Category: Virginia

I got a little enthusiastic in terms of the number of photos that I took at the Hollywood Cemetery and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, so my next priority on my Richmond tour was to find somewhere to charge my phone. And this looked like a suitable location on W Cary Street.

The service counter and I have to confess that ordering coffee in the United States is far more complex than in the UK. Coffee is just as often served cold as it is hot, so I have to remember to order a hot latte, then remember that regular milk is not a useful answer as there are multiple dairy and non-dairy options, with other questions usually coming in about how long I want things to be brewed for, whether I want something dripped and so on. Anyway, I ordered an Americano as that means I don’t have to answer lots of questions and potentially get muddled up.

One thing that I dislike, of which there are actually many, is when coffee shops ask for your name when taking the order. It constantly fails as a process and I like that many locations now have alternative ways of dealing with that. A number strikes me as far better, it gets rid of any chance of mis-spelling or mis-pronouncing names. And, of course, the system failed here with three of the five orders I saw having a disconnect between the name they called out and the name that the customer was expecting to hear. I never heard my name, so goodness knows what they’d been calling out. I stood and looked confused, in my best British way, and the server asked what drink I had ordered. That was a better system, she then found my drink.

There were charging points all over the place in the coffee shop, which was mostly busy with a slightly younger clientele reading, working or meeting with friends. The coffee was entirely acceptable, but I mostly pleased to have a full charge again. There were a variety of seating options including sofas, tables inside and outside as well as the high benches which I like. There was also wi-fi available to save my data and it’s the sort of laid-back and on-trend place that I could have stayed in for some time if I wasn’t mid-way through trying to rush around the museums of Richmond.

It was also handily located near to the bus stop so that I could get back into the centre of Richmond, all for free.

I always try and visit the Capitol building in each state if I can, although I’ve lost track a little which ones that I’ve been to over the years. The Virginia State Capitol is in Richmond, although it has in the past been located in the towns of Jamestown and Williamsburg. This one has the honour of having the oldest elected legislative body in North America, as it contains the Virginia General Assembly, once known as the House of Burgesses. I prefer the word burgess as it is a traditional British word, but that’s the exact reason they changed it in 1776, to mark a break from British rule (or misrule).

Although there are security checks, anyone can enter the Capitol building free of charge, which I think is a principle that applies to all of the states, notwithstanding the issues caused by the Trump uprising in the US Capitol. There are these display units showing all of the past members of the House of Delegates.

The central lobby of the building. I was just going to have a look around myself, but a lovely lady came over to talk to me and mentioned that she’d be doing a tour soon after. That proceeded to be a private tour that lasted over an hour and she was a marvellous representative of the state of Virginia, knowledgeable, welcoming and keen to engage. That dome looks like it should be visible from miles around, but it is sunken in and was a last minute addition.

The marble statue of George Washington is also important, it was created by Jean-Antoine Houdon in 1785 and it’s the only one that Washington posed for and he also took an oil impression of his face to ensure that it was life-like. It stands at 6 feet 2 inches, just as Washington did, and is thought to be the most authentic representation of the former President. The guide asked me if I had visited the copy of this statue which is at Trafalgar Square in London and I had to confess that I wasn’t entirely sure that I had ever noticed it. I will though look out for it next time I’m in London.

I took this photo a couple of days later when I returned to Richmond, but it shows the extensions on either side of the building. The Roman style architecture (actually a copy of the Maison Carree in Nimes) was an attempt by Thomas Jefferson in 1788 to build something that wasn’t British in design, although the guide explained that there isn’t much stone going on here, this is a brick building with plaster all over it. And, those columns had pine trees in them whilst they worked out how to deal with crafting them to make them look in keeping with the proportions, with those trees still apparently being in there.

There are plenty of important historic moments that have taken place in here, this was the Chamber of the House of Delegates between 1788 and 1904. It’s where the state agreed numerous constitutional changes and also, perhaps most significantly, it’s where in April 1861 the representatives of Virginia agreed to secede from the Union and they placed Robert E Lee in charge of the troops. Lee is a controversial figure, he supported the right of people to own slaves, although he was personally against the practice on moral grounds.

I’m not entirely sure why they have a mace, as it was one of the things that the Americans wanted to get rid of at independence. By 1774, they had flogged off the ceremonial mace that had been given to the Colony of Virginia in 1700 and they had initially intended to replace it with a new specially commissioned one, although they didn’t bother in the end. This new mace was presented to the House in 1974 and they seem to quite like it, apparently now wanting to foster links between the US and the UK.

