Exploring Richmond with Patty (Day 1)

My wife Patty has been to Richmond four times now, but thanks to my weekends here, this trip actually knew some places to visit. Our day of exploring ended with dinner at The Boathouse which was a first time for both of us. It had come highly recommended, and have to say (though I am no food critic) that it was very, very good. We got there early, but it filled up quickly as does Sunday Park parking, so a word to the wise. We enjoyed the food there, the service was also very good, and it was nice being out by the water. Another plus was that the rains held off all day long, though had a good rain chance (as we do today as well).

Had a great time exploring "The Boulevard/Monument Avenue" area. Made a tour of the Virginia Historical Society Museum, which is a really neat place to see the history of the area. It is also (until tomorrow anyhow) free to check out. Patty really liked the monuments on Monument Ave, and enjoyed a drive around Hollywood Cemetery. We got out to check out the views, and see some of the notables of US and Richmond history taking a long dirt nap there. We also did a short sort of preview tour of Richmond, will be heading back there today to check out a few more of the sights of the city. Looking forward to lunch at Bottoms Up today in Shockoe Bottom.
So far, she has had a great time here, and have enjoyed checking out the sights. My wife being an avid quilter, we also checked out some quilt shops on Midlothian Turnpike and in Chesterfield...so we covered a lot of ground on her first day here.
Will post on day two in the area tomorrow.

Concord Motorcycle Ride (August 22, 2009)

Had a great visit to Concord, though short on Saturday the 21st and Sunday the 22nd. Got some rain (told there was a lot more in Richmond) but had some really nice weather.
Took a short ride around the area on Sunday; finally got to see the Great Wolf Lodge which opened a few months ago. Told its pricey but has a great water park inside. I just went by the front and took this photo of the "wolves at the door". Will check out the inside on a future visit. Looks like a very interesting place though.



I also rode by Cannon Village. It as were the streets on an early Sunday morning really quiet. Traffic is light and few people are out (though many are in church). Went by the statue of Dale Earnhardt in the town; he was from Kannapolis, NC and they put up this tribute to him a few years ago. The company he founded (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) is in nearby Mooresville, NC and is (or maybe was by now) quite an operation. Many people think of NASCAR teams as small companies, but they are now massive high dollar undertakings. I like to visit the race shops, many of which are located in the Concord, NC area. NASCAR has even been the driving force in the local airport, which has grown over the years by leaps and bounds. Many of the teams have aircraft based at the Concord Regional Airport.
Anyhow, though a short visit had a great time with family and friends. Big weekend coming up as my wife Patty will be spending the weekend here. Always our plan to explore the city of Richmond together, and will be sharing some of my discoveries here with her this weekend. Looking forward to showing her some of the amazing sights I have seen here. We are also planning a dinner at The Boathouse; I was very happy with the view, and have been told the food is good. That will be the feature of a future post coming soon!

Sunday Park Tour (August 15, 2009)

My wife Patty will be making another visit here this month. Today I did some research to find "The Boathouse" (it is our anniversary and want to have something both a bit special and local for that food wise). I first made a stop at Harley-Davidson of South Charlotte (because not only am I far away from my wife, but also my motorcycle) and thought that was a good place. This was the second stop, and I was most impressed. Enjoyed a few breathtaking views around the lake at "Sunday Park". Really enjoy sea food, and can't fault the views at all. I liked this photo of the lake and the sky reflected at left.

As a former sailor (US Navy) always feel good around boats and this view was really nice. Will be fun for a pre or post-dinner walk, and did see a lot of activity there. There were people riding bikes, and saw a guy with his border collie sitting in a chair by the water. Talked to him for a bit, have a warm place in my heart for border collies as I have two of them waiting to play frisbee with me in North Carolina. I think its a pretty nice area, and sure did not know it was there. Not sure how good The Boathouse is going to be though I am told a lot of good things about it, but will for sure be returning to this place in the future just to relax.

