Tag: Richmond

I’ve already mentioned that Richmond offers free bus travel, but they also have the rather excellent Pulse service. This is a high capacity rapid transport service which operates on a 7.5 mile route with some advanced technology to ensure it runs efficiently. It’s free until 2025, as is the rest of the city’s public transport, and is funded by two hospitals, with 14 stops and services generally running every ten to fifteen minutes.

I tried to board at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Hospital, but it was such a busy service that I decided to wait for the next one. It was clearly popular with staff from the hospital and everything seem organised and well managed, it gave the impression of being a very useful service.

I only had to wait for around eight minutes for the next bus, which was nearly empty. Clean and comfortable, this is a wonderful service and a positive contribution to traffic congestion in the area.

One thing that I had intended to do in the United States was to get a new pair, or indeed two pairs, of Levi’s jeans from the outlet stores that they have across the country. However, the downwards spiral of the pound meant that any price advantage in buying them in the United States was lost, so I decided to just visit Ross Dress for Less (similar to TK Maxx in the UK, or indeed TJ Maxx in the US) to see what they had. To my surprise and slight delight (I don’t really ever get delighted clothes shopping, it’s just an annoying waste of time) they had numerous end of line jeans from Levi’s for about $25, or just over £20. Well, that was marvellous, I just got one pair, but ended up paying a chunk less than I would have done from the outlet centre.

The photo above shows the large size of the store and hints at the rather erratic state of affairs in terms of presentation. Their changing rooms were also all closed, but a helpful staff member went to open one for me, but the moral of this story is never underestimate Ross Dress for Less….

I’ve never been to a Panera Bread outlet, so after my clothing purchase success I thought I’d see whether or not it would be as good as Greggs.

They’ve made some effort with the presentation, although the ordering process was muddled and I instead headed off to order at a kiosk. Although that didn’t help a great deal, I only ordered a drink and I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to collect it from so I stood looking confused. Anyway, personally I wasn’t that engaged with the menu, I had been looking for something like a bagel with avocado, bacon and poached egg or something similarly decadent, but they were pushing cookies, odd looking sandwiches and their bagels only came with cream cheese.

The drink, a mango yuzu citrus charged lemonade (charged here means they’re claiming it’s full of energy), was rather lovely and I liked that there was free wi-fi and several power outlets. I wasn’t sure whether the drink was refillable or not, although you can buy monthly subscriptions. Most of the customers seemed to be doing similar things to those with the Pret subscription in the UK (and in the US now), namely getting the free unlimited drink and sitting without food whilst using their wi-fi and power (well, like me but without the subscription). The shop was clean and the staff were friendly, but this is nowhere near as exciting as Greggs and although it was very convenient for me to get work done, I’m not sure that I’d come here for food.

After my success buying jeans and getting a drink at Panera, it was time to use Richmond’s free public transport for the final time to get to Richmond Staple Mills, the second Amtrak station in the city. All clearly signed, I was suitably impressed.

The driver gets off, shuts the front door and then clears off to get some food. Another passenger gets bored of waiting for the driver’s lunch break and pushes the central door open and gets on, being followed over the next few minutes by other passengers who were unaware of the breaking and entering that had taken place (I accept I might have exaggerated a little with the breaking bit). Unsure of the protocol here, as I didn’t want to look like I barged onto the bus, I lingered near the entrance in the most nonchalant manner that I could muster. The driver did look marginally annoyed that he had a full bus, but I was able to board knowing that I hadn’t broken any rules….

The driver, who seemed a little stressed with life, then proceeded to miss the Richmond Staple Mills stop which confused me, as I had pressed the bell to stop, and infuriated another passenger who asked what he was doing. All this stress, as well as arriving two hours before the train in my usual manner, meant I popped to the next door McDonald’s. Well, it’s local American cuisine and all that.

It wasn’t packed and I was pleased to note that they were one of the few McDonald’s to actually have power outlets, I’m not sure that many in the chain actually want people lingering.

It was buy ten Chicken McNuggets and get another for $1. Healthy….. Note the beautiful presentation offered by the crew members, but I was pleased with the eight or so soft drinks that I managed to get through during my stay in the restaurant. I like free drink refills it has to be said.

This was the house that was the executive mansion of the Confederate President Jefferson Davis between August 1861 and 2 April 1865, purchased by the Confederate government from Lewis Dabney Crenshaw who had used it as his residence in Richmond. If history had gone differently and the United States had broken into two permanently, this could be where the President of the Southern States would be residing today (albeit with a lot more security).

Davis not only lived in the property, but he had his government offices on the second floor of the building. Colonel Burton Harrison, the private secretary to Davis, also lived in the property so that he could be close at hand. Two of Davis’s children, William and Varina Anne, were born in this property, and one, Joseph, died here on 30 April 1864 after suffering a fall.

On 4 April 1865, just two days after Davis had left the building for the final time (or more fled), US President Abraham Lincoln came to the building, which was just ten days before he was to be assassinated in Washington DC. Lincoln had been visiting to discuss with leading politicians from Virginia how to rebuild the damaged state, but had deliberately only visited the first floor as he felt it was inappropriate to visit the private residence of Lewis.

A heritage board about the building, which notes that it was nearly demolished in the late nineteenth century and it then became the Confederate Museum between 1896 and 1976. Today, the building is still a museum of the Civil War although the VCU hospital now surrounds it on all sides. I thought it was fascinating to see where the decisions were made on behalf of the Confederate states and also to known that Abraham Lincoln visited the property.

This is a bit like Charing Cross in London which is defined as the centre of London and from where distances are officially measured. This stone in Richmond was placed here in 1929 and it marks the measurement of distances for the roads in the state of Virginia.

Noting that it’s the zero milestone.

It was donated by Jonathan Bryan, the son of local newspaper editor Joseph Bryan and Isobel Bryan. It’s something different at least and he got a good location for his stone, right next to the Capitol building.

The Virginia Executive Mansion was constructed in 1813 to designs created by Alexander Parris and it was built by Christopher Tompkins. The first resident was Governor James Barbour and it’s the oldest occupied governor’s mansion in the United States.

The Capitol Building is conveniently just a thirty second walk away.

I poked my phone through the barriers to get the top photo, but the security team didn’t seem too concerned. Although, to be fair, they had a put a load of history signs up at the gate so they wouldn’t have been surprised to see someone standing there. Over time the building has been faffed around with, but in 1989 they decided to reverse some of the changes to make it look more like it did in the early nineteenth century.

One sign is slightly harder to read since it’s in the middle of a bush.