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.

What a Winter Day (February 8, 2015)

 This is a companion piece to my "Racing with the Wind" blog....more photos and information from a remarkable winter day. Feb 8 and temperatures in the low 70's...a good day for a ride ...and a lot of motorcyclists had the same idea.
Rode the famous "Five and Dime Ride". That starts at VA5 which is a beautiful road, to the Colonial Parkway (even more beautiful) that runs from Yorktown to Williamsburg to Jamestown. I rode it all on February 8.
This is the Yorktown Victory Monument which celebrates the end of the Revolutionary War with the victory of the Colonial Army ...with a big assist from the French Navy...over British Forces under Lord Cornwallis. I have been on that battlefield, and it is well worth seeing. It also has a civil war history.
The monument was raised shortly after the war, and it is a cool thing to see and check out. My goal though was Yorktown beach.      

 While there though saw a number of the Colonial Era houses, such as this one. Yorktown  existed before America was America, but has a number of modern things. Lots of cool shops, restaurants (I ate at the Yorktown Pub), and just a lot of things to see and do.
Yorktown Beach is really nice...plus its the closest beach to Richmond, Va. I had a great ride there and a great time walking about and checking out the sights, eating the food and visiting with some of the people there.

This is the grave of General Thomas Nelson who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His grave can be found in the graveyard of the still standing Grace Church which was founded in 1697. Though have been to Yorktown a few times this was the first time I had seen this.
After a couple of hours there, headed back down the Colonial Parkway through Williamsburg and through Jamestown. It was a beautiful ride and I really enjoyed it.
Williamsburg has a replica Colonial Town which is really cool to explore though I did not see it this day, but had during other trips.
Jamestown, which I have also explored in the past, was the site of the original English settlement in the New World.
You can get a pass to see both Yorktown Battlefield and Jamestown which is really reasonable. Both have a lot of things to see and a lot of history can be seen in just a few hours. I did not get to do that this trip, but have in the past and will again in the future.  


This is Yorktown beach...well another view of it. I have a few other photos on my Racing with the Wind Page from the trip.

Finally this is my motorcycle on the Jamestown Ferry. I crossed the river via the ferry to VA10 which I took back to Richmond, Va. That again is a really nice road. I will tell you to make sure you are good on fuel, there is a gas station at Surry, Va which I passed...the next one is just outside of Hopewell. I got there but just barely, the low fuel light had been shining awhile when I found that gas station.
It was just an amazing ride, and I had a remarkable time. Had not done this ride for some time...too long in fact, and can not wait to do it once again.  

January in the RVA (January 25, 2015)

 Been an interesting month. Course this time of year not a lot going on as far as festivals or any type of event...for many its the post Christmas "hangover". We did get a trace of snow this month early....but it was gone by 9am. In that we have been lucky...not a lot of places can say that this far north....has been some good snows all around us. January 26-27 the luck "may" run out (the weather people are not real sure yet) but looks like we will at least get a little.As winters go though...so far so good.  

 Took this at the Poe Museum in Richmond. For a long time he lived here...it was late in his life he died in Baltimore, MD. The museum does not have a whole lot of Poe items (he died not having a lot) but was very neat..and is said to be the largest collection of his Items. Was neat to see some things he had written in his own hands, and quite a few things about him.
Not the house he lived in, but is located on Main Street in the oldest surviving house in Richmond which is in and of itself pretty cool. If you are in the RVA it is well worth a stop and a look.

This is the New Kent Winery, which I went to on a warm (upper 50's temperature wise) day. Got there on the motorcycle....January has been nice in that there have been a few riding days to get my knees in the breeze. Course requires some bundling up but has been fun to get out.
As for the winery, very neat. Got a few (but not too many) glasses of wine, and had a wine and cheese plate.
New Kent is pretty neat, the former horse race track Colonial Downs is out there, and some really neat houses. Not really developed from what I could see, but said to be a fast growing area.

This is the Halfway House, which dates to 1760. Neat to eat there as so did over the years: Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, George Washington, US Grant, Robert E. Lee, and the Marquis deLafayette...just to name a few.
The Halfway House is located on Jefferson Davis Highway and the food and service were fantastic. I really enjoyed my dinner there, and plan to come back when I have someone special to take there.
It has not been a very exciting month, in fact sort of laid back, but that is certainly not a bad thing...nice to have those sort of days from time to time.

