpubs in the RVA and in the upcoming months will share a few more of those with you.
So glad to see Spring getting ever closer and looking forward to some great times in the RVA, as well as looking forward to saying good bye to winter.   

Florida-The other visits (Feb 17-21)

 Besides Disney while in Florida, made some other visits, such as to this Fort in Saint Augustine Florida. It dates to the 1600's and was built by the Spanish. I liked touring that, have been to it before in previous visits, but liked taking Kaye, her son and grandson there to see it.
Amazing piece of history and a fun place to wander around as is St Augustine, Florida. Sadly time was not on our side we had some other things to do, but those were also cool..and just up the road from St. Augustine. We visited the fort on Feb 18.   

 Went to Marineland to feed and pet the dolphins. I had been to Marineland, but had never done that and it was a great time. Those are wonderful and amazing creatures and it was a real joy to do that. The staff there made it a real experience and was glad do it it. I had seen them before, and has been to shows where they perform before, but getting up close and personal was an amazing thing. They are wonderful creatures and amazingly smart.  We also did this on February 18.

Had to see the Atlantic, being based in Orlando that is not nearby but also on Feb 18 we got to see the ocean. In fact headed back toward Daytona onA1A which was a wonderful drive. The ocean is a remarkable thing as well, though got to see quite a few back in the 70's in the USN, but I never tire of visiting it...sort of like an old friend to me. We had a great time checking out St. Augustine, Marineland, and driving (and stopping) on A1A.

Finally on the 20th we went to Daytona for the Budweiser Duels...and that was a great time. Have been to the track and all, but had never seen a race there. While it was a qualifying race, was still cool, and the second one ended with a crash. The Budsweiser Clydesdales were there, and of course all the stars of Nascar.
Dale Jr by the way won the race a few days later which I watched from the comfort of my living room in Richmond, VA. That was delayed by rain, we on the other hand only saw a little bit of rain the day we left Florida. Great weather, but Richmond is planning for some more winter surprises in the next few days!

Florida-The Disney Visits (Feb 17-21)

 Nice winter days in Florida, did some very fun things over the week of Feb 17-21 including three days at Disney. The first place I had been to before, the Magic Kingdom which is where the photo of the famous castle was taken on Feb 17. Had a good time there, course you get to do a lot of walking, but it is a beautiful place to do so. There are a lot of employees there, and they are great a helping. For the first time was able to use the "Fastpass" system including a ride on Space Mountain. Nice to not having to stand in line. 

 On Feb 19, went to Epcot, which was also pretty cool Had never been there before, and enjoyed the sights and the rides. Was like taking a trip around the world, and liked especially Test Track, Soaring and (as seen below) Mission Space. Had a very great time there. There are two versions of the Mission Space ride, and we rode the tougher one. It was pretty physical and a lot of fun...think it was about as real as it gets.

Tree is from Animal Kingdom, the first part of the final visits on Feb 21, very cool park. Some good rides, but a big part of it was all the animals you can see..very nice zoo. I really liked that, and had a great time. They are all in different settings, and was fun to explore it.
One thing I also liked there was Rainforest Cafe, which to be honest had some of the best food that I had in Florida during the visit. Was a good time, and really enjoyed this park.
Following half a day there, we headed to our final destination.   

Disney Hollywood Studios was the last park we went to. It was pretty neat, and the Star Wars Ride was amazing...had a great time on that. Park was pretty neat, but being that it was a long day (and for the first time in the trip rain started) we had the shortest day there.
All in all, it was a very good and amazing time.I have a few photos posted on my Photo Page from the parks, and also some other photos..for we did some other things while we were in Florida and those will be the subject of the next post here.