Really enjoyed the views of the water, and headed back from there to find Glory Days also on Hull Street for a refreshing barley pop. That was also a very nice place, servers were very friendly and of course liked the sports theme of the place (the bathroom is well worth checking out as well). Good food and liked the little tv sound things at the tables. Get the number on the tv (there are many around) punch in the number and presto...you have sound. Nice touch in my book.
Took a quick view of Hull Street some weeks ago, but today was a bit of a deeper look. I was pleasantly surprised and for sure feel this area is very worthy of some much deeper study. I will be returning to this area in the very near future.

Hot Weekend in Concord, NC (August 8-10)

Got back to Carolina this weekend, the warmest of the year. Took an early morning motorcycle ride on Sunday, which is a great way to avoid traffic and the heat to a point, out to Harrisburg, NC. Rode mostly some backroads, though did roll down NC 24/27 (nice road that rolls into Charlotte later on) but went only as far as Harrisburg. There stopped and checked out the cabin at left. It is being restored, and is said to be a "Pre-Civil War" structure. Like Virginia, North Carolina is one of the original 13 colonies and dates way back in US History. One of the great things about both places is that I am a real history buff, and enjoy that part of the area(s).

Building at left was near the cabin, and also is an old restored building. There is a small train that apparently runs around the building. This old stuff is "sort of new", so I am not sure exactly what it will be (or what its like when its open) but enjoyed it.
At any case a good Sunday ride. I also rode on Monday with a buddy from work (Steve, who took early retirement from the job that brought me to Virginia) , but that was the warmest day of the year. Nice ride in the country, but we cut that one short. Partly due to the heat, also due to things I needed to do to get ready to come back to Virginia for two weeks. On top of everything, had some car issues to deal with while I was home, luckily that turned out well. I also got the required NC auto inspection, so good for another year with the state.
Getting back to Sunday, Patty and I did a little exploring. Went a number of places, including a first look at Ikea which is new to University City, NC just outside of Charlotte, NC. Ikea (for the few that do not know) sells furniture; and really enjoyed checking out the store. It is wildly popular and I could see why. Prices and many of the items they sell are creative, interesting and very inexpensive. Plan on spending a good amount of time there, as the crowd is huge at the store. They also have some interesting food there with (by the look of it) Swedish meatballs being very popular. The University area was very packed on Sunday, in addition to being the home of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (aka UNCC) it also has a great number of retail areas.
It was a very good trip home. Using a bank vacation day, made it a three day weekend. That makes it more worthwhile, but still a short visit to me. Enjoyed time with my wife, son and the two border collies who never fail to keep me laughing. Patty will be here at the end of the month in Richmond, looking forward to showing off some of the town sights I have seen so far, we are also going to explore the food choices here. I have found a few local places of interest, but looking for some more; and that is my project for this weekend. I think when you go to a town the more interesting places to eat are the local ones rather than the national chains. That search will be the focus of my next post!

