April 1 at Maymont

 A remarkable day at Maymont, the place is just flat out a treasure, but especially in the Spring (also a lot of fun touring the house during Christmas time, but that was the subject of a previous post). Thought the gardens would be in full bloom, for a change I was right on the money. This is the Italian Garden at Maymont, and it was remarkable. All the flowers were in full bloom, and being an early Sunday morning the crowds were not (but really built up around noon). Before seeing this remarkable sight, I checked out some of the old carriages on display, and walked by the house on the land. 

 Down a large stone stairway, went to the Japanese Gardens. Got a lot of great photos (which many can be seen on my Flickr Page, and there is a link to that on this page) but this one was really the Photo of the Day in my book. It is the kind of place, on a day like this, that you never want to leave. I was amazed at the sights I saw there. It also is notable that this is the 100th anniversary of the Japanese Gardens at Maymont, there are a lot of special events going on around that.
While at Maymont, also went out and checked out some of the amazing birds (among which I saw some Hawks, Owls, Bald Eagles, and even some Vultures) as well as a bear (sleeping, but he probably had a bear of a night!) and a bison. There is even more there, just a whole lot to see and do. Of course it is a good place just to relax and check out what nature has to offer. After the blandness of a very mild Winter, nice to see so much in bloom at Spring time, and this one is really a remarkable sight indeed!  

I stopped at Hollywood Cemetery which has some great views of Belle Island and the James River rapids (which due to the rain of late, were running very rapid indeed!) and made a stop at Legend's Brewing Company for a "legendary beverage" (well, actually two legendary beverages) and checked out the view of Richmond from the deck there. Nice place, and I do enjoy the beer there.
It was a nice day to enjoy a fine morning and early afternoon in this very interesting city of Richmond, VA. If you get the chance soon, be sure to get out to Maymont and check out some of what it has to offer, its just a remarkable place!

A Rainy Day in the RVA (March 24, 2012)

 Got this photo of the old "Mechanics and Merchants Bank" while on my way downtown on Saturday March 24. Went to a house in Church Hill-couple of buddies from work gathered to watch Louisville make the Final Four in a game against Florida (and the Cards did it!). Love the old buildings in Richmond, you don't have to look very far to see some interesting things. Even the streets are interesting-found that many of the streets in Richmond are named for famous US Captains during the War of 1812. Hull Street is named for instance for Issac Hull, who was the Captain of the USS Constitution during that war.   

I stopped in Shockoe Bottom and got a photo of the 17th Street Farmers Market. Not quite very busy, but an impressive structure on a cloudy and rainy Richmond day. Sunday has been much the same to this point, but it is still warm in what is starting out as a rather toasty Spring week. Shockoe Bottom has a number of cobblestone streets, you can see one to the left of the Farmers Market. Nice area there, with a lot of good places to eat. It can get a little wild down there at times, but love going there and checking out some new places. Not a good weekend for getting out and exploring a great deal, but looking forward to the next weekend. 

Charlotte on St. Patrick's Day

 St. Patrick's Day started with a drive from Richmond, VA on I-85 to my home, and from there, a afternoon motorcycle ride to Charlotte, NC. One of my favorite places to visit took this photo on what was a remarkable day on the "last weekend of winter" with temperatures in the 80's, and very sunny skies. It was the best day of the year to ride; so far at least. Photo here was taken near the Bank of America Stadium. I posted a few more photos on my "Racing with the Wind" blog. While in this area walked past the site which is hoped to be where the new Charlotte Knights baseball stadium will be built. 

Took this photo of the St. Patrick's Day crowd. Looking down it was pretty well packed from that point on-a solid wall of people. Some of the outdoor bars were jammed with people elbow to elbow, and most of them bending those elbows with some of the fine beers of Ireland and other places around the world and of course from America. It was a pretty impressive time there, and enjoyed the visit.
It is now Spring officially as I write this; have been enjoying some wonderful Spring weather in the RVA for the past few days. Looking forward to a great weekend here, in both Charlotte and Richmond events will be taking off with the change in seasons. 

Cusp of Spring

Enjoyed a quiet weekend in the neighborhood in Richmond, which as written is just eight days from the "official" start of Spring. Though have to say as winter goes, this past one was not bad at all. Not a big fan of snow, and sure did not see much of it this year. Temperatures were also very moderate and the season was a great one for my favorite hobby (motorcycling) and also for walking. I enjoyed some great walks over the weekend in Richmond. Went around the park and enjoyed exploring some of the neighborhoods around Forest Hill Avenue. It is a welcome change from where I have lived for the past three years. Even had a nice visit to O'Toole's which is a fun place to drop in.

Move has gone well except for some billing issues with Comcast. Seems I had two modem's on my account, but thanks to some phone calls, and a visit to the office on Iron Bridge Road with a return receipt that (thankfully) I had the foresight to both get, and to keep where I could find it, it looks like it has been straightened out. I tell you this to remind you to always get a receipt; I did so because when I got my old modem read stories that it was possible for this to happen. Overall Comcast is not bad, I am ok with the service, and being connected is vital in the world of today.

Speaking of being connected, I am sort of an aviation nut so a couple of items of interest in that regard. For one, Microsoft Flight is the successor to the discontinued Microsoft Flight Simulator series. I downloaded that over the weekend (a rather hefty download at that) but it is remarkable. If you have ever wanted to fly, its something to check out. They used to say, "its as real as it gets", well I have flown and this is remarkable!

