Richmond

This weekend I fought the Labor Day traffic to visit Richmond, just because it's there. I took this picture from the grounds of what used to be a large Confederate hospital but is now a Visitor Center in a neighborhood that has seen better days. It reminded me very much of Detroit. I want that house on the right that is in the middle of being renovated. And hey, there's the Beetle! Show off your new plates, little Beetle.

I didn't do much, but I drove around to see what was there. I did visit the Tredegar Iron Works which used to make many things in its life (flour, wool, railroad parts), but is most famous for making cannons for the Confederacy. Now, while the upper two floors are dedicated to displaying boring relics of the war, on the lower floor they produce ... couch potatoes.

Outside there was a massive 1,000 ton press! It was made in Toledo, which made it even more exciting. This was used to make railroad parts. Look -- that's where all of the squishing happens.

The building itself looks very distinctive from the outside. The bottom floor is the original construction from the early 1800s when it was a mill, the middle floor is from when it was reconstructed as an iron works, and the top floor is a different color because it had to be rebuilt after a fire in the late 19th century. Very neat. Again, I was ready to move in. They're kind of attached to it though.

Not shown: it was really freakin' hot out. We finally got some rain, thanks to tropical storm Faye, but that just made it even more humid. Autumn can't come soon enough for me.