Hogtober! (October 5, 2013)

Just a few shots from Hogtober, a Fall event held each year in Libby Hill Park, in the Church Hill Neighborhood of Richmond, VA. Event features food (it is a BBQ flavored event ), music and cold beverages. Though a Fall event, this one featured high temps in the 90's, as Fall has been hiding for the past few days prior to this event. The food was great though, the beverages were cold, and the music was very good.
It is one of my favorite events and this year I enjoyed the event as usual though due to the heat, and commitments before and after had to make it a short visit. 

 Bands such as this one were very good though, and I had a great time checking out the music (though this is the only band I got to hear). Kaye went with me, nice to have a pretty companion to enjoy the event with me.
Have heard some really fine bands over the years and some of them have become favorites of mine here in the RVA. Some really good music can be found here, and I have a good time at events such as this, and others checking out the music.  
The event charged only for food and drink, there was no admission charge.  

This is the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Libby Hill Park, the park also offers a fine view of the James River (in fact there is a sign there explaining how Richmond was named for it.
The park and Church Hill is one of my favorite areas of Richmond, offering not only some really fun events, but also a lot of good places to eat, and a lot of neat things to see. Some of the houses there are very old, and in my book, that makes them very interesting.
I go to a lot of events in that area, especially in the Fall and will have a few more things to show you in the upcoming weeks.
On my page "Racing With the Wind" (which is my motorcycle blog) I have a few photos from the area..though mainly of some interesting motorcycles I saw there, have some areas as well which refer to what I have been talking about as far as interesting old things.

Fall Trip to Carolina (Sept 28-29, 2013)

 Had some last business to do in my former hometown, some furniture to move in storage. Rented a truck and drove down from Richmond. Saw something that I had seen just a couple of weeks ago, and in a previous photo here, The Memphis Belle (actually the one that was in the movie) was at Concord Regional Airport. Was good to see it again, and got a lot of good photos which I have on my photo page. There were also some neat older motorcycles which were not part of the planes arrival, but rather had just been ridden in by some bikers. Cool to see this plane...again!    

There are two race shops at the Concord Regional Airport, Roush Fenway and Richard Petty. Near to the airport is Earnhardt Ganassi and also Hendrick Motorsports. In fact most of the teams in NASCAR are either in the Concord area or very close (a number of them are also located in nearby Mooresville, NC) , Unfortunately, few of the teams shops are open on a weekend, though still was fun to go by and take photos such as the one at left. Think that the race shops can be one of the coolest things to see in the area, and some of them give some amazing access to the teams: what they do and how they do it. 

Took this photo while driving down Union  Street, and what you are looking at is Downtown Concord. Some really cool old buildings and some interesting houses are along Union Street. It was one of the favorite drives when I lived there, and like seeing the street. It was always a good time and the street is especially pretty at Christmas when the residents really light it up.
Spent some time with my youngest son staying in his place in Kannapolis, and went to dinner at El Amigo which is one of our favorite restaurants there. Had a really good time.    

On Sunday the 29th, got the truck loaded up, and headed out to breakfast at Punchy's Diner in Concord, NC. A former motorcycle riding buddy (still a buddy, though we just don't get to ride anymore due to distance) rode his Victory Motorcycle there) and we enjoyed a good breakfast at one of my favorite places for same. Always some interesting cars (such as this Cobra) drop by, and there are some trikes to be seen in the background (as there are always a number of bikes there).
Trip was a great time, had a good weekend in North Carolina and fantastic weather. I will be back in the near future for another visit.    

Kings Dominion (September 21, 2013)

Made a trip with Kaye to Kings Dominion on September 21, fun place and the day was wonderful to check out some of the sights. It was a work related event (work paid for it) and started as usual with a trip up the replica of this structure in France. Very cool thing, was told it took 15,000 bolts to put together, is a 1/3 replica, and was built when the park first opened in 1974. I have been on its sister in Ohio (at Kings Island) but very nice views from the top. I actually got up there twice, first time with Kaye, second with Kaye and some friends (we met there...its sort of easy to find).   

