Richmond Trip

This past weekend, I drove down to Richmond and saw a couple friends of mine. The main purpose of the trip was to see my friend Mark Morton. Mark is a friend I knew in the Air Force. Last month, he retired from the Air Force and was visiting Richmond to see his daughter Janae who lives there. Since Richmond is only about 2 hours driving from where I live, I asked if he'd like to meet while there and, he said yes.

The other friend I arranged to meet is my travel friend Harvey. Harvey and I have done a number of Globus tours together as well as 2 cruises. That's why I call him my travel friend. We get along well and have some similar interests. I always enjoy getting together with him during the tours and cruises we've done. This trip would be no different from those.

After I checked into the hotel I was staying at, I rang Harvey to let him know I was on my way over to his apartment. We met there and caught up on the news. Also, he gave me back my cruise port book I loaned him. I wanted to get this back as it tells what optional excursions may be available at various cruise ports. I don't have any idea what I'm going to do at some of the Alaskan ports I'm going to visit in June and, I'm hoping the book will give me some ideas.

All caught up on the latest goings on, we drove over to an Outback Steakhouse that was close by. The restaurant is apparently very popular in Richmond as there was a bit of a line when we arrived. We were told we would have to wait 30 minutes or more for a table. We said no problem and started looking at the menu. Apparently, we got lucky because I don't think we waited more than 10 minutes before we were told a table was available. After giving the menu a good look, we settled on the bloomin onion for an appetizer and, we both had the largest steaks they offered - the 20 ounce Porterhouse. The bloomin onion appetizer was fantastic. It was fun breaking off the onion leaves from flower shaped onion (why they call it bloomin I guess) and dipping them in some awesome sauce. My steak came with 2 sides and, I chose a salad and a sweet potato. The salad was good though I thought they were a little skimpy with the salad dressing. The sweet potato was great with butter and brown sugar in it. I had the steak prepared in their classic style and, it was outstanding. I savored every bite. Service by our waitress was pretty good. Overall, we had an outstanding meal there and, I would recommend the place heartily to anyone. After the meal, we drive back to Harvey's apartment complex where we said our good byes. We'll meet again in less than 2 weeks for the Peru tour.

I drove back to my hotel and crashed. The next morning, I got up, checked my emails (I'd taken my laptop with me with its USB modem that enables me to connect to the Internet any where in the U.S.) and got ready to meet my friend Mark. The hotel I was staying at has a very nice breakfast buffet. It's reasonably priced and, I offered to treat Mark and his daughter to breakfast there. The two of them showed up on time and, we made our way to the restaurant. Mark's daughter Janae turned out to be a very nice young lady. Mark himself looked to be doing well barring fighting a case of walking pneumonia! We had a nice time talking before they had to head on to do other things. After they left, I quickly packed the few things I'd taken on the trip and checked out. The drive back was uneventful. Overall, it ended up being a really nice trip to Richmond. I very much enjoyed meeting my friends Harvey and Mark and, I hope to see them again in the future (I'll see Harvey again on the Peru trip and, Mark plans to stay in West Virginia for at least a little while.).

My First Bike Road Trip

This past Wednesday and Thursday, I did my first bike road trip. I've been wanting to show my friend Harvey my TMAX. Finally, after checking my work schedule at the post office where I work, I decided to ride down to Richmond to show him the bike. The ride would be the longest one I've done so far. I would ride for 135 miles. Also, it would be more challenging than I expected. Riding down to Richmond, I encountered rain 40 miles outside the city. The rain wouldn't let up till later that night. The second problem I encountered was it getting dark. That can create problems if I accidentally fog up the face shield on my helmet. At times, I've had it where I couldn't see outside my helmet.

Once I arrived in Richmond, I checked in with my friend Harvey. I briefly showed him the bike and then, I followed him to the hotel where I was staying. It was a Holiday Inn close to some Kroger Convention Center I think. The hotel was very nice and, I would enjoy my stay there.

