Day Fourteen: Richmond, Virginia

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Hey, keeping it really short this time. Had technical difficulties (probably due to bad WiFi, but not sure), so I’m posting this in the morning. Sorry for the delay!

Started out by visiting the Appomattox Court House National Historic Park. Here, in the McClean house (family who lived there), in April of 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant, thus ending the Civil War. In Charleston, S.C., we saw the beginning at Fort Sumter. Beautiful countryside out here. The displays were informational and this was a pretty good stop.

Next, we headed to the city. Richmond, Virginia to be exact. It’s really just a stop for the night as myself and the boys have been to Richmond before. My main stop here was to visit the Edgar Allan Poe Museum. Poe grew up in Richmond, and often returned throughout his life. The museum is small, but there are a lot of cool things here. I would definitely recommend it if you are a Poe buff, but I would say that there is something for everyone here.

That’s it, gotta go. Here’s the pictures:

On this hill, General Ulysses S. Grant set up camp the day before the surrender, just outside the town of Appomattox, VA
The boots of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. One of the heroes of the battle at Gettysburg, Chamberlain was given the honor of receiving the surrender of the Confederate troops. His respect towards the defeated is one of the signs of compassion which helped those who gave up their arms.
The McClean’s house where the surrender was signed
The “white flag” was actually a dishcloth
Lee sat in the seat on the left, Grant sat on the right.
The Poe Museum, Richmond, VA
Edgar Allan Poe’s childhood bed
The chair used by Poe when he worked for the Southern Literary Messenger, here in Richmond. He and his boss did NOT get along.
Poe’s trunk and walking stick. His last hotel stop in Baltimore, in his last few days, confiscated his belongings when he didn’t pay his bill. He would later turn up unconscious on a Baltimore street, and days later would die in the hospital.
A lock of Poe’s hair, taken by his physician.

Yes, I made sure I wore my Raven shirt today!
Two black cats which reside on the property. Coincidence? I think not!

That’s it for now. More about Poe later!

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