Richmond, Virginia, Maymont Mansion

Today Bill & I started out by going to McGeorge's Rolling Hills RV Store for a couple of screws for our ladder. We figured if they didn't have them we could always go to Lowe's. Well, after spending money on a folding step, a new slinky for the sewer hose, toilet paper that was on sale, we came out with 2 bags, a box & no screws. So off to Lowe's we go. The picture below is right across the street that goes to McGeorge's & the entrance street to Bass Pro Shop where we went yesterday. After securing the needed screws at Lowe's (Thank you Bob - our friend from Ashland that works there), we set out for Richmond to see if we could find our way around a little. This man on a horse looked like he was riding out of the sky right down Rt. 161. Bill snapped the picture & found out it was Stonewall Jackson. (statue of course!) But look at the trees, you can tell how big it was!

This is a typical colonial style home here in Richmond. Can't you just place yourself back in that time period?

Another statue Bill snapped Upon a closer look we found it was Christopher Columbus.

We finally arrived at our destination - Maymont, A Gilded Age Estate on 100 acres of beautiful gardens, park, arboretum. In it's prime, it was cared for by 40 gardeners/caretakers. Again, I'm sorry you can only see pictures of outside, once we got to the home where the real beauty lay, you couldn't take any pictures. Snookie, where are you when I need you???? There was only our tour guide, Don, Bill & I, a babysitter & 3 elementary children in our group. There was no "hip shooting" here!

This was one of the beautiful gardens behind the Carriage House. Beautiful lilies

I only snapped this picture because those of you back home reading this will know why. Betsy Adams was the name of a neighbor girl where I grew up. Her father sang at Bill's & my wedding.

The following pictures depict the mode of travel during this era. They were absolutely gorgeous. Very well taken care of.

The sleigh had just been refurbished by the Amish of Pennsylvania. Bright colors were used so they would show up in the snow.

Look at that wax job!

I hope you can read most of the signs. I don't want to retype what is on them. It's going on 11pm!

Three other styles of horse drawn carriages.

The trees on the land were just beautiful & HUGE!

This is a side view of Maymont. It has 33 rooms in the mansion. It is a rare home in that no intervening families or adaptive conversion separate what we see now from the original owners 32 year occupancy.

The home was owned by James & Sallie Dooley. They lived in this home from 1893 until her death in 1925. The furnishings are almost all original, many from France & Italy. Mr. Dooley was known as the business leader of the New South. The area was a war-torn region & he provided major investments in rebuilding & linking small, scatter rail lines that had been destroy during the war. He knew what needed to be done to get the infrastructure of Virginia on the right track after the war & he had the means & the knowledge. He was very goal oriented. He was from a wealthy family & at the time of his death he left 3 Million Dollars to St. Joseph Orphanage. Also, the grounds & building were to become open to the public as a museum upon the death of his wife. She lived here until her death in 1925. Within 6 months the home was open to the pubic, March 1926. Mrs. Dooley loved gardens, writing poetry & stories. These writings expressed her passion & love of gardens. She, too, left a great deal of money to the Episcopal Church when she died.

You would be very impressed with the inside of this mansion. If you are ever in Richmond, VA, please visit. It was only a donation of $5.00/person & well worth the tour. Bill was very impressed!

This shows the portico where you would be let out of your carriage.

This is the side door where our tour began with Don, a former principal. Notice the lights at the side of the steps. I took a close up later.

This was a side/front view.

One of the many gazebos on the property.

Another huge tree called a Deodar Cedar.

Looking toward the top

A close up of the ornate wrought iron lights.

Our guide told us many, many interesting facts both about the home & the life style of the wealthy, social families that visited the Dooley's.

That about ends our day. It was very hot & humid again today. My ankles & feet are swollen by the end of the day! Time to go to bed & put them up!

Tomorrow we will be going to Scotchtown with our friend Linda A. to see where Patrick Henry lived from 1771 to 1777.