Once I changed out of my riding gear, Harvey and I drove to an Outback Steakhouse restaurant he's eaten at a number of times. This would be my first time to eat at one of those. I'd heard good things about the restaurant chain and, it would live up to what I'd heard. Their bloomin onion was outstanding and, the porterhouse steak I ordered was excellent. Also, I got to try out a James Boag lager which is an Australian brand. It turned out to be a good lager and, I particularly enjoyed getting to have some real Aussie beer.

The next morning, Harvey and I had breakfast at the hotel's breakfast buffet. The buffet reminded me of previous buffets on Globus tours I've done. I can't wait to go on the Ireland tour I've signed up for. The buffet was good and, I was able to get very filled up.

After finishing breakfast, I gathered my stuff, checked out of my hotel room and loaded it into my bike. Then, I thanked Harvey for a nice time and told him I'd try to make it back to Richmond in a couple months. It's always a pleasure seeing him. After that, I got on my bike and started it up. I waved good bye and drove off to the nearest gas station where I tanked up the gas tank. After that, I hit the road and began my trip back.

The trip back ended up being pretty scary thanks to wind turbulence. At one point, my bike was shaking slightly sideways while I was going 70 mph plus. I found out that if I decreased my speed, it would reduce the turbulence. However, it made the ride back longer time wise. I wanted stop and hope the winds might die down but, the weather forecast was predicting things would get worse. It was supposed to start raining again around 3 p.m. I wanted to be home before that started. I ended up gritting my teeth and calming my nerves so I could continue the ride. After 2 hours 20 minutes, I made it home. I've rarely been so glad to see my apartment.

I thought about what I might be able to do differently on my next road trip. There were 2 things that came to mind. First, I could get a touring windshield for my bike. The windshield will supposedly reduce wind turbulence and noise. Second, I could buy some wind deflectors which should reduce wind turbulence around my legs and the middle section of the bike. Because of the Ireland tour and taxes, these 2 ideas will have to wait for 3 or 4 months. Once I get those 2 items, I hope to do another road trip to Richmond. It would probably be sometime in the summer. Hopefully, the nicer weather will make for a more enjoyable ride as well. We'll see. Cheers all!

Richmond - Part III

It is always a bummer when it's time to leave. I very much enjoyed myself in Richmond and it was great seeing Harvey. He's a lot of fun. We've have similar interests and enjoy doing things together (don't get any wrong ideas about our friendship though). We just like doing stuff together. I've gone on a number of fun trips by myself and enjoyed them but I've found I enjoy them more when I do them with a group or someone I like. That was how I came to meet Harvey. I'd decided to do an escorted tour of Australia because I thought I'd enjoy it more that way. As luck would have it, Harvey signed up for the same tour. We were the two bachelors in the group so the tour guide paired us up. We hit it off and have been friends since.

Packing was easy since it'd only been a two day trip. I slapped a few shirts back in my bag and double checked my hotel room to make sure I wasn't leaving anything behind. We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant as that was easiest plus their breakfast buffet was good.

We arrived at the Richmond Staples Road train station and waited for my train to pull in. There was a surprisingly long line for the train. We agreed to get together again the beginning of October when it would be his turn to come up to my neck of the woods (we take turns). We plan to see a show at Toby's Dinner Theater in Columbia, Maryland. We saw Beauty and the Beast there some time back and really enjoyed it. It was my first visit there and I was impressed with the place. The show was very good and the food was respectable. Also, you will get filled up unless you don't want to. We're also going to attend the Maryland Renaissance Festival. We did that last year and really enjoyed it. After that, we'll do a trip to NYC the end of November to see the Rockettes and a show on Broadway. It'll be nice to do that barring the $300 plus a night hotel (gasp!).

Finally, it was time to board. I gave Harvey a sad handshake and got in line. The conductor checked my ticket and directed me to the Business Class car. Five minutes later, the train pulled out of the station. The ride back was uneventful barring a problem they had after we left D.C. At Union Station in Washington D.C., they change the engines from diesel to electric as the line is electrified all the way to Boston. We pulled out of Union Station fine and we were making good time when the train unexpectedly slowed down. They made an announcement that the electric current on the line wasn't steady and it would take a few minutes to fix the problem. Because of this and a previous delay because of a freight train, I ended up arriving back at BWI Amtrak station at 11:30 a.m. which is about 30 minutes late.