 This is one of the views from up there, big orange ride is The Intimidator 305, which is how tall that is. Very cool ride, though did not get to ride it this trip (did on other visits. We did get to ride quite a few rides while there, but had to get to another event in the mid afternoon - plus there was a good chance of rain -and the skies did unload later in the afternoon with some very badly needed rainfall ! We though were dry during the visit. Lots of fun places to see there, and the park was getting ready for their Halloween event coming up, so a lot of cool things to see all over the area. In this area the State Fair will be held next week. 

I also did not get to ride this ride, but did think it was very cool. Park got pretty crowded as the day went on, and of course as noted time was not on my side.
We did go to Kaye's grandson's little league game where the rains also held off. All in all, it was a very fine day, and we had a wonderful time.
Next weekend I am making a return trip to Carolina, so will have a few photos of that trip in my next post here. Looking forward to a fine time, have not been there in a few weeks, used to live there, though finding more and more that Richmond is a very fun and interesting place. I am planning right now to stay here for the rest of my life, though that may change as time goes on, but that is my intention as of now.
Hope you are enjoying these posts and that you can visit again soon.

Fun Day in the RVA (September 14. 2013)

Some days are just very good days....this Saturday was one of them. Took a walk (not far) with Kaye to the Forest Hill Art Fair, this was taken early (tends to get REALLY crowded soon after opening)  but got to see some neat things, and also enjoy some good food and music while I was there. Have been going the last few years and it is really a good time on a wonderful day. This was one in that the temperature and humidity were both down from previous years. I enjoy seeing what talented people can do on a number of fronts, and this was a very good time!  

Kaye and I got the motorcycles and headed up the road after the art fair to Hanover County Airport to see the B-17 which was there. We actually got the first look at it in the air over Richmond - they were giving flights in the plane (though at a cost of $450) but it was very cool to get to check this out and see this piece of history flying once again. It is a rare thing, only a handful of B-17's out of the thousands built are still flying. The airport was also really nice and there were a lot of support items there as well from WW2. I have a few photos of those on my Photo Page and also Racing with the Wind blog.     

Finally, we got down the road and headed to nearby Ashland, VA. Stopped for some refreshment there, and also took a quick look around this very interesting town. There is a lot to see and do in the Ashland area, and that included some great roads that Kaye knew about, and we got a good ride in down some "country" roads past some really cool houses and farms. Nice to get off the highways and enjoy some better ways to get around.
From Ashland we rode back to Richmond, and put the bikes away after watching a little league game at the end of the ride. It was a pretty interesting day!

Sunday in the RVA (September 8, 2013)

 Went out with some friends from work on Sunday, saw this guy riding on the water using a water pump on the jet ski....have seen this sort of thing in You Tube videos...its a new sort of thing out there, first time to see it in Richmond. Seemed to be getting the hang of it, and was a really wild thing. Was fun to watch, and a very interesting way to fly.

View of the  James River from Rocketts Landing in Richmond, the beige building is The Boathouse (a restaurant) and that is downtown Richmond in the background it was a beautiful day.

Here is The Trogone Band, playing in Forest Hill Park on Sunday night. They have a number of free concerts there, with various bands, and have seen some great concerts there. Fun to do that, and a good end to the weekend when the weather is good.

From the Motorcycle Ride (September 7, 2013)

 Made a ride with Kaye on a beautiful Saturday in the RVA. Finally think that the oil leak on the bike has been fixed (thanks Ultimate Cycle, RVA) and we made a stop at Steel Horse Harley Davidson. Lots of cool bikes on display there plus food and a band....nice thing to check out. Used to love to visit those events in Carolina, fun to go to one here in the Richmond area. Steel Horse is located on Hull Street and had a good time checking out the sounds and the sights there. Soon we were riding again down 288 toward Short Pump - had a good place in mind to eat.  