Second, event of note coming up at the National Air and Space annex in Washington, DC. On April 17 (be sure to check though, its a NASA operation, so could change) the Shuttle Discovery will be flying into Dulles International Airport and the shuttle will go on display at the National Air and Space Museum annex there. They have quite a few days of celebrating planned there. The shuttle will arrive on the back of its Boeing 747 carrier aircraft, which is a pretty remarkable sight. The shuttle Enterprise (and that shuttle never went into space, was a test vehicle for the shuttle program) will be going to the Intrepid Air and Space Museum in New York City. I plan to go see it in April, hope to bring some photos back from that visit. The museum is free to visit, but parking at the airport is $15.

Going to be a lot of things coming up in both Carolina and Virginia as Spring fires up. Looking forward to bringing some of them here, and hope you all have a great season.      

Go Figure

Yesterday, enjoyed a nice motorcycle ride, drove back to Richmond later in the afternoon with the air conditioning on . Today woke up to this, and took a walk to Forest Hill Park where I took this photo on this March 5. On the bright side is really nice to look at, and is not really sticking to the roads. It is also supposed to be gone pretty soon, with afternoon highs in the 40's. Certainly has been a wild winter, with mostly a mild winter, but one which will be remembered for of all things-tornadoes in North Carolina (and of course in Southern Indiana as mentioned in the last post.
Wanted to mention that traffic last night was amazing-the CIAA basketball tournament was held in Charlotte over the weekend, and many of the schools are located in the east. It was almost holiday like traffic driving back to Richmond; at times it would almost come to a stop on the highway, and then everyone would move forward again as if nothing had happened. Just ended up being slightly longer getting back.
Fuel prices in North Carolina are in the $3.70 range right now, lower in Richmond by around 10 cents (or around $3.60). In North Carolina though, the gas does not (as a rule) contain Ethanol, so Carolina gas gets better mileage-making the price difference sort of a wash. Not sure what they are, but gas prices tend to be a lot lower in South Carolina-and usually by a considerable amount.      

The First Sunday in March

First Sunday in March...took this photo during a Sunday morning motorcycle ride in Concord, NC. Interesting city which is located some 20 miles NE of Charlotte, NC and is the 12th largest (as of the 2010 census) in North Carolina. It is the home to many of the NASCAR race teams (most of the rest are nearby in the region) and the home to Charlotte Motor Speedway. The #1 tourist attraction in the State, the sprawling Concord Mills Mall is located in Concord, NC (though to be honest I prefer the Blue Ridge Parkway and Asheville, NC) and there are some great roads and interesting places to explore in and around the area.
It was a tough weekend in the area, there were some tornadoes in  Harrisburg, NC (real close to Concord) , and there was some serious damage to quite a few houses. Course it could have been worse, I used to live in the Louisville, Kentucky area and on Friday some heavy damage happened to some nearby Southern Indiana towns and cities. No one died in Harrisburg, in Southern Indiana they were not so lucky. It has been a very strange winter in the nation, the first days of March were some of the ugliest days of the season so far. Thoughts go out to everyone who was impacted by these terrible storms. Once again, this week has seen temperatures in the 80's, thunderstorms and tornadoes, and now tonight as I write this Richmond (where I am as I write this) is under a winter storm warning with the possibility of one-two inches of snow tonight. Go figure! Spring officially starts just a few days from now-can't wait to see what that will bring!      

Station 2 and Chimborazo (February 25, 2012)

 Stopped by Station 2 on a Saturday, neat place to catch some fried pickles (loved them in North Carolina...they do a very fine version which also has a very good mustard based dipping sauce) and a frosty beverage. Took a friend from North Carolina (also by way of Kentucky) there. He spent some 12 years in North Carolina, and never had fried pickles. Fixed that oversight today with the visit. Nice place in a former fire station on Main Street-once again a good example of Richmond recycling of old buildings. Other interesting food selections, and a great selection of beer...including many interesting ones from Virginia which is fun to check out. They don't have a lot of televisions for games, but otherwise its a good place to hang out. They also have outside seating which would be fun on warmer and less windy days. This was not one of those: for this visit had to admire whoever rode that motorcycle on this 50 degree and very windy day. I have been on rides in weather like this-not for the timid for sure!  

 Photo of the James River seen here was taken at Chimborazo Park in the Church Hill area of Richmond. Certainly one of the most interesting and historic areas of the city, there is a lot to see and do in that area. Some of the oldest houses, some great historic sites (such as St. John's Church, which is where Patrick Henry gave his famous "give me liberty or give me death" speech) and some more great places to get a meal or to lift a glass. I like the old (and working) gas streetlights to be found there, and quite a few parks such as this one. Have been here before-the big "Childsavers Motorcycle Ride" ended here last year.

The park though in the Civil War was the site of a Confederate Military Hospital which was at the time the largest in the world. It also was unusual in that those who went for treatment there had a roughly 90% chance of leaving there alive. None of the buildings from that period survive...the building in the background is the Visitor Center which was a former "weather station" (if I remember it right). The museum inside has a number of Civil War items, and you can see a free film on the history of the hospital there. Also of interest are some of the neighborhood houses in the area...they are very old as well.