Visit to Yorktown Beach (July 7, 2015)

 I love this motorcycle ride, and have a few photos of the beach at my Racing with the Wind blog page. This is a great ride; went via Route 5 which is a fun ride, then on the Colonial Parkway and wandered around the beach, the town and the old sections of town where among other sights saw this building from 1720.
There is a lot to see and do in Yorktown, plus the entire area. Williamsburg and Jamestown plus the Yorktown Battlefield (which is basically where the Revolutionary War ended) are all within a stones throw of each other. I would also add the Colonial Parkway is one amazing road.

While on the Colonial Parkway went past this Navy ship near the US Navy's place there (something annex). Though I served in the Navy this ship and type escapes me (I was in a Patrol Squadron and did not serve on ships as the planes were too large to land on them) but thought this was too cool not to share.  

Road back was again via Route 5 after a long ride on the Colonial Parkway and went back through downtown Williamsburg. I made a stop at the College of William and Mary...one of the oldest colleges in the US. This is the Christopher Wren building which was built in 1695 and the oldest college building in the US. I walked though it and it was amazing. This building is also currently used which is very cool also.
Left Richmond early to avoid the heat which was expected to get into the 90s...was largely successful. It was in the 90's when I got back after five hours of exploring and a distance on the road of 158 miles. It was a very fun day!

Broad Appetit (Sunday June 7, 2015)

One of (if not the) most popular food event in Richmond is Broad Appetit which was held on Sunday June 7 this year. A large section of Broad Street is blocked off and there was quite a crowd there as usual.
This is a relatively new event....less than 10 years I believe, but gets bigger every year and is one event I don's miss. Many fine restaurants offer $3 sample plates, there are craft beers as well as wine, and also some very interesting bands that played on multiple stages.

 These are also some of the booths that were there. I sure enjoyed the food and checking out all the people there.
It was a fantastic day there, the weather was just remarkable (which as I write this and we are pushing 100 degrees a couple of weeks later I really, really really miss).

Finally this is the Voodoo Dolls, which is one of my favorite local bands. I enjoy them, and they are one of the most popular bands at the event. The fact that these ladies can really play is a big plus as well.
Usually the event happens around June (early part) and this is a really good time if you are in the area and want to check out some of the things to eat in what is becoming one of the nation's top foodie towns.

Nascar All Star Race, Concord, NC (May 16, 2015)

Went to Concord, NC to see the Nascar All-Star Race with my son who still lives there (I used to back with my then wife and still current son). We got there in the early afternoon and toured some of the booths and sights around the track. Took this during qualifying; drivers did a couple of laps, had a four tire change and then a final lap. I had some great seats for this race...some of the  best ever for any race.  

This is some of the race action. There were four 25 lap segments and then a final 10 lap shootout. There were no crashes and the only real problem happened to Danica Patrick who had some mechanical issues. She came back out but was dead last and many laps behind. Of note, all the seats on the back side of the track are gone...it is now a half circle seating wise. Was told they did that around a month ago. It was a great night weather wise, a little humid but not blazing hot. I like that its a night race...cars look a lot neater.    

At the end of the race it was Denny Hamlin who won the race. His win was the first All Star win for Joe Gibbs and also Denny's first win. Neat thing is that Denny is from Chesterfield, VA which made it neat for me. This was Jeff Gordon's last All Star Race.
Getting out of the track is always fun but I got us back to my son's apartment around 1:00 AM. We made a late dinner stop at Cookout which is pretty good food. The one we ate at is in Kannapolis, there is also one here in Richmond which opened up last year.  

Sights in Richmond and Beyond (May 2,3 and 9, 2015)

 One of my favorite places to visit, which I did on May 2,  is the Malvern Hill Battlefield. Was the ending action of the effort of the Union Army to capture Richmond. Troops under Robert E. Lee (in the command of the army he called "The Army of Northern Virginia)  engaged the Union Army a number of times. General McClellan as retreating while Lee wanted to finish off the Union Army at this site. On July 1, 1862 the armies met here. Union forces had a large number of cannon and drove off the Confederate troops. Killed and wounded were some 5,650 for the rebels, some 3000 for the Union.  

 Made a visit to the Virginia Aviation Museum where among other aircraft I saw this F-14 Tomcat on display. The Tomcat was the plane made famous in the movie TopGun (though not this one) but was a famous aircraft in US Navy service.
The F-14 was a supersonic swingwing interceptor designed to protect the fleet from aerial attack. A very heavy aircraft it carried a variety of missiles and also packed a cannon.
Later in its history the F-14 was given a ground attack capacity and got the nickname "Bombcat" Still a very beautiful aircraft and flew with a crew of two.