Stopped at Buz and Ned's Real BBQ for lunch, one of my favorite places to eat on The Boulevard they opened this new and much bigger place just a while back. Had a great lunch there, though there is a lot of good BBQ in this city, I prefer Buz and Ned's. Wild riding in Short Pump as it is a huge shopping area and one of the busiest roads in the Richmond area, but sure a lot of things to see there. Some of the largest malls in Richmond can be found there, and its a good area to pay real close attention to your driving. Those we got there via 288 you can also get to Short Pump via Broad Street which runs though downtown Richmond.  

Went to a car show at Quaker Steak and Lube. Neat place in that I used to be at the one (its a chain) in Concord, NC - they had some of the most amazing Bike Nights I have ever been too. Told they are also pretty good here in Richmond (though have not made one...yet). We saw they had a car show and we turned out (were heading out of the area following lunch and rode back). I have some more photos on my "Racing with the Wind" page, but liked the doors on this car. Remarkable what people can do to their automobiles and just thought this was worth a photo.   

They also had some classic older cars, it was a pretty good car show. Had a good crowd there, and also a number of very interesting motorcycles on display as well. It was a very good ride and had a great time.
For the day, covered on the order of 100 miles and we had a great time on the bikes. Been awhile since I have been able to do that, and sure enjoyed being out on my bike (and having Kaye on hers) and looking very forward to the next ride in the area. Fall is coming and that means some of the best motorcycling of the year is not very far away! 

National Air and Space Museum (August 31, 2013)

 Was a remarkable time at the National Air and Space Museum on the last day of August....my first time to check out this remarkable place (though had been to the museum at Dulles Airport a few years ago, which is the other part of it. An amazing collection of historic air and spacecraft including these two: a left SpaceShipOne and at right the Bell X-1. SpaceShipOne was the first private spacecraft (and it won the X-Prize) and the X-1 was the first plane to fly supersonic. Two remarkable sights of many to be seen in the museum. It was a wonderful thing to be here.   

Plane at left is the Spirit of St. Louis which was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20-21, 1927 from New York to Paris. It was the first non-stop flight, and was one of the most amazing achievements in aviation in my opinion. A long solo flight in a plane with limited visibility ( he could not see from the front of the plane) and during a time when navigation by air in a plane was very, very basic. The place was custom built, had a top speed of around 130 and cruised around 100-110. Very cool that this aircraft can still be seen today, and enjoyed seeing it. 

Even more amazing is the Wright Flyer which flew from the sands of Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks of North Carolina on December 17, 1903 making the first four flights by a manned and controlled powered aircraft. Damaged  by winds at the end of the day, the plane was stored by the Wrights for 9 years, and then restored by Orville (Wilbur had died before it was displayed). The plane due to a dispute over the museum over who was first was displayed in England, but then when that was resolved was brought to the museum in 1948 and has been on display ever since.   

 Some of the older planes that lead to the planes of today are seen in the photo at left. One of my favorite scenes in the museum were the planes seen here. Most of the planes were grouped into eras or themes such as WWI planes, WWII, and different eras of spacecraft (the space craft went back to designs by Robert Goddard and also such spacecraft as the V-2 and Russian Rockets. There was even a Soyuz spacecraft (which was flown manned in space) which was cool because the Russians still fly that old design to this day.   

THIS was pretty cool, speaking of spacecraft an actual Lunar Lander. The Apollo test program went well during the on-orbit tests and this one was not needed so is in the museum, but it was a fully flight capable Lunar Lander. I had seen reproductions of the spacecraft, but never the real thing. A number of them, at least the lower (golden covered) sections are still sitting on the moon to this day. Those were the landing stages, the two crew men rode back to Apollo Command Modules in orbit (with the third crewman) after landing on the moon. A number of other spacecraft can been seen above the LM.    

Finally, here is yours truly standing in front of the Apollo 11 Command Module "Columbia" (the LM was "Eagle") which flew Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins to the moon and back. Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969. Launched on the giant Saturn V rocket, this was the only portion to return to Earth. The US space program is planning to go back into space using spacecraft much along the lines of Apollo after a long period using the Space Shuttle with a number of designs undergoing design and development. All in all a most remarkable place to visit.