go forth and explore virginia.

Pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but Virginia.org is an incredibly useful site for anybody looking to plan some short (or long) trips around our home state. Check out their list of Historic Sites, their Craft Beer map, and their "Go Old School" feature about journeying around small-town Virginia. There's tons more where that came from, so don't ever come telling me you're bored.

lexington and hot springs.

Back in February (purposefully before I became too pregnant and uncomfortable for long car trips) we headed to the Homestead in Hot Springs, VA for a relaxing babymoon.

On the way there we stopped in Lexington for a visit to the Lee Chapel, which I hadn't been to in years. The chapel contains Lee's tomb as well as a small museum and gift shop. The tomb itself is a gorgeous sculptural feat, which the tour guide is very knowledgable about and can point out the significance of all of its details.

The R.E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church nearby is nothing to sniff at either, though we didn't go inside there.

Also in Lexington we made a little pit stop at Duke's Antique Center and were impressed by the collections there. Check out all this jadeite:

In Hot Springs, there is almost nothing in existence besides the Homestead hotel. The whole site is absolutely gorgeous and brimming with history, so it was the perfect getaway for us.

We attended a history tour of the hotel and learned about the various iterations of the business dating all the way back to 1766, and wandered through the halls into ballrooms, the movie theater, spa area, etc. etc. The place is crazy opulent, but somehow still feels relaxed.

Outside, I love how the steam from the hot springs rises up out of grates in the ground and gives an otherworldly quality to the view.

While in the area we also managed to check out Falling Spring, a lovely waterfall visible from the side of the road not far from the Homestead.

And we also stopped by the Jefferson Pools on the way out of town, which is the original location of hot springs bathing for Thomas Jefferson and other folks you've heard of from that time period. They were closed when we showed up but we took some pictures and read all the signs, etc. You can still bathe in these pools, which I would like to go back and do someday.

The way home was full of a generous dose of Virginia rolling hills, which everybody needs from time to time. In fact I think I'm overdue for more, so stay tuned and hopefully we can squeeze some more adventuring into these last few weeks before a third party is added to our road trip logistics.

Way more photos of the trip are here.

virginia beach wanderings.

As it warms up outside I find my thoughts straying to the beach as they always do, and it occurs to me that I never posted about our house tours from last September. On a quick trip east we managed to squeeze in the Francis Land House, Lynnhaven House, and Ferry Plantation House. Guys, these are old buildings. None of this 1890s stuff like half of Richmond. We're talking 1725 in the case of the Lynnhaven House.

It was amazing to learn about the construction of these houses, what they were used for over the years, and the history of the lives lived in them. I recommend seeing all three of them if you're looking for a cheap, history-packed day trip for this summer. The Francis Land House has a sort of understated opulence that is so perfectly-laid-out for the time period that it's styled in, and the Lynnhaven House is a stark contrast in its simplicity and ruggedness. It's also on a secluded, peaceful little field. The Ferry Plantation House was chock-full of artifacts and tchotchkes of all kinds, a bit of a historical hoarder's paradise that the guide led us through with lots of personal stories.

Our full set of photos from this trip is here.

posed.

As a long overdue followup to the post about Corner Minor, here's a photo of me on that outing taken by Phil Riggan of Richmond.com.

And another angle by Brandon Hambright exists here.

The Decayed Richmond documentary is still being anticipated by all of Richmond, and has been delayed further. For an update on that check out this post. Once it comes out you can bet I'll be posting about it some more.

Hebrew Cemetery.

I know it's been a while. I owe this site a couple of legit updates, but actually there hasn't been much going on in the way of historical adventuring lately for three reasons:

• I don't have a ton of free time right now so I can only adventure in small chunks.
• I've exhausted most (NOT all though) of the nearby places to explore.
• I'm getting ready to have a baby and am scrambling to take care of all the preparations ahead of time.

But time marches on, and others are discovering Richmond to my great delight. I'd like to point you toward a great blog post from Photographing RVA about Hebrew Cemetery, a lesser-known but really interesting place that's worth a visit.

I particularly love the attention to Jewish customs and typical headstone engravings. Take a spare hour and go over there, and if you have some more time visit nearby Evergreen Cemetery. That's a local favorite that we've posted about many times.