So, until next time.................The Traveling Cardinal's

A Tour of Ashland, Virginia

Yesterday morning I got the bugs washed off the front of the trailer & by the time I got finished I was soaked in sweat! Gosh is it humid here! I'm ready to head back to Arizona!!! Even with it's triple digit numbers, but then it's monsoon season there too, so I guess I'd rather visit family & grand kids! Got to talk to a couple of neighbors at the campground. Fun to hear everyone's travel stories & horror stories of repairs & problems with rigs! We all have them!

After finishing that chore I couldn't wait any longer to call my friend Marnie in Indiana!! Unfortunately she was eating lunch at Applebee's & we couldn't talk for an hour, but we did get to talk for a little bit! We have emailed twice since then & exchanged pictures of kids & grand kids. Wow! 13 yrs. is a long time to catch up on a very dear friend! Just like my childhood friend Linda! A lot of ground to cover. Marnie said they would be in Harbor Creek, PA (near Erie, PA) the first of July while we are also home. Since I have a doctors appointment on the 6th in Erie, we are going to plan on getting together! I can't wait for that hug! As we were talking she said her husband had had a church in Apache Junction for 6 years! That was prior to us being out there, but it seems are paths are crossing often, just not at the same time! Hopefully we will be able to pay them a visit on our travels soon.

Last evening we spent some time visiting with friends here in Ashland, VA. Today Linda picked up Bill & I and we went out for lunch. She named three places for choices. Since we had already been to 2 of them before & I never knew that Bass Pro Shop had a restaurant, we chose to go there. The food was great & you sure didn't go away hungry!!! This was the outside doors. Notice the door handles - they are fishing rods! Inside the restaurant were 3 huge aquariums. This was a very "fuzzy" fish. They were all very colorful & beautiful. Linda got some good pictures with her camera. If she happens to send me some, I'll post them next time. This was inside the bar area. After lunch we headed to the Train Station which also serves as their Visitor's Center. Tomorrow Bill & I will be checking out some places on our own as their son will be visiting with them so it's family time. Those times are few since he lives in California.

This is the new clock outside the train station. Beautiful. Of course, you can see what time we were there. Amtrak also stops here to pick up passengers. Trains go through town quite often. Last night as I was setting at my computer I heard 2 go through.

The old baggage cart. Can't you just here those iron wheels rolling over the bricks?

Bill & Linda

On the back side of the train station is the Henry Clay Inn. It has 14 guest rooms all refurbished in period furnishings & each room different. Next we went to Hanover Court House & the Hanover Tavern. The court house was locked, so we only walked around outside, but afterwards we took a tour of the inside of the tavern.

The outside of the tavern. Patrick Henry once lived here. He was married to the daughter of the owner, John Shelton who operated the tavern from 1750 - 1764, & in his absence would host & bar tend at the tavern. After reading some of the signs posted inside, they have found through research that the original tavern no longer exists & no one seems to know what happened to it. The north portion has been found to be dated 1791 & the south ell portion 1823. Signs across street in front of Court House.

This is the Court House.

This is the old jail.

We only found one prisoner there. I think he was in for Temporary Insanity - after all he was travel the afternoon with 2 women. That was scandalous!!! I think he's still smiling though!

The magnolias are still out! Oh how beautiful! They are huge!! I won't tell you how we had to get these to our level to take pictures. I'm a blogger - you do anything (most anything) to get a picture!

Well, it took 2 hands to hold this down to my level with the camera! Look at the size of Bill's head & then the blossom! I never realized how big they were. I guess I've only ever seen them from a distance, probably driving by in the vehicle.

Back to the tavern. This was an interesting sign upstairs. You probably can't read it, but it says "Compared to New Englanders, early Virginians who drank tended to drink to excess." "Public drunkenness, while against the law, was rarely punished in colonial Virginia." Then it goes on to tell what taverns were used for - social places, places where you could get together to play draughts or checkers, cards during their stay.

This is in one of the former dining rooms upstairs. They have some of the renovations covered over with Plexiglas so you can see the renovations. Here you can see the early wallpaper. Below you can see the fresh paint on what they called the cage bar.

This is one of the dining rooms in the tavern.

Many times when the tavern became crowded with guests, the family running the tavern had to cram all of their belongings into one room. The lady at the front desk told us that Mrs. Chisolm, whose family ran the tavern from the Civil War through the 19th century was amicable to both the north & the south & because of that the tavern was never burned down. Smart lady - she played both sides for the good of her business!