Fortunately, I didn't have to be at Medieval Times till 3 p.m. I drove home and got ready for work. The show went fine and we had approximately 500 people attend that night. The next day, I'd get my last day of training on the postal route I'll be the substitute carrier for. That would be another adventure that I'll post about. This post is done as this concludes my fun trip to Richmond. Cheers all!

Richmond - Part II

I slept well at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The bed was very comfortable and they have a CD that helps you get a good night sleep. The last time I stayed at the hotel, I asked them if I could have a copy. They said sure and I've used it number of times since. The CD is made by some sleep specialists who help you relax so you can conk out quickly. I've found it really works and would highly recommend it.

Harvey and I had breakfast at the hotel. To my surprise, they gave me coupons for two free breakfasts. I found the breakfast buffet good. You'll be able to fill yourself up and may be able to even skip lunch.

After breakfast, we drove out to see Harvey's travel agent. His name was Joel and he works at the Richmond Carlson Wagonlit (Update 12/31/12: Joel no longer works for the Richmond Carlson Wagonlit as this company no longer exists in Richmond. He is a freelance travel agent now that works through 2 different travel companies - 1 in Richmond and 1 in Fredricksburg I think). The reason I was meeting him was he had gotten price information for us on a trip to New York City (NYC) to see the Rockettes. The last time we went to NYC, we discovered the Rockettes have certain seasons they perform. Late July wasn't one of them. We also discovered last year that you want to go to NYC during the prime season, you'd better book early. So, Joel was helping us put together a travel package for early December so we could see the Rockettes and another show on Broadway. Joel did a great job and found us a reasonable hotel though the price still made me gasp. It's going to cost over $300! a night at this hotel and that is one of the cheaper ones. The five-star hotels would go over $600 a night! I've never paid so much for a hotel. When they say NYC is expensive, they're not joking.

Another thing I checked into with Joel was doing a Scandanavia tour with Globus. I was really bummed when I had to cancel the planned tour this year. I found out Joel will be able to tell me if the tour has enough bookings to where it will go. He would also be able to help me if I had to cancel. I booked with another agency and found out I didn't know what credit card I used to charge me booking on so I couldn't get my money back when I cancelled since I couldn't prove I'd paid for the booking. It cost me over $200. Serious ouch! Hopefully, Harvey and I will be able to do the tour late-August of 2007. It would be a lot of fun to do another tour with Globus. We'll see if it happens.

After meeting with Joel, we travelled to the Virginia Museum of Art (VMA). It's a good art museum with an interesting exhibit on the famed Russian jeweler Faberge. Faberge didn't create the pieces he was renowned for but he did come up with the ideas for the renowned eggs. The famous Easter eggs were very beautiful. They also gave a poignant picture of the doomed Russian royal family. I found it really interesting viewing the various pieces of the collection. One painting the museum that I disliked greatly was a piece of modern art done I believe by a Dutch artist. It was a painting of a modern Black man dressed in modern clothes holding a sword. To me, it looked incredibly STUPID. I never would've wasted money on such a pathetic painting. I hope the museum got the painting cheap because in my opinion, it isn't worth much if anything. The museum also had the Mellon collection. The collection was donated by George Mellon and was nice. Mellon must've been into fox hunting as he had a lot of paintings on that. He also had three Renoirs, a Monet, and a bust of the apostle John by Rodin. I particularly enjoyed those. The Rodin piece was very impressive. I think Rodin was a great student of Michelangelo in that both emphasized the strength and majesty of the human body. Lastly, we saw an exhibit on Tiffany glass which was nice. The workmanship clearly shined through. The pieces were very beautiful.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend that if you like art and you're in Richmond, you check out the museum. We spent an easy four hours there.

After that, it was time to find a place to eat. Harvey remembered a place where he'd go for some noteworthy sausage sandwiches. I said lets go. We drove out to this mall only to find out the place had closed. Harvey then remembered a bar-b-que restaurant which was open. The bar-b-que however wasn't terribly impressive and it wasn't air conditioned. I would've rated it so-so.

