LOVE, HAPPINESS, AND ART - Richmond, Virginia

First real "unusual" hotel on this trip: The Quirk Hotel in Richmond. Built in 1916 as Mosby & Co Dry Goods Store in Italian Renaissance Style it offers almost loft-like boutiquey rooms, a bar & restaurant and a gallery – all whimsy. and a bit quirky, pastell colors and art everywhere! Love it!

Lobby Quirk Hotel

After a good night's sleep and breakfast in the hotel on Saturday morning, we started early to explore downtown, Capitol Area first. Took the bus (which is complimentary and pretty efficient with a bus stop  closeby the hotel) and stopped at the capitol (note: this one doesn't have a golden dome!), passed by The Valentine museum and the Little White House. In the last years the VCU Medical Center has taken over the downtown skyline: modern highrises form a huge hospital complex . Richmond's skyline has changed completely since our last visit!

Richmond is  the capital city of the Commonweatlth of Virginia, incorporated in 1742 and independent city since 1871. It played an important role during Civil War, being the capital of the Confederate States of America. We walked over to Trefelgar Square and the Civil War Museum (old ironworks buildings, producing weapons for the military) and visited the museum (below). 

On  Canal Walk we headed towards the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in the Shockoe Bottom neighborhood (pics far below). The Canal Walk stretches 1.25 miles along the James River and Kanawha and Haxall Canals and is used for walking and biking. Especially interesting is the outdoor gallery along Richmond’s James River Power Plant Building. Different artists created gigantic murals there:

 

For Edgar Allan Poe: It's more the building itself, being of special interest:The Old Stone House is considered the oldest residential building still standing in Richmond. It houses an exhibit about Poe’s childhood in Richmond. Poe never lived in the Old Stone House, but he still had connections to the home and its surrounding neighborhood.

 

 

On we went to the grand Amtrak Main Street Building from 1901, being known as "The Clock Tower", serving Amtrak and being seat of a great Virginia Visitor Center. Took the bus from there, feet getting tired, back to the hotel in the historic Jackson Ward (photos below), once a hub of Afro-American commerce and culture. Here it was where the first female Afro-American banker Maggie L. Walker made history. We visited the residence of this courageous and ambitioned woman later in the afternoon.

At the hotel, we picked up our rental car and drove to Maymont in the afternoon - first of all, a huge public park, idyllic and lush, with historical Italian and Japanese Gardens (below). In addition, there is the excentric mansion of the Dooleys, furnished and decorated in the gilded age-style (photo far below), well worth a visit! And, a Nature Center and a farm - huge grounds, lots to see for everybody!

The Virginia Museum of History & Culture, our next stop, presents Virginia history by using different kind of media and artifacts to demonstrate history from the early beginnings to nowadays.

Since the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was so closeby, we couldn't avoid to visit there as well. Just a cold brew inbetween to "freshen up". Founded in the midst of the Great Depression, in 1936, several individual collections came together in the course of time, among them a great Fabergé collection. 1970, the  South Wing, was added, and more European art  exhibited, 1976 the North Wing was completed and a phantastic Art Nouveau Collection added. We especially admired their Greek & Roman Antiquities and were blown away by this universal/comprehensive collection, including a sculpture garden (left photo) ,,, all for free!!!

 

 

 

 

Walked over 10 miles this day, it was nice, sunny and rather warm. Got a good feeling for the vibe of the city, for the changes and neighborhoods. 

Back to the hotel in the evening, we had just about 20 min. to clean up for dinner at Alewife, in the historic Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond. Had skipped lunch and were compensated with a wonderful meal of mainly fish and seafood, before we headed to the Richmond Folk Festival in downtown Richmond's historic riverfront. This is a free three-day event, offering folk music on six stages. We listened a bit before we called it a long, packed, highly interesting day. Richmond really is a hidden gem and well-worth a visit.