Heart of the Confederacy

We kept driving South, deeper into Virginia.

We were now well and truly away from the American North East.  The buildings and scenery were changing.  The people were different and spoke differently as well.  Even though it still looked to be relatively "North" on a map, I was learning that Virginia really was culturally "South" for the purposes of America.  It was an uneventful drive, going down more highways that needed refurbishment and seeing nothing of note along the way.  Had we had more time, we probably should have taken some back roads so that we could have seen nicer things.  The weather was turning a bit when we finally drove into Richmond.

By the time we reached our hotel, it was late and the weather was awful.  We went and got a quick dinner before we went to bed.

The next morning, everything had changed and the sun was shining brightly.  We went outside and walked around the city a bit.  Richmond is a beautiful place.  It is a small city, but we later looked into it further, and found out that it's the home of numerous Fortune 500 companies.  So it turns out this relaxed little city still provides a plethora of high quality jobs for the local population.  It explained a lot.  Even though it was a bit smaller, the city centre seemed clean and relatively well developed.

We went over the Tredegar iron works, which had been turned into a museum full of old Confederate memorabilia and artefacts.  It was a lovely old building and the grounds of the place were spotless.  We went for a walk around the area before going inside.  The parklands were deserted so it was a quiet walk.

Inside the museum itself, there weren't too many exhibits.  It was quite small and definitely geared more towards a younger crowd than us.  There were interactive displays and games to be played.  We found a "dress up" section (which was again geared towards kids) which had a Confederate officer's uniform.  I of course decided that this would be hilarious to try on.  I wonder if I was causing anyone to roll in their grave?  An Asian dude, wearing the precious uniform of a racism driven cause.  There were several exhibits which seemed to make a little bit too much light of the Civil War and didn't seem to be as open about the causes as should be appropriate.  This would sadly be a bit of a recurring theme we would experience.  That being said, there were still several incredible exhibits on display.  The highlight was probably a copy of General Lee's surrender.

We jumped into the car and drove towards the centre of Richmond.  Within the grounds of what is now a university hospital is the "White House of the Confederacy".  I couldn't take any photos inside, but I was a bit shocked by how lacking it was in comforts and how simple all the furnishings were.  The whole building felt like it had been built on the cheap, and even the "marble floors" were actually imitation.

As part of the complex, there was a museum. Inside there were a huge range of different things to see, including the uniforms and weapons of many of the famous leaders of the Confederate forces.  I was able to see up and close the uniforms worn by individuals such as Longstreet, Jackson and Stuart.  In addition to those were flags.  Lot and lots of flags.

There was still clearly a great deal of pride for this flag, the symbolism of which still sharply divides.  There museum seemed to give a reverence to these flags which I found slightly uncomfortable.  A lot of time had past, but there were clearly still many wounds which hadn't healed.  Sadly, it seemed as though the lack of healing was to an extent intentional.

This day of wandering around different Confederate sites had been very eye opening.  It had been very interesting to see, but it had also taught me a lot.  It was a miracle that the Confederacy had lasted as long as it did, largely it seemed, due to the early ineptitude of the Union.  In particular, I questioned deeply the wisdom of the Confederate leadership in launching into a war with the industrial powerhouses of the Northern states.  We had learnt that Tredegar had been the largest and main steel work for the entire Confederacy.  I had also see first hand that these states were not by any means capable of manufacturing capacity, seeing the pathetic state of their "White House".  For their leadership to have launched into conflict with an opponent so much stronger was quite simply irresponsible.

We went back to the hotel to rest for a bit, on our way up we asked the concierge where we should go for dinner.  Without hesitation, he told us to go to "Comfort", a restaurant not too far away from us.  When we arrived, the restaurant was completely full.  We sat inside the restaurant at the bar and I ordered a local IPA from the bartender.  During our travels, I had been trying as many local IPAs and rye whiskeys as I could.  I had never been too much of a fan of IPAs in the past, but I had developed a taste for the intense flavours.  The ryes I had been given varied greatly, but all seemed to have the sharper flavour which I liked.  I looked through the menu and I ordered what I thought looked to be the most "Southern" dishes.  I got a plate of fried catfish, cheese grits and deep fried okra.  The plate brought to me looked like a waiting heart attack (albeit a delicious one).  It was all delicious, though I needed another drink to wash it down.  The fried foods all had a lovely crunch, the grits were creamy and rich.  There was no pretension to any of it and it felt homely as you would expect of this type of food.

For dessert, I ordered a banana toffee style of dessert which also seemed to be a bit of a throwback to the past, even if not so far back as during Confederate times.

I left feeling very satisfied.  This meal was the most "Southern" I think I had ever had and I enjoyed it immensely.