Virginia/DC Vacation - Richmond - Hollywood Cemetery

A lot of the charm of Richmond to me was the history.  The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737 and over the years has been the site of several notable events.  A trip to this historic city wouln't be complete without a trip to the Hollywood Cemetery.  Opened in 1849, designed to be like a rural garden and named for the numerous holly trees.

Entrance to the cemetery



One of many of the roads within the cemetery



View of the James River from the cemetery

Resting place of the only Confederate States President, Jefferson Davis

One of the many beautiful monuments

90 ft granite memorial to the more than 18,000 confederate soldiers buried in this cemetery

From the Confederate section

The Black Iron Dog

According to Richmond's Urban Legends, a black cast iron dog used to stand in front of a general store on Broad Street. Every day, a little girl would walk by the store and hug the dog or talk to it sweetly. The little girl died of scarlet fever and was buried at Hollywood Cemetery. Shortly after her death, the cast iron dog was moved to her grave because there was an iron shortage during the Civil War and the owners didn't want the dog to be melted down for weapons. Ever since then, stories have circulated that the dog protects the little girl's grave and that it moves around on her gravesite, that its eyes follow visitors around the park, and that its wild barks can be heard late at night.

Virginia/DC Vacation -The streets of Charlottesville

Living in the country and travelling to and from work in the car, I have little opportunity for street photography.  The weather was great during the few short hours we spent in Charlottesville and there was no shortage of people in the downtown mall.

Virginia/DC Vacation - Harrisonburg

While staying in Harrisonburg we enjoyed the warm hospitality of my daughter's friend, Megan.  Fantastic accommodations in the middle of historic downtown.  Megan lives in a loft, not the type of loft created by architects and designers, but a beautiful loft above the bicycle shop.

My morning coffee was from down the lane at the bakery

And was enjoyed behind the bicycle shop at the bridge over Black's Run

Back inside the loft

The eclectic decorating style that makes her place so charming

A table for two in the morning light

Our last morning started with a trip to the market

Where fresh vegetables were sold

And breakfast was served on the back of a Malibu

Texture Tuesdays

This weeks challenge for Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday is to use one layer of any of Kim's textures.  So, if one layer is required, then 4 must must make up for the past few weeks that I've missed.  I really just couldn't stop once I got started.  The textures used were ugglove, chamomile, stainedlinen and grannyscupboard.

Before the textures

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Virginia/DC Vacation - Harrisonburg

Our first day in started off leisurely with a trip to the Edith J Carrier Arboretum at James Madison University.

The afternoon was spent touring around town seeing some of the historic buildings.

Asbury United Methodist Church 

Thomas Harrison house built in 1750

More photos can be seen on my website Wildelifephotography.com

Virginia/DC Vacation - Getting There

My daughter and I recently traveled to Virgina for a mother/daughter vacation.  A girls' vacation where we could visit museums, art galleries and see some of the sights of Virginia.  It was my first trip there while my daughter had been to Harrisonburg and Washington previously.

What to do when you're bored

At the airport all the passengers were excited to be waiting for the red eye to Toronto

Arriving in the Washington Dulles area

The luggage that arrived 3 hours after we did