This is the back of the tavern where today you enter & at that time was the entrance & faced the stage coach trail. You walk down the ramp & enter the lower floor. The top floor is closed to the public & is used for office spaces.

That concluded our tour for today. We got back to the trailer around 5:30PM & my legs ached so I decided to just download the pictures & take a short nap so I could put my feet up. Well, my nap extended to about 8:10PM!!!! Since we ate a big lunch, we just had dessert & snacks for supper. You know, the healthy meals!

So tonight since I wasn't sleepy, I could keep my blog Up To Date!

So, until next time................The Traveling Cardinal's

Short Post - No Pictures

I can't believe it is 2AM & I'm still up! Since I got my blog caught up, I finally had time to read my friend's blogs. How do I get so far behind?????

For any of you who want to have a blessing in your life & listen to some great music, click on Baker's Blessings on my blog. You won't be sorry!

For any of you who want to follow along on a beautiful trip to Alaska, click on Snookie & Bob on my blog. Again, you won't be sorry! Humor & beautiful pictures await you.

We arrived (I guess I'd better say yesterday afternoon) in Ashland, Virginia. Will be staying here for a few days to visit with friends Linda & Don. After getting set up we cooled down (it's hot & humid here!!!!) then headed for Walmart to get hair cuts (I got scalped again - I said a "trim"!), then Bill needed to have his pedicure & my manicure. See how good we treat ourselves! Really, he has problems with his toe nails & it's better for someone else to do it than him to butcher himself. Then since it was going on 7PM we decided to go to Cracker Barrel for supper.

Linda called & after our morning chores are done we will get together to chat & look at pictures of their new granddaughter. She offered to let me do my laundry (what a great friend!!!). I don't have much, but I do need to wash sheets this time.

In the morning I have to wash the front of the trailer. We traveled through several towns with all the same name. They were called: "Bug City". Not as bad as when we were in Illinois, but it still is pretty gross looking. If you don't wash them off, they get baked on & it's harder to get them off. So that's tomorrows job.

Tonight (much earlier) Renee & I searched the Internet each at our own homes & I finally found an old friend I had lost track of. We Googled her name & came up with her & her sons name at the same time!!! They had started a business together near Indianapolis, IN. Renee looked at one site & I at another. I read the information about Dana & she found a picture of the company employees on another & there they were!!!! Marnie & Dana. I used to babysit Dana many years ago. In our travels, we have been trying to locate old friends & give them a call or a visit. Now we know where they are! Believe me, tomorrow (today) I'm going to give her a call. I can hardly wait! The reason I hadn't Googled her before was I couldn't remember her last name after she remarried. Thank you Renee! See, it pays to have a younger mind that can remember names!

Well, I guess I'd better get to bed. See, it was pretty short........or at least as short as I can be. I tend to be a little gabby.

So, until next time................The Traveling Cardinal's

Final Post for the Weekend of June 6-7th

We spent Saturday night in Sheperdsville, Kentucky just south of Louisville at Grandma's RV Park. We thought about staying more than one night & going back to see what was there, but you know, I think I said before I was a little tired of sightseeing. Besides,,,,,,,Interstate 65 was horrible!!! We have been on some pretty terrible roads! The back roads are so much nicer! Those cement highways should be outlawed! No wonder we have to keep repairing things.

Speaking of which, Kerry & Karen if you read this......yes, our bedroom slide is giving us problems again. I had to call from the above campground to where we purchased our trailer to ask them what to do. The rubber inside that strip was hanging out a little over a foot! They told us to cut it off so it wouldn't get jammed up & caught on something in there when the slide went in or out. The screws/bolts are okay, the rubber ripped around them. Something more to fix!

Our friends from back home, Bob & Carolyn, have a daughter, Melanie & family, that lives about 30 minutes down the road in Bardstown, KY so we gave her a call & asked if she would like to meet us in a Walmart parking lot if there was one that could accommodate us. She said sure. We got to see her, her husband Dave & the three cute little girls. My how they grow. We haven't seen the little one since she was a baby & now she has 2 more! We visited about 45 mins. or so & then had to get on our way. It was 1pm when we left.

