Petersburg and Music in the Park (May 11, 2014)

Went for a motorcycle ride on May 11, covered some interesting areas. That ride is listed on my Racing with the Wind blog, and also have some photos from the ride on my photo page.
Here is a tablet on Blandford Church which is on the National Register of Historic Places and dates to 1735.
Most famous for its involvement with the Civil War, the church is inside the grounds of the cemetery which is also very, very historic.
It dates to a time even before the Civil War, to the Revolutionary War and in some cases even before that. Petersburg has a long history and was an important battlefield (that battlefield is very close to the cemetery) in the Civil War.
Days after the fall of Petersburg and Richmond, Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia as it was known, to the Union forces under General Grant ending the bloodiest war in US history.  

 Many of the dead are buried in the Confederate section seen here from the seat of my motorcycle (that is its headlight and handlebars in the photo).
That section has a few monuments and as is the case with most Union or Confederate burials many if not most of the dead are unknown. The soldiers did not wear nametags, much of the deaths were caused by cannon (which caused severe damage) and also long times between death and recovery due to battle conditions made it hard to identify the deceased.
There are a number of war cemeteries in the Richmond area, as this was the main goal of the Union Army. Grant's campaign was the second major one during the Civil War, and a lot of the area battlefields were visited twice in the war years (many times within walking distance from earlier battles.
It was an amazing time, and a remarkable history...and this is a great place to see where it all happened (or much of it anyhow).    

Finally, on Sunday night, went to Music in the Park in Forest Hill Park. This band (all the concerts are free and usually draw a big crowd..this one certainly did) was a Talking Heads cover band.
The Park is also a very old place, dating back as land holdings of one of the original founders of Richmond, VA.
It was a very good Sunday- a little motorcycle riding, a lot of history, and some real good rock and roll.
Looking forward to my next adventure in the RVA and beyond.