Old Rag and Old Richmond

Elisa’s daughter Jenna is in a hiking club, and one of its summer trips was to Old Rag, a well-known hike in the Shenandoah National Forest. Elisa asked if I could come a day earlier than originally planned so I could come along on the hike, and I am so glad I did! This was what I would call a Mohonk-like hike, with rock scrambling and arrows and tight squeezes – it also had some straight hiking trail through the woods, and some breathtaking vistas. At Mohonk the hikes take an hour or two – this one took about six; we took our time, but even so, it’s an all-day affair. I’ve gone on some other great hikes in the DC area with Elisa and her family but this was probably the most ambitious. It was great!





The same weekend, we drove down to Richmond to drop Jenna off at Latin camp. Another state capital – I was glad to come along for the ride! I had been eager to visit Richmond for a while; I’d read up on it last year when I went to Norfolk, Monticello and Montpelier but I just didn’t have that one more day. And a day wasn’t enough to cover everything of interest, but we made the most of the time we had.

First, we went to the State Capitol – I’ve now been to over half of the state capital cities, and quite a few of the State Capitol buildings! They tend to be very interesting. I’m not ready to make it a quest to get to all of them – some are out of the way – but when it’s practical, sure. This one was designed by Jefferson and contains a life-sized statue of Washington that’s said to be a perfect likeness. There’s also a bust of Meriwether Lewis – I still like finding those Lewis and Clark tie-ins.


We then went on to the Civil War Visitor Center at Historic Tredegar – the one time I heard Civil War expert/Princeton Professor James McPherson speak, it was at a fundraiser for this museum. The Civil War part was closed because the air conditioning was out, but we had an interesting talk with the park rangers there (and got that all-important National Parks Passport stamp), learning something about the history of Richmond, and we saw some of the outdoor exhibits on the iron works for which the site was named (it was the Confederacy’s most important foundry). This is the headquarters for the Richmond National Battlefield Parks – there are ten in the area – and it also has a nice view of the James River. Something to come back to!

Next stop was the Confederate White House. When I went to Mississippi, I went to the home where Jefferson Davis lived after the war; this was where he and his family lived during the war. The building is located next to the Museum of the Confederacy – which we didn’t have time for…. I am glad we did the White House tour – had to prioritize. Had the air conditioning been on at Historic Tredegar, we’d have missed this altogether – I’m glad we saw a little bit of each. I’ve yet to do a tour of the White House in D.C.; in the recent past I’ve written a couple of times to my (Illinois) senator for tickets but never heard back. Maybe now that I’ve switched my voter registration to New York I’ll have better luck?


A little history from further back – we went to the church in front of which Patrick Henry said, “give me liberty or give me death.” We missed the reenactment, which is supposed to be quite stirring, but (theme of the day) you can’t do everything! Our last stop (one of the park rangers had told us about it; it’s also where she got engaged) was the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. It’s situated overlooking a bend in the river; the view from there reminded the founders of Richmond-upon-Thames, and that’s how the city got its name.



There are also historic houses, several other monuments, canoeing and kayaking on the James, and more! I don’t know when I’ll be back, but there’s certainly enough to go back for. Latin camp is very competitive – only the best students from all over the state are chosen to go – I congratulate Jenna for getting in and am glad I happened to be along for the dropoff (so that made three interesting camp visits for me this summer!).