Rich rich Richmond

After we left New Bern, NC we headed to the Richmond, VA area where we stayed at a great lodge in Glen Allen.  Glen Allen is about a 10-15 minute ride into what I believe is the "downtown" area of Richmond.

The area of the Lodge property that had electric and water hook ups was outstanding and we had it to ourselves most of the week and a half we were there ~ Arlo was delighted to say the least!  Yup, we were too, as well as delighted that the Lodge was full of fun and friendly people ... too much fun and friendly on a couple occasions!

We headed into Richmond a couple times.  One warm and sunny afternoon and one evening for dinner.  Downtown Richmond has a river running through it (that would be the James River, I believe).  We've been to several "river walks" over the last six or so months (San Antonio being my favorite by far).  Richmond's seems to be a work in progress and at its beginning stages as there were many vacant "store fronts" and/or restaurant areas available for rent.  Hopefully within a few years it will be well on its way to be a close second to San Antonio!

As I've said many times before, history just "isn't my thing" but this may be another case in point where I'm mellowing a bit ... check out the lovely brick street in the photo below.  

As well as this interesting shot of raised rails running through/along the river walk area (perhaps an example of why I say it is a work in progress?)

The Poe Museum (no we didn't go in) ... so I can't critique it!!

Below is a photo of Richmond's Main Street Station which really intrigued me.  What a beautiful old building, inside and out with such a history.  Built in 1901 it has survived fires and floods.  I had two very informative booklets I picked up while we were there, but darned if I can find them now that I am finally (yeah) doing this post.  The link I've added here has a bit of that information as well as a nice photo taken in 1971 showing the tracks going into the station - looks much nicer back then than it does now ... now there are many over passes and not such great views of a beautiful old building!  Foolishly, I didn't take any photos inside the building - DAH, what was I thinking?

Sadly, much of Richmond's history is based on the slave trade.  As I felt when we were in Charleston, SC a year or so ago, the horrors man kind subjects on another to just baffles me.

So we left this very interesting area on April 9th and spent that night in a service area on the NJ Turnpike.  I have been strongly opposed to rest area/service area stops since we hit the road three and a half years ago.  If Sir Arlo wasn't with us I wouldn't care at all where we stopped, but I have huge issues walking Arlo in the morning in rest areas.  This stop along the NJ Turnpike however was really a good stop (especially since we were pushing the envelope on a travel days maximum mileage and there were NO campgrounds for miles and miles and miles). 

We arrived in Middleboro, MA (our old "stomping grounds") on April 10th and will be here until May 13.  We've had many doctors appointment etc. in the time we've been here, as well as seen family and many friends.  The weather, however, has been less than delightful -  we went to New Hampshire to visit Pat Beth and Princess Paige and spent the night, waking up to snow on Saturday morning!

That's all for now ... gonna do a quick spell check, but no proof reading, I'm beat and headed to bed.

Hope everyone enjoys a delightful Easter with loved ones.

Stay tuned ...