Light up Richmond (December 5,2014)

My lady came to Richmond (she does that often) and we went out to see Richmond light up the city on December 5. It is a huge event...with her and me as well as a large number of the residents of the city coming to the James Center to see the lights come on there. The city also outlines the buildings in white...it is really something to see. This was the first time we actually got out to see it, and it was really neat. There were bands, all sorts of decorations and a large number of people. I had a great time as did my girlfriend. We later met up with her sister and his boyfriend and went out to the Jefferson.      

The Jefferson Hotel lit up a few days earlier. I got the photo of the tree there. That is an amazing hotel (think its the only five star hotel in Richmond) and it is an amazing place. The tree is at the foot of the grand staircase, and the Gingerbread house is another of their amazing creations. This one is not small...you could easily stand in it.
Had a fun time there, enjoying the visit from her sister and my friend (though both of them are) with my amazing girlfriend. Coming up is a bit of time out to see some of the amazing (and well known ) "Tacky Light Tour" and that was also amazing (and will be the subject of my next post.  

Concord....Christmas Underway (November 28-29-2014)

During Thanksgiving went back to North Carolina where I had a very wonderful time with my girlfriend (a wonderful dinner she made) and went out on the Friday night after to see some of the city displays such as this street scene of Union Street in Concord, NC. Not many of the houses on that street have been decorated yet but they son will be (if they are not now as I write this). I had lived there for some 14 years and Concord does a really fine job..and the people who live there make some fine places to check out. As I have found, Richmond, VA (where I live now) goes all out: but enjoy both places!

 This is Village Park in Kannapolis, NC...this is their city tree and a couple of little cottages. The one with the line is where Santa is, the other is animated bears. The whole park lit up on November 29 for the First Night. There was a big party and fireworks and then the lights came on, and there was a train ride (the train is always there...the lights are not, through all the light displays. Some of them go back to the Cannon Mill days of the town.  

This was my favorite light displayand like so many it was animated. Some of the others can be seen in the background.
For the Saturday trip went to Amy, her mom, her Mom's friend Barbara, and Amy's friend Sara. We had a really great time, discovered the wonder of "Cuban Coffee".
On Saturday we were Amy, her Mom, and me. It was a very nice time on a very good day. Winter has yet to kick in as it is still (officially) fall, but did have a cold Friday...Saturday was warmer.
Looking forward to some more sights this season.  

Early view of Christmastime from Asheville, NC (November 14-16)

Great weekend, this was actually taken November 14 at Stewart-Haas Racing, where my son Robby and I stopped in to see the shop and the cars there. Of note, on the following Sunday Kevin Harvick won the 2014 Sprint Cup Championship. Nice shop and a fun visit.
We also made a visit to El Amigo for some first rate Mexican food (a favorite place of ours) . Prior to that I went to RideNow to see the new area they created for Indian Motorcycles. They did not have the one I wanted to see (The Indian Scout) but still some fine bikes, and a very cool area to check out. Will have more on my "Racing with the Wind" Page.  

This  photo was taken November 15 from the Blue Ridge Parkway...just a remarkable view from up there on what was a cool day in Asheville, NC. This is one of my favorite places not just in North Carolina, but for that matter, in the world. Nice to be back there (have been a few times) and we had fun for a short bit exploring the Parkway. We made a stop at the Folk Art Center, which I highly recommend if you are in the area.
My second trip to the mountains this year, just a few weeks ago I was on the motorcycle also on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but that was in Virginia.

This is downtown Asheville, we went down there for a while. Love the town as there is a lot to see and do there. We really enjoyed some of the shops in the Grove Arcade. Fun to walk around and check out the sights. There was also some live music on the streets.
After that, we went to Biltmore Village and checked out the shops there (Amy did a bit of shopping as well) and wandering the shops.
We did not make it to the McDonalds near there but have been there before (well, I have) and highly suggest that...it is something unique to see.  

 Made a quick stop to the world famous Grove Park Inn...which is really something to see. It is all decked out for Christmas already and even outside of the season it is a remarkable sight.
This is from the backside of the hotel, which gives a view off in the distance of downtown Asheville (which can be seen at the upper right).
Again we wandered the shops there and checked out some of the hotel. Did we stay there? No, but for a really special occasion it would be a remarkable place to spend a night or two).

This is what we came to see...the Bilmore. Gets a lot of names....such as "America's Castle". It is a sight to behold with over 240 rooms, 40 plus bathrooms, and over 60 fireplaces. It is a just a huge and beautiful thing-especially so at Christmas. We loved the tour of the house and checking out the rooms (and no you dont get to see all of them, but enough to give you a real feel for the place. Tour takes about an hour and a half. It was a wonderful and remarkable visit and one I hope to repeat with my wonderful girlfriend in the year to come.