Sights in Concord, August 18-19, 2012

 Headed out to dinner with my wife Patty on August 18, and it was a good dinner indeed (ate at K+W, love that place), but on the way home, caught sight of two powered parachutes flying and went after them. They have been common sights since I have been in Concord (over 14 years now, off and on anyhow) and they seem to be a really neat way to fly. Not all that fast (though fast enough) and as flying goes pretty safe - if the engine quits, you land under the parachute/wing. Anyhow, got this photo, close to dusk in Concord. Sort of like seeing old friends again, they always bring a smile to my face, and think they are very cool. Tend to see them early in the AM, or late in the day, when the winds tend to be calmer.  

Seen here is the site of the Cabarrus Arts Council, which was once the old Town Hall (they have a newer one now a few blocks away). Love these old buildings, and this one is one of my favorites. Downtown is centered around Union Street, which is a pretty good place to see some really old houses. One of those is on my motorcycle page  which I have a link to on this page. Rode the motorcycle around the downtown area on August 19 between the rain showers (should have gotten out on the much more sun kissed day before, but hindsight is 20/20). Tried to find some info on when this place was built, and so far have not been able to, but its old...and its fairly unique (though there is a building much in the same style but bigger in nearby Monroe, NC. Downtown has really changed over the years, with a lot of nice places to eat, some good stores, and even Robert's Place which has a fine collection of craft beers. In fact there are a few places to have beers which a few years ago was impossible, Concord was once "dry", but all that has changed. Concord was settled in 1750, and was incorporated in 1806. So it has a long history, and a lot of interesting sights to see there. While Charlotte often reinvents itself, some of the surrounding towns have a lot of historic sights to check out.

Walking Reedy Creek Park, RVA - August 17

 Nice Friday in Richmond, and forsomething different humidity was down, as was the heat which made it a great time for an early morning walk. I strolled past Forest Hill Park, which has some events this weekend. The movie night (tonight as I write this) is a new sort of event I think (though they may have had them before), Music in the Park on Sundays I have been to a couple of times before. That event I can speak to, bands have been really good and it is a great deal of fun. Crowds are usually pretty good size and the bands that come have been really good so far.  

I walked down some of the hilly roads that give this area its name and wandered around the very beautiful Riverside Drive to Reedy Creek Park. Very nice place, with some beautiful sights to check out. I was not far here from the canoe launching area - this photo was taken at the Visitor Center. Great place to see nature. That view is commonly shared, saw a guy taking photos with a very large camera lens (and a tripod). Richmond has a lot of parks, and they are by and large pretty remarkable. Park wise Richmond makes great use of its James River and nearby areas, and is starting to put a lot of places to eat and enjoy the views, along with some fine already existing ones. Coming as I have from Louisville which is on the mighty Ohio, that is a great asset.  Greatly enjoyed the Friday walk in the RVA.

An RVA Festival Weekend

A good weekend for festivals. On Saturday Iwent to the Filipino Festival which was held in Glen Allen. Had a great time, enjoyed some food I had not had in quite a while, and even (thanks to getting lost on the way back due to avoiding road construction on I-95) got to see some of the planes at the Virginia Aviation Museum before the rains hit. On Sunday, rolled out to the RVA-B-Que at the 17th Street Farmers Market. No rain on Sunday the 12th, but a good time. There were a number of BBQ vendors (12 in all) from all over the Richmond area, and 14 breweries with a variety of Virginia craft beers.   

The event was held at the 17th Street Farmers Market as noted, and it was a pretty massive crowd. This was the first year for this event, which also earlier held the Food Truck Derby (which I also think was a first. Lines for beer were pretty long once again, but the food did not require tickets (just cash or credit). Checked out a couple of beers, which were pretty good, and had a good time wandering around checking out the people who were there. Saw some interesting sights, its fun to get out in the Shockoe Bottom area which is a really interesting part of the city. Many of the streets are cobblestone, and the old Train Station nearby was a popular place to check out as I noted the many people snapping photos of it. 

There were a couple of bands, I saw one of them, which is seen here, The Peoples Blues of Richmond (aka PBR). Good band, I enjoyed the music and they had a lot of energy.
The day was really good, and had a great time at the event. The fact that it was a lot less humid (and dry) was a real plus.
Richmond is a fun town with a lot to see and do, and this event was really a blast. I am looking forward to doing this one again in 2013.
Thanks for visiting here, hope all of you visiting here have a great week!

Hot Saturday in the RVA

 Another very toasty Richmond day, so got out for a bit between Olympic events on tv. Visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (also known as the VMFA) which is located on The Boulevard in Richmond, VA. It is a huge and outstanding museum with a lot of really great displays and some interesting things to see, no matter what your interest. Not hard to find something that you will enjoy, and there is a lot to cover. Check out the museum web site for more information. While some of the museum has a charge for certain exhibits, most of the museum is free of charge...seven days a week.

There is a lot of art covering all time periods. I liked this Renaissance era art work....very cool religious period art work. The museum has a number of floors and all sorts of periods and forms of art are covered. If you like painting, sculpture, furniture, Tiffany lamps, Egyptian, Indian, Asian, modern art, ancient art, silver, Native American art...you can find all that and more there. There are even a number of art works to be found outside of the building. There is a small charge for parking in the garage, but it is usually not hard to find free parking on the street nearby. The museum is located in one of the most interesting neighborhoods in Richmond.    