How things used to look in this room. They stopped using this room in 1904 as that was when a new East Wing was added for the House of Delegates and a new West Wing was added for the Senate. The new rooms were opened for use in 1906 and these older rooms were partly repurposed for offices, although have been put back again to how they once looked. There was an extensive redevelopment project between 2004 and 2007 which saw the entrance reconstructed with a new underground lobby, but that’s closed at the moment as they’re modernising once again and also fixing some bits of the building which aren’t in great shape.

A brick from the first Capitol building in Jamestown, giving some continuity to the General Assembly.

The Speaker’s chair.

The Old Senate Chamber, although smaller in size than it once was.

Within the room is the Eugene Louis Lami painting of the storming of a British redoubt at Yorktown by American troops, not entirely ideal for us British visitors…. However, Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher have had tours of the building and I think it’s agreed now to let bygones by bygones.

The Jefferson Room, which was once part of the Old Senate Chamber, but it was sliced up in the early twentieth century to make way for new offices. That model on the left is an original one that was used in the planning of the building.

The House of Delegates, still in use today. I say “in use”, but they don’t exactly pour all their time into sitting here, they sit for 60 calendar days in even numbered years and 45 days a year in odd numbered years. I suppose that makes it easier to organise tours of the building though. As an aside, only Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia refer to this as the House of Delegates, with other states picking one of Assembly, General Assembly, State Assembly, House of Delegates, or House of Representatives.

The Senate of Virginia, also still in use today, on a similar sitting basis as the lower chamber.

I very much enjoyed my visit, although I was there a lot longer than expected and had to rush at quite a pace to my next location, the Holocaust Museum, to get there before it closed. This Capitol building has been well looked after and it was fortunate to survive the 1865 Burning of Richmond following the end of the Civil War, but it got through that pretty much unscathed. Back to today, I was very pleased to get such an enthusiastic guide who was knowledgeable about the building and had a conversational style of explaining the Capitol’s history. All very lovely.

I had to rush to this museum after a longer than expected visit to the Capitol and that meant I only had thirty minutes to look around. It’s difficult knowing how to pace a visit when having limited time and also not knowing how big the museum is, but fortunately I got to see just about everything other than a few temporary exhibits upstairs without rushing too much. The building is a former American Tobacco Company Warehouse which was given to the museum by the Virginia General Assembly.

This recreation of a concentration camp is certainly quite a dramatic first exhibit in the museum.

I think every Holocaust museum tries to acquire a concentration camp prison jacket, with this one likely being from Sachsenhausen concentration camp. A US military officer was able to visit East Germany following the end of the Second World War and he acquired a number of jackets, including this one. It has two prison numbers so was likely worn by two different individuals, but it’s not known what happened to them.

There’s a lot of powerful imagery throughout this museum, with this area representing the horrors of Kristallnacht. Unfortunately, there aren’t a vast number of original exhibits, but that’s not surprising as there aren’t that many still in existence and numerous institutions like to have items such as this to help tell the story of the Nazi hate.

There is a sad story behind these packing cases, which were received by the Jewel family in Richmond in 1940. They were sent from Austria by individuals trying to flee the worsening Nazi regime and it’s thought this was about the time of Kristallnacht. Unfortunately, the individuals who sent their items never managed to flee and there’s a final sadness that their possessions were damaged en route. It’s hard not to think of the care with which they likely packed these cases and their uncertainty about their own future, a story which unfortunately has no positive ending.

A recreation of the St. Louis debacle which I’m surprised I haven’t written about before as I’ve come across this appalling story in numerous museums. In short, the St. Louis boat set off from Hamburg in an attempt to get to Cuba and from there many hoped to enter the United States. Those poor souls were fleeing occupation, but other than for a handful of people, they then were refused entry into Cuba by the country’ President, even though they had the appropriate documentation. Then, the United States refused to accept them as well, even though they were sailing near to Miami and there was opportunity for them to disembark.

The forsaken individuals were accepted back in Europe by countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK and France, but some went to areas which were overtaken by Nazis during the Second World War and they didn’t make it out alive. It’s thought that of the 936 refugees who tried to leave in early 1939, 227 died during the war. In 2012, the United States apologised for this travesty of justice and then in 2017, Canada did the same. Unfortunately, Canada’s general behaviour over many years in blocking Jews entering their country was horrific and one which they’ve struggled in many ways to deal with and there’s a powerful memorial about this in Canada called the Wheel of Conscience, with more information at https://pier21.ca/wheel-conscience.

