Random Bits of Virginia

On our trip to Lake Phoenix, we did some other things. I went looking for geocaches, which was harder than I thought it would be. The town of Blackstone is about half an hour away and promised to have almost a dozen geocaches. Unfortunately, some of them were no longer active (why don't people take them off the web site?). I did visit Schwartz Tavern which dates back to 1798. It's a museum now but the museum was not open when I visited. The geocache under the porch wasn't there either!

Schwartz Tavern

Across the street from the tavern is the Harris Memorial Armory, which also was not open. It does look like a cool building.

Looks older than the tavern, huh?

After the first evening of diving, we went to a Japanese restaurant called Narita. I had a box dinner, which included California rolls, tempura, and beef teriyaki. Yummy!

A satisfying dinner

On our way home, we stopped in Richmond for lunch at Capital Ale House. I had a lovely bourbon cask-aged porter along with the frittata off the brunch menu.

 

Darkest beer ever?

Hash browns and frittata

We walked over to capital hill where the state government is located.

A small tower on the way to the capital

The main building is getting a face lift so the area had construction equipment and fences galore.

Capital building

The Virginia Women's Monument is a tribute to famous (First Lady Martha Washington) and not-so-famous (seamstress and author Elizabeth Keckly) women who have had an impact on the state and the country at large. 

The Virginia Women's Monument

Ready to join the ranks

Printer Clementia Rind and Martha Washington (seated)

Nearby is the Virginia Washington Monument, with George Washington on horseback and several Virginia founding fathers (like Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson) around the base.

Washington monument

Across the street is the Old City Hall which looks very fancy.

Old City Hall

Another monument on the north side of the Capitol is dedicated to Doctor Hunter Henry McGuire. He was an American Civil War-era doctor who was physician to General Stonewall Jackson. After the war, he founded a medical school in Richmond and provided medical service to the indigent and to the freed Blacks. 

Hunter Holmes McGuire

The next monument is the Virginia Civil Rights Monument. It is a four-sided granite block with statues on every side representing the struggle for school desegregation in Virginia.

Barbara Johns led one of the protests as a teenager in 1951

The civil rights lawyers who took the case through the Virginia legal system

A great quote from Thurgood Marshall

The final side of the monument

Nearby is the Virginia Executive Mansion where the governor lives and works.

Executive Mansion

Just down the hill is an office building for various government departments along with the Lieutenant Governor's Office.

Offices

Another view of the Capitol

Fenced-off front!

A comprehensive list (slingshots?)

On the way back to the car, we spotted a small plaque commemorating the location of a building where Edgar Allen Poe once lived. The original building is gone.

Sinister angle courtesy my daughter

Hopefully we'll get to visit the local Poe Museum on another visit to Richmond!