Along the Midlothian Turnpike

Nice low key weekend in the Richmond, VA area. Spent the weekend here, took some time to do a little exploring along the Midlothian Turnpike. Wanted to take a look at it, basically its my backyard, but have been wandering on my weekends here more downtown and also around Petersburg. Plus, my wife Patty will be spending a weekend here with me at the end of the month, and there is a quilt shop in Midlothian that she wants to see, and I thought it a good idea to find that. Turned out to be fairly easy, the quilt shop is behind Crab Louie's in a bright yellow building, and looks like a good size place.
On previous visits I went to the Midlothian Mines which is sort of neat; something remarkable about very old abandoned ruins; and have been to the big mall just past 288. This trip I went to Lowe's (for research on a project I am working on back in North Carolina), and took a tour of the Chesterfield Towne Center which was a return trip. Made a first visit to Hooters; hoped they would have another bike show, but no such luck this visit but enjoyed a tasty barley malt. Rode up to the big mall after finding the quilt shop, passing a string of strip malls. Again have been to a few of those (really liked the Richmond Music Center in one of them) but relatively nameless commercial sites. A string of car dealerships from one end to the other.
At the big mall, many of the buildings are empty, but a few places of interest in there. Stopped for lunch at CiCi's Pizza. I like it, and even like the "Welcome to CiCi's" greeting you get at all of those. Cheap eats and sometimes some really good surprises in there. Went by Books A Million for a while, nothing like a bookstore.
Drove on up, went past some country roads. Came across a Civil War sign, so turned down a very twisty road found an old Confederate graveyard. Out of the 250 or so graves, only 92 were identified. Nice little monument there, find a great many of those sort of things here. Circled around and got back on 288, rode back down Midlothian Turnpike and back to the apartment. Rented a movie at Blockbuster before going to the apartment; Watchmen was pretty interesting with some great music and a rather different sort of story. Have to say I enjoyed it, not your typical superhero movie at all.
Today have pretty much stuck close to home. Did get the laundry done at the laundrymat; one of the joys of apartment living. Always an interesting group there though; its a real multicultural experience. Cleaned the apartment here, and have been watching X-Games and the occasional drizzle outside under very cloudy skies.

Visiting Kannapolis, NC (July 26, 2009)

I like Sunday morning motorcycle rides; traffic is light with people either in church, or relaxing on a Sunday morning. Good time to get out and ride for a while without most of the usual dangers (such as Cars for instance). Plus its peaceful, cooler in the early am, and Sunday was a very fine day on all counts. I rode to Kannapolis, NC which is known as the hometown of Dale Earnhardt, Sr (and he is featured on a big statue in the square) and the former home of the Pillowtex Mills. At one time they employed thousands. A nice town, took a photo of my motorcycle in front of the GEM Theater. It goes way back, but still shows first run movies. Good admission prices, and if you like popcorn and cokes they won't clean out your wallet.

This is the great hope for Kannapolis, the NC Research Center. It is planned (was created by the President of Dole Foods) as a giant bio-technology center. Quite a few buildings have been (and are continuing to be) built on the grounds of the former giant mill buildings. The closing of the mills were the largest mass layoff in NC history. As I write this today in nearby Concord, Philip Morris is closing its giant factory which two years ago employed some 2,500 people. Richmond, VA is now the home of the last US Philip Morris factory. The last few years and especially this recession has been tough on North and South Carolina.
It was a very good visit to the area; spent three days there, and am now back in Richmond, VA. Looking forward to some interesting exploring this weekend; sure is a great deal to see and do here in Richmond.

On the Rest Stop Issue...A Road Warrior Perspective

As expected as I saw the signs posted near the planned closings on my last trip to Richmond, the state today closed 18 rest areas in Virginia, including a number along my well traveled route from Richmond to basically the NC border. I like the rest areas, they offer a peaceful oasis along the route, have at times been a good place to duck during severe storms, good location to check out real and possible car problems, and of course those all important rest rooms. Sometimes its just a good place to get out, and get away from the seat of the car for a bit. I have used rest areas for picnics (when traveling to other places with my wife) though not during these solo trips to Virginia.
Will just have to adapt to the change; often make a stop in South Hill, VA for food on the way back, and often on the way up. Have made a fuel stop during my trip to move into the apartment here in the rental truck; many places along the road are sort of well off the road and kind of isolated. Sure this will make a lot of changes to the traveling public....but not much else we can do.
West Virginia travel centers are pretty commercial; have a number of places to eat in them, and also many gift shops. I guess that will be (if I had to bet) the future of the rest stops here, think that they will eventually go that route. Better that then to just leave them closed.
I understand the state has to save some money, and its always sad when its your ox is gored. This may be a safety issue for some, especially big rigs, and older folks (plus a real issue for families with children). It has even gotten to be a issue with the election as candidates are promising a quick re-opening.