Loop Dreams

Loop Dreams

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

May 15, Richmond, VA

May 15
 
We rented a car and visited Richmond, VA.  Our tour started at the Museum of the Confederacy which featured the White House of the Confederacy build in 1818.  This National Historic Landmark is best known as the executive mansion for President Jefferson Davis and his family who lived here until Confederate forces evacuated Richmond on April 2, 1865.  The house was restored to its wartime appearance and offered most of the original furnishing which were in wonderful condition...unfortunately no pictures were allowed.



Confederate White House, home of Jefferson Davis

 
Anchor from the Merrimack which was converted to the ironclad CSS Virginia.  The Virginia fought a historic but inconclusive battle with the USS Monitor in nearby Hampton Roads.  The world first Naval combat between ironclads.




                                                           


 
Following President George Washington's death in 1799, the general Assembly wanted to build a suitable monument and have his remains interred on the Capitol grounds.  In 1849, a resolution was passed and a commission was appointed. On February 22, 1850, in the presence of President Zachary Taylor, former President John Tyler, and many other dignitaries and a crowd of thousands, the cornerstone was laid.  Thomas Crawford's design was selected in a competition.  The bronze statue was cast in Germany and arrived in Richmond late 1857, just weeks after Crawford died suddenly at age 47.  George Washington is mounted on a horse, surrounded by statues of other famous Virginia citizens: Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, Patrick Henry, John Marshall, Andrew Lewis, and Thomas Nelson.

                                                                          




 
The Virginia Capitol Building was designed by Thomas Jefferson and Charles-Louis Clerisseau. He was asked to provide input on the construction while in France. He constructed a very detailed small-scale model and asked that those in Richmond wait until this very delicate model made it across the ocean before commencing construction.  The building that now stands is based on this small scale model. The statue of George Washington was also of Jefferson's doing. 

Statue of Thomas Jefferson
 



 
This marble statue of George Washington is one of the most notable pieces of eighteenth-century art. Some think this is the truest likeness of the President. A life-sized representation sculpted by France's Jean-Antoine Houdon between 1785 and 1791 on a commission from Virginia's legislature, was raised in the Capitol rotunda in 1796, the year Washington published his Farewell Address. Washington wears his Revolutionary War uniform but holds a walking cane with his right hand.  To the left of and behind the general is a farmer's plowshare, yet he rests his left hand on a bundle of rods called a faces, the Roman symbol of civil authority.  Houdon translated the symbol to an American usage by forming the bundle from thirteen rods, to stand for the unification of the thirteen original colonies, and adding arrows in between that likely refer to Native Americans or the idea of America as a wild frontier.





Williamsburg, VA, May 12th


May 12
In Colonial Williamsburg's 301 acre Historic Area stand hundreds of restored, reconstructed and historically furnished buildings.  Costumed interpreters tell the stories of the men and women of the 18th century city--black, white and native American, slave, indentured, and free--and the challenges they faced.   It was a step back in time and we shared this adventure with Bob and Linda
on Erika Lynn.


The Governor's Palace was the embodiment of British order in the colonies.
 
 


 
The Capitol was witness to the vote for America's move to independence.




Practicing tradesmen make Colonial Williamsburg's Historic Area a living town.
We enjoyed watching and hearing the clanging hammers of the wood maker showing us different skills of the trade.
 






 
    Rotissserie cooker using weights on a pulley
  • Old Murphy bed