I had a fun day and was pleased that we were able to make arrangements for future travels. The NYC trip should be a lot of fun. Sadly, I'd be returning home the next day. I was worried about Amtrak's timeliness as I was scheduled to work at Medieval Times from 3 to 11 p.m. Stay tune for the final installment of my Richmond trip and find out if Ditto makes it back in time or not.

Richmond Trip - Part I

As I mentioned in previous posts, I planned to take a train trip to Richmond, Virginia to see my friend Harvey who lives there. Last Wednesday, I finally made the trip. The following Richmond trip blog entries will concern the trip.

I woke up two hours earlier than planned. This was usual for me when I was going to be leaving on a trip. I was nervous about getting my bag packed, arriving at the train station in time, and being there when the train pulled in. I tried going back to sleep but it didn't work so I got up, got dressed, scrounged up some ready to eat food (I don't like to cook) for breakfast, and then packed my bag. The trip was only going to last a little over 2 days so it was easy to pack for. In no time, I was packed and ready. After wasting some time fiddling with some playing cards, I picked up my bags, stuck them in the car, and drove to the train station parking lot. The parking lot at the BWI Amtrak station is a large multi-level two garage lot. I suspect the vast majority of their customers are commuters who take the train into either Baltimore or Washington D.C. I know when I reached platform 3 that it was packed with people with no luggage who boarded the MARC (Maryland Railroad Corporation) train. There were only three of us left for the Amtrak train to D.C. and one of those worked for Amtrak. The train arrived about 10 minutes late which isn't any big deal. I found my seat in Business Class and settled down for the ride. I napped a little as I was a little tired. I didn't sleep great and as I mentioned, I woke up early. I also listened to some bible doctrine tapes to pass the time. The trip seem to go quickly and I arrived in Richmond at approximately 10 till 10 in the morning.

Harvey was waiting for me at the station. It was nice to see him again. He's a really nice person and a great person to chat with. We walked out to his car and started to catch up on the news. For some reason, it seems that though we've talked a number of times on the phone, there was always more to catch on (things we forget to mention on the phone perhaps?). We drove to the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Broad Street. I'd stayed at this hotel before and felt it was reasonably priced. It was also well placed in relation to the train station. Lastly, I was pleased with its service. The people there were always friendly and helpful. Check-in was easy and it was time to figure out what we wanted to do. There wasn't any set itinerary so the two of us hashed out ideas before finally coming up with a plan. We decided to see the Confederate White House, Museum of the Confederacy, and then go some place for dinner.

The Confederate White House is where Jefferson Davis and his family lived in Richmond during the time he was President of the Confederacy. It is a really nice house and the organization that runs the tours of the house has done a really nice job of restoring the house to the that time. Our guide showed us the rooms the rooms the Davis family lived in and told us stories about the family. During the time the family lived in the house, Davis had two children bringing the total to four. Davis believed children should be able to do whatever they want, not be disciplined, and should be listened to by adults. Not surprisingly, his children were unholy terrors and went through a number of nannies. The situation grew so grave that Mrs. Davis would post help wanted signs without her name so prospective employees wouldn't know what they were getting into. The house also had the rooms where Davis met with his generals including the legendary Robert E. Lee. It was something to stand in the same room where he, General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and others met. Our tour guide was excellent and really helped make the house more alive to our group. After the house tour, it was time to see the museum.

The museum has three levels. One covers the history of the confederacy in general and the war. One covers the confederate navy which receives very little notice in most history books. And one covered the life of the conferate soldier. The confederacy in general floor helped explain the political maneuvering that took place and some of the painful choices those in the military had to make. One interesting thing that surprised me was how much the confederacy sought to draw upon from the U.S.'s founding fathers. They argued that the founding fathers approved of slavery and that made it right. In fact, a number of founding fathers disapproved of it but the issue was so contentious that for the sake of helping found the new nation they dropped the issue. Later, during the 1789 (I hope I have the year right) constitutional convention, the issue had to be dropped again as it again threatened to destroy the nation. The floor also had a number of interesting items including Brigadier George Armistead's sword that he used at Gettysburg. For those of you who don't know, it was Armistead who lead Pickett's famous charge. Armistead took off his hat, put it on the top of his sword, and then advanced toward the Union lines. Sadly, just as Armistead was reaching the Union lines, he was cut down by Union fire. The floor also showed how General Lee lived on campaign. Lee lived in the same conditions his soldiers lived. He believed it wrong for him to live better and it would bother him greatly if he did. He slept on a portable cot, used a simple mess kit, and slept inside a standard tent. The floor did a great job of covering the various issues and events. Harvey and I had no problem spending an hour and half there.