On Sunday May 3 went to  Art in the Park in Byrd Park in Richmond. The event is held yearly and had some 400 booths with a variety of art in one of the best parks in Richmond. Byrd Park and nearby Maymont is a real treasure. Art in the Park brings artists from all over the country and presenting a variety of art.
I don't miss this event and really enjoyed it this year. In fact looking forward to seeing it again next year. Art in the Park is in my opinion one of the best festival events in the city of Richmond, and is well worth a visit.  Malvern Hill and the aviation museum were parts of motorcycle rides, took another one on May 9 and for the first time visited the city of Hanover. There I saw this colonial tavern; George Washington and Patrick Henry (among many others) has dined here. It has been added to over the years but remains one of the few surviing Colonial taverns in the US. Hanover was a lot of fun and very interesting. I will have some more photos from the rides in my Racing with the Wind Blog. A very good two weekends in the RVA.

The Battlefield and the Day in the Park (April 18-19, 2015

 On April 18, the warmest day of the year so far, took a motorcycle ride to Petersburg National Battlefield. I have been there before but just an amazing place. There is a lot of history in Richmond, especially dealing with the Civil War. This battlefield was basically where it ended. Once Richmond fell the war was over a week later.
From this site the mortar "Dictator (one of the most famous cannon of the war) shelled Petersburg. This is not it, but it is of the same type and size. This is also the exact location where it fired from.

Blandford Cemetery is very old with graves from the Revolutionary war. The church there dates to 1735 and is still standing. It played a big roll in the war and a lot of Confederates were buried there. In fact, it is just a massive place.
I really like visiting Petersburg, both the battlefield and the city itself. Have been there a few times, and it is around some 30 miles from Richmond. Back then they were both tied together and the fall of Petersburg lead to the end of Richmond as the Confederate Capital. Lee's Army met its end a few miles up the road with the surrender to General Grant.      

On Sunday, went on foot to Forest Hill Park to the Day in the Park which is a annual event. The Stone House seen here is one of the younger things I saw, dating to the 1800's They had a lot of cool things on display, lots of vendors, bands, and even a police K-9 demo. I really love this park. My dog and me spend a lot of time there walking around it, going to the Farmers Market on Saturday and exploring the lake there.
This was a very good weekend in what is a very interesting area. .

Visit to Virginia Beach (April 4, 2015)

Though I have been here a few years, and have been there before (many, many years ago back in my Navy Days) have not visited Virginia Beach. For one thing, it can be quite difficult to get to via the tunnel just outside of Hampton, VA which gets pretty backed up especially in the summer. I had been by there during the airshow at NAS Oceana (which is fantastic by the way) a couple of years ago, but that was an all day event and by the time it was over it was pretty late -as the crowd is huge with one way out of the Naval base. I really do recommend that event though which is held yearly.

Anyhow got up early today and by 6am I was on my way to Virginia Beach. It is a 90 minute drive to the beach from Richmond via I-64 and that early was very light traffic wise. I did pick a rainy day: the rains had stopped in Richmond, but it was a day for a few showers while I was there. However..I was impressed with the area, and enjoyed seeing the places there, There are a lot of places to stay which includes hotels, vacation rentals, and even a campground very close to the beach. There are a lot of places to eat, and a number of things to do. I really enjoyed the visit there, and plan to come back.  

Virginia Beach has a lot of things to offer, Of course if you live in Virginia there is nothing really closer (well, Yorktown Beach is also really cool, and have been there a few times) but it is very neat.
Lots of things to see in that area, Hampton has Fort Monroe (a very worthwhile and historic place to visit, and was the subject of a previous post) as was this Air Park which is also in Hampton. A favorite place of mine, I stopped in on the way back. Both the fort and the air park are free, for a small fee you can visit the Air and Space Center in Hampton which is also a favorite place of mine to visit.
There is a lot of fun things to see and do in the Virginia Beach area and it is for the most part a pleasant drive. I have been told there is also a real good alternate route to the area and I plan to check that out this summer on one of my motorcycle rides to the area...as I will be coming back very soon!

Spring at long last (March 22, 2015)

Actually the second full day of Spring, Sunday March 22 I headed out to the Church Hill Irish Festival. Sure St. Patrick's Day was a few days ago, but still this was a great festival. There was a lot of food, bands and of course beer.
I rode there on my motorcycle and as you can see in the photo at left there was a "number" of people there. Among the people I saw was Carrie Rose, the weather person for channel WTVR. Up at 5am that is the weather I watch...so got to tell her I am up with her every morning. She liked that and we had a nice talk. Very cool to see someone famous enjoying the events.  

There were a number of bands there of all types and all kinds of music. This was one of the Irish bands, and they were quite good, as were the dancers in this number....no Riverdance but was fun to watch.
I like this event, have been to it over the last few years that I have been here. Always a lot of fun, and for some strange reason has been blessed with good weather.
At any case was there around 90 minutes and had a very good time. Came to see the band "The Tators" and did...and they were really good. Played mostly rock and roll music that was fun.

Before I left the area, stopped at St. John's Church. In a city of old things, this is one of the oldest, was the very church where Patrick Henry gave his "Give me Liberty, or give me Death" speech. One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence is buried there, as is the mother of Edgar Allen Poe. In all the times I have been there (and have been a few) had never been inside. This photo at left, is of the inside. While parts of it have bee modernized much of it looks as it did back in Colonial Days. It was very neat to stand where so many famous Americans stood before. It was a very fun day...and the motorcycle ride was wonderful as well.