Urban hike

Today Chris and I hiked in Richmond, our hometown. First, we visited the American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar. That was ok. The layout of the museum was well planned in that visitors move in a clear direction winding through the exhibits arranged chronologically. The use of space was generous and, while there was a lot of text to read, it wasn't overwhelming. For us the neat thing about the museum is that it is within walking distance from our house. After visiting the museum, which does cost, we then visited the National Park Service's Richmond National Battlefield Civil War Visitor Center also at Tredegar. This was free, but is more for picking up maps for the driving tours of the battlefields in the area. There are a few exhibits, chronicling Richmond life during the Civil War.

After leaving Tredegar, Chris and I walked along the canal walk. It was a gorgeous sunny day. We then walked through Shockoe Slip and through the 17th Street Farmers' Market. Then we had a quick bite at Cafe Gutenburg, sitting outside.

Next, we walked down to the Old Stone House (home of the Edgar Allen Poe museum). The museum was small, but nice. Afterwards, we walked down to Historic St. John's Church. Unfortunately, we were too late for a tour of the church, but we did get to visit the gift shop which has wonderful jewelry, at a reasonable price. I bought 4 pairs of earrings. The cemetery at St. John's is wonderful and many of the tombstones are early (1600s and 1700s). (George Wythe and E. A. Poe's mother, Elizabeth, are among the people buried in the churchyard.

Chris and I then began our trek back home. Along the way we passed the former site of Elizabeth Van Lew's house (now Bellevue School), the floodwalls, and the former site of Libby prison.

We crossed over to Brown's Island where the beer and seafood festival was in full swing. We listened to some music, then walked onto a short observation bridge to watch kayakers navigate the rapids.

After all this we finally headed home. It was a great day and we had a lot of fun!