Richmond VA
We got to Richmond Wednesday evening. It rained or misted pretty much the whole way here from Cave, WV. We are staying with some family friends of my grandparents, Ken and Pat Atherholt. They are both very nice, and have a big house with lots of property. There is a stream that runs through their backyard, as well plenty of trees. There are also fireflies which are a quite interesting bug, they literally look like little sparks shooting out of a fire, cause they light up only for a second, and then seeminly disappear.
Then today we headed to the downtown area of Richmond, and explored some very historical sites. My favorite was St. John’s Episcopal Church.
This is the church where Patrick Henry gave his famous speech that ended with “Give me liberty or give me death.” He gave this speech in front of many men that would become our US forefathers. This speech is most likely what inspired already upset colonials to actually revolt, and thus the revolution began 2 weeks later. So in a way, we were sitting in the room where the US started.
From there we went to the capitol building, which was at one time the capital of the Confedaracy. Kind of ironic that the city where the revolution was instigated is also the city that led the revolt against that first revolution, I guess Virginians are just rebellious.
This is the monument of Robert E Lee returning from war.
This is a statue of George Washington, which was carved while he posed live for it.
This is Edgar Allen Poe’s house.
And this is the Atherton’s house, the people we are staying with, from their backyard. It is very beautiful out here.
And here is us with Ken and Pat Atherholt, quite a fun couple with a lot of knowledge about the history of the area. Pat actually wrote the booklet on the history of St John’s Episcopal Church.
And
Miles Yesterday: 165
Total Miles: ~ 1250
June 18th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
You may want to check your history. Not entirely accurate. Other than that. Richmond looks pretty cool.
June 18th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
What part are you talking about? This was all just based off of plaques and tours we went on today.
June 19th, 2009 at 8:40 am
“This speech is most likely what inspired already upset colonials to actually revolt, and thus the revolution began 2 weeks later. So in a way, we were sitting in the room where the US started.”
That could be when Virginia felt like they were apart of the Revolution, because he was addressing Virginians. I believe if my history is correct he was attempting to get Virginia to mobilize troops and join the military effort. To help fortify the area surrounding Boston.
I would argue that while the room is significant it isn’t where the US was started, because there are twelve other rooms that had to do the exact same thing. Without the speech that has gone down in History as one of the most famous.
“Kind of ironic that the city where the revolution was instigated is also the city that led the revolt against that first revolution”
I feel like I am nitpicking here but Boston, MA is where the Revolution was instigated.
It was just those two lines that were not entirely accurate, but at the same time not entirely inaccurate. All being said. Richmond looks very cool. It is on my short list of places I want to visit.
June 19th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
oh got ya. Well it was the opinion of the tour guide that this speech was exceptionally influential because so many of the people who led the revolt were there for that speech, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe, and so on. I am no history buff, I was just going off of what the people who are paid to know stuff said.
I guess it really just comes down to people’s opinions as to what was really influential, and according to Virginians, this speech was one of the first to really incite the people to revolt. Whether that is true or not, I have no idea, Im just repeating what they said.