The floor covering the Confederate Navy was also interesting. It was the confederates who built the first iron-clad ship, the precursor to the modern navies of today. The ironclad C.S.S. Virginia could've helped break the Union blockade but the Union came up with its own ironclad the U.S.S. Monitor. The result was an epic battle. While the battle ended in a draw (neither side could penetrate the others iron armor), it marked the unquestioned end of the age of sail. Another interesting topic the exhibits help show is how critical the Confederate Navy was in keeping the Confederacy in the war. The South had precious little industry and had to import a large number of goods. Thanks to the Confederate Navy, they were able to get a number of the supplies they needed. Ultimately, the Union blockade slowly strangled the South but for a number of years, the Confederate Navy did its part in keeping the Confederacy in the war. The last thing of note that many people may not be aware of was that the confederacy helped further the development of the submarine. The Hunley was capable of diving and like modern submarines took in water to help it submerge. It used a harpoon connected to a barrel that contained as much as 135 pounds of gunpowder. The submarine would charge a ship, ramming the harpoon into the ship, set off the barrel containing the gunpowder which would either cripple or sink the ship. The idea actually worked and the Hunley became (as far as I know) the first submarine to sink an enemy ship when one sank the U.S.S. Housatonic outside Charleston, South Carolina. Sadly, the ship and crew that sank the ship were lost for unknown reasons. Later, the missing submarine was found just outside the Charleston harbor. It remains unknown what caused the submarine to sink. One last interesting note on the Hunley. The Hunley was human powered. It used eight men sitting cramped on a bench pushing and pulling a crank that powered the propeller which in turn powered the ship. The conditions the ship's crew lived in were appalling and speaks of the bravery and sacrifice the fighting men of the confederacy made for their cause.

The third floor on the life of a confederate soldier was interesting as it showed letters from the soldiers and told of the hardships they went through. It also showed art that done during the period. The quality of the art varied. Some of the paintings and drawings were well done while others weren't. The floor also has a painting of the last meeting between Lee and Jackson. It's a nice painting and has an interesting story behind it. The artist E.D.B. Julio planned to become the artist of the Confederacy but his grand plans went no where. His painting remained unsold for a number of years and he ended up going bankrupt. The painting was bought in the auction of his property and eventually donated to the museum. It was the only painting the artist did of the confederacy.

After seeing the Confederate White House and the Museum of the Confederacy, it was time to get something to eat. Harvey had heard of dining event that was being held at the Richmond NASCAR racetrack. Supposedly for $25, you could have all you could eat of crabs, corn on the cob, pie, and other various foods. It sounded really great. It was to be the beginning of our misadventures when it came to dining. We drove out to the racetrack only to find out that you had to buy tickets in advance. You couldn't buy them at the event. I still had a hunkering for crabs and Harvey thought he knew of a restaurant that would have them. After getting the address at his apartment, we drove out to Crabshack Louie's. Crabshack Louie's it turned out didn't have any steamed crabs though they did have soft-shelled crabs (which I tried). I was also frustrated when I tried to order something to drink. They didn't have lemonade or root beer and I ended settling for a ginger ale. I decided to try their calamari as a I really like the stuff. The waitress assured us it was enough for two. It wasn't. The only good thing I can say about their calamari was there weren't any big chunky pieces. Price wise, I thought it was a bit of rip-off. Overall, I thought the place was very pricey and I wouldn't recommend it.

After dinner, Harvey dropped me off at my hotel. The day had been a fun day and I looked forward to the next. The next day I would get to meet Harvey's travel agent, see the Virginia Museum of Art, and have another dining miss adventure. Stay tuned for Richmond Trip - Part II.