This was from one of the "pay" displays in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, but was outside of the admission area. This display is called "Maharaja-The Spenders of India's Great Kings". This carriage, made largely of silver, was built in 1915. There were some 200 items on display (from a collection based in London, England) . This would be a really fine way to get around back in the day. At any case had a really great time there, have made a number of visits to the museum, always see something new and different on display, many of the displays change from time to time.

Speaking of new and different, also made a return visit to one of my favorite motorcycle shops in Richmond-Velocity Motorcycles. They do sell new bikes, the India made Royal Enfield, but also some unique and classic motorcycles as well. Never know what you will see there, and have never had a bad visit to this very interesting and friendly shop. It is located on West Marshall Street in  Richmond...check their web site for more information.
After a short visit up West Broad Street in the Short Pump area of Richmond, went to dinner at Buz and Ned's for some of the best barbeque in Richmond in my opinion. Back in to watch some of the Olympic action after a fun day in Richmond. During the summer, not a lot goes on (though there is a lot coming up) but was fun to do some old favorite things on a hot humid day in the RVA.  

Birkdale Village/Lake Norman (July 22, 2012)

 Nice motorcycle ride in the Huntersville, NC area....there are a whole lot of interesting things in that city which is sort of a suburb of Charlotte, NC. Photo at left was taken at Birkdale Village, which is both a retail place with stores, restaurants, a movie theater, and also has apartments(maybe even condo's, not sure how its set up). There are a few places like it in the Charlotte area, but this is the biggest and the best. I rode out to check out a new place I read about in the Charlotte Observer: good food and tasty beverages were found at Big Daddy's Burger Bar. I had a nice time there!     

Just down the road, is Lake Norman. I am told this was a man made lake, to provide cooling water for the nearby nuclear reactors of the power station there. It is a very popular place for fishing, boating, and there are some remarkable houses along its shoreline. It is one massive lake-really something impressive to see from the air. Huntersville is really a big retail area, with a number of shopping malls, but also a lot of neighborhoods, and a large number of apartments. Traffic in that area can be really bad, though they have expanded the main access roads-that construction just completed this year in fact. It is a nice place to visit on an early Sunday, and I enjoyed being there near the water before the activity really got going. 

Belle Isle /Tredegar Iron Works (July 15, 2012)

 Hot day in the RVA....more of the really hot weather (100+ heat indexes) has rolled in, but not for a long time. Belle Isle is a popular place for Richmond locals to cool off, I spent some time just wandering around there, which was fun. I got to see finally, the hydroelectric plant, thanks to some new signs there. It was pretty impressive. On this very hot Sunday, there were a lot of people getting in the river, from the rocks, which seemed like a good idea. I just decided to walk around and sweat off a few pounds! Great history there (dating back to Indian history), and a fun place to visit.

Tredegar Iron Works is nearby, it was a major armory for the Confederate States of America, and made a lot of the cannon as well as the armor plating for the CSS Virginia. It survived for a long time after the Civil War, but today is one of the big Civil War sites in the Richmond area. It has a rather nice museum (also one you can pay to go though, but the National Park Service site is free...I have been though both in the past), but enjoyed my return visit today. Pretty toasty in there today, but very interesting and the Park Service guides have a lot of good information. It is a very good part of Richmond history, and well worth a visit.
Later in the day, cooling thunderstorms broke out, and were very welcome. Thought to bring some water, and that was a very good move on this day.

Sunday Concord Ride (July 8, 2012)

 Before the temperatures got back up in the 100 degree range, got out on a quiet Sunday morning on the motorcycle. Thought it would be fun to get one more ride on the motorcycle before heading back to Richmond, VA. Stopped and took this photo at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Very interesting place and have had a lot of fun there at races and other events, and this is a nice place to visit. It was going to be the site of a DNC rally, but apparently that is now not going to happen. It will be the site of the fall NASCAR race, and sure to be some other events held there as well this year.  

 While I was out went also by the Concord Regional Airport and also (seen at left) Concord Mills Mall. Concord Mills is the #1 tourist attraction in North Carolina. It is a big massive thing, but I am more impressed with the beaches and the mountains-but to each their own. It is quiet at least on an early Sunday morning. Not only is the actual complex huge but there are all sorts of strip malls around it, so if you are looking for something to buy, or to eat, or just something interesting to do, chances are you will find it here. Really was a big change to the area when they built this monster a few years ago, but it has been a good thing for the area.  

Wandered down some country roads (easy to find those in Concord, before heading to Union Street. Union Street is pretty cool; lots of really old houses and its a big tree lined street. In fact the house that was built by the founder of Cannon Mills (which is now gone, but was the giant mill complex in Kannapolis for many years) is for sale. Photo at left was taken in downdown Concord. Lots of good places to eat there, and again some fun things to do can be found there. It is a lot calmer (and on this Sunday morning mostly closed for a few more hours) than Concord Mills, but pretty neat and interesting. Overall, it was a really good ride, got in before the heat got really brutal, and enjoyed one last ride on the motorcycle before I wrap things up here, and head back to Richmond, VA. Almost time to get back to work once again!