Most photographs that I see at Holocaust and museums covering the Second World War are ones that I’ve seen before, as the Nazis tried to block evidence of their brutality and so there’s not that much out there in terms of media. These ones from Kovno, which is Kaunas in Lithuania, are ones that I haven’t seen before and are certainly horrific. Without going into excessive details, the idea of being forced to drink water is horrific and I can’t imagine what these people went through.

An armband originally worn by someone fleeing Kaunas.

These drawings are from Terezin, which I visited earlier on during the year.

This memorial marks the 1.5 million Jewish children who lost their lives during the Second World War.

Names of the many children who died are listed on the memorial.

There’s little let up on the imagery as these two photos show, but for many of their younger visitors, who are primarily from the US of course, I imagine much of this is new to them and it’s a useful way of explaining the narrative.

There’s a large section of the museum which focuses on the creation of Israel.

I was particularly interested to see how they dealt with the Nuremberg court rooms as I visited the real ones a few months ago.

It’s a fairly life like recreation of the court room to be fair within the limitations of the height that they had to play with.

This 50 rpm record has a recording of the judgements that were read out at the trials.

This is a recreation of a Jewish synagogue from Kaunas, with the area also being used for lectures.

The recreation of the synagogue was made more authentic as staff went to Lithuania to take measurements and photographs, with this reconstruction opening in November 2005.

I could have spent longer here than the thirty minutes that I had, not least as I didn’t get chance to visit upstairs, but I found it an interesting and well put together museum. Perhaps some of the imagery was a bit dramatic, and some broken lighting made a few areas quite spooky insomuch as I couldn’t see where I was going for a few seconds, but given it was free of charge to enter I have no complaints. Indeed, it’s very well reviewed by the vast majority of people who have visited, although a few did feel that the imagery was a bit too much at times. However, given the number of school visits that they get, it doesn’t seem inappropriate to tell the story of the Holocaust in different ways.

It’s clearly a well funded museum as it’s a large location which isn’t charging for admission and they’re also embarking on a modernisation as the permanent exhibits haven’t been substantially updated since they opened in 2003. Inevitably this museum isn’t as large as the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, but it still attempts to tell the story in the best way that they can. Definitely recommended though and best to take an hour or two to look around.

I took this in Richmond, Virginia and not in Birmingham at the Conservative Party conference with Liz Truss. Anyway, enough politics for this blog, back to the usual history, complaints and bars….

Founded in 2013, this pub and restaurant is located near to Richmond’s main railway station and the building was previously used as offices. It takes its name from the formidable Southern Railway, which was formed following the merger over many decades of over 150 railroads.

It seemed busy at first with the bar and main restaurant area being full, but fortunately there was a quiet spot near to a power outlet available. I had been drawn to this venue as they were listed on Untappd and the prices for food and drink seemed reasonable.

My quiet corner, just as I like it, away from loud music and raucousness.

The food menu, not huge as that’s something that tends to worry me, but with plenty of choice.

I went for the Speedway Stout from AleSmith Brewing Company, a very agreeable imperial stout with a richness of taste. Not particularly local as it’s from San Diego, but I’ve seen the beer on menus before and felt it appropriate to try it here. I felt it complemented my choice of meal very well, although I think stout goes with nearly everything, especially crisps.

Note my bag was given its own seat and this is the bison burger. I’m not actually sure that I would have noticed that this was bison as opposed to beef, but it had a pleasant flavour and it was sufficiently filling for my needs. Everything was at the appropriate hot temperature and there were a decent number of chips.

One negative was that a credit card fee was added to my bill, although technically I had paid with a debit card, but I accept that likely makes little difference. I’ve never seen this on my many visits to the United States and it was an unwelcome addition. I must admit to lowering my tip for my first time in the US as no-one had pointed this charge out to me, so the restaurant received the bill amount I expected plus 20% as the tip. In the UK the practice has been made illegal, as it has in numerous US states as well and I can imagine that number will increase as it does no good for the customer service element. It was only a small addition, but I’d rather places were transparent if they’re going to charge it.

It’s a decent restaurant and bar, although the reviews are a little mediocre in places, seemingly because of indifferent service at times. I found the team members to be personable and helpful, especially ensuring that I wasn’t placed near to the very loud birthday group. The prices were reasonable and I like that they’ve made an effort to become involved with Untappd and to have several different beers available across a number of styles.