Now here is how dumb a blogger I am!!!! About 35 miles down the road I realized I didn't take a picture of Melanie & her family!! I can't believe I did that! Oh well, what's done is done. I couldn't turn around & go back.

So on our way. It's obvious we weren't going to travel very far this day. Later start, visiting, just enjoying our day. By now we are getting hungry & decide to stop at a rest stop. Fixed our lunch & went out to the picnic table. Well, when we stepped out of our trailer, we found out we were well guarded! These National Guards were on their way from Ft. Knox, Kentucky to Richmond, KY. Good looking, you bet! Remember.........Never forget to thank them for their service. It makes them feel good & it makes you feel better!

Hard to see beyond the trees, but there was a pretty big line of them!

We weren't having much luck again finding a campground in our book, so we decided to just go with what we saw advertised along the road. We saw Outpost RV Park advertised & decided to just drop in & try it. We got lucky. It was small, but nice & grassy. Not fancy but nice. They had a pool, laundry, small store & friendly folks. The best part it was only $20.00 for the night!

We left Salt Lick, Kentucky around 8:30AM this morning. Stopped at a rest stop before Charleston, W. Virginia & talked to a trucker about an alternate route for the Toll Road. He said, don't take it. It switches back & forth up the mountain & down the mountain. It turned out it was only $3.00 for the Toll & only 5 miles further than the hilly short cut. We have to remember this for another year if we take this route again. We came this way last year, but of course, we couldn't remember. He was very nice & we thanked him for the information.

Crossing a river in Charleston, West Virginia on Sunday, June 7th.

About 2 exits before Toll Road Interstate 77 & Interstate 64 split, we saw a place we wanted to stop. Besides it was lunch time. We kept seeing signs that said Taramack, The Best of West Virginia, Artisans at Work. So we thought okay, let's check it out. Well, this is what we found. A very interesting building. It also had RV Parking!

It was a circular building with artisans from all over the state of West Virginia. Some beautiful stuff here. We bought some CD's for special people and our lunch. It gave us a break to walk around after eating anyway. Besides, remember, we are R-E-T-I-R-E-D. Not much of a schedule!

Beautiful Quilt!

These framed pictures were made of some type of heavy paper that was cut. The birds feathers were cut to look like feathers & then all placed 3D on to matting. They were beautiful!!! This is the same picture only reversed of what I did in Scratch Art.

These are paintings done on feathers. Amazing. So much talent!

Oh, Linda, this one is beautiful! You gals that do all that beautiful quilting! Oh, you too Jay! Sorry, didn't want to forget you. Your work is beautiful too!

Coming down some really steep hills/mountains of West Virginia. Hold that trailer back. You should have seen the run away truck ramp. I have never seen one go so far up a hillside!!! Should have taken a picture of that!

Now this is camping! Tonight we are staying at a little 20 space campground called Summer Wind Overnight RV Park. $23.00 a night, full hook-ups. Just what we want. Where did we find it??? The sign along Interstate 64 said "Camping". Took another chance & there it was! Did they have a spot? Yup. Again, we got lucky. This gentleman, Russ, on the tractor was mowing & he is the campground host. He waved us on in. Said get set up & we'll do the paperwork afterwards! The spots were getting full as a company is putting 36-39 wind turbines in close by & some of the workers are staying here. The trailer right next to us is the supervisor. We are seeing more & more of these turbines. Taking advantage of Mother Nature's elements, for the good.So tonight we are in Dawson, West Virginia. Tomorrow we have reservations at Kosmo Village Mobile Home & RV Park in Glen Allen, VA, just south of Ashland, VA. We will be visiting with long time friends, Don & Linda for a couple of days. We have lots to catch up on since we saw them last year. They even have a new granddaughter to show us pictures of. Can't wait!

So now you are caught up to where we are at the moment & where we should be tomorrow night. Maybe we will slow down a little now. The area will be where we have been before. The only thing you'll get now is pictures of grand kids!

So, until next time...................The Traveling Cardinal's