On Friday morning, at around 8:30am, I loaded the car (again) and with the odometer reading 34,223 (give or take, I only remembered to look shortly after I pulled out of the development), I began my slow trek south and then westward. My first stop would be Richmond, VA – about five hours and 270 miles away from Yardley, PA.
The drive was, for the most part, a straight and uneventful shot down Interstate 95. Traffic didn’t get too bad until Baltimore and was heavy through DC and Frederick, MD. The suburbs where I stopped to get gas (Garrisonville) and stopped to buy a national park pass (just outside of Richmond) looked like typical suburbs with strip malls lining a main street that has far too many traffic lights for there to be any flow to traffic. And REI is hella expensive.
These are the things that stood out from the road part of my first day on the road. It was all highway driving with not a lot of scenery. For much of the drive, I felt like I was either on autopilot or I was hyper-vigilant to the merges and lane changes and the busy thrum of traffic. Unfortunately, if I drove past something interesting (caught a glimpse of the Washington Monument), traffic was too crazy for me to take my eyes of the road and look.
Just before getting to Richmond, I stopped at an REI store to see if I could buy my national park pass. The website for the national parks said you can buy them in person at various parks and locations, but when I tried to use the search function to find out where, it didn’t return any results. Logic would dictate that I’d be able to buy my tickets at the entrance, but the planner in me didn’t want to chance it. I kept envisioning a scenario in which I drive to Shenandoah, have my campsite reserved, but get denied entrance because I don’t have a park pass. You can purchase one online and have it shipped to your home address, but…
While in REI, I looked around to see if I should get some loose fitting pants for hiking and maybe a pot to use on the stove (you probably thought I was gonna say piss in). The pants at REI were all in the $70 – $100 range and the pots were expensive too. I’m just not that fancy. I want simple and inexpensive solutions. I went to the register and asked in an unsure and questioningly meek voice, if they had park passes. They had two left. I bought my pass – he asked where I was going. When I told him, he responded with something granola and casual like “right on.”
Outside of the store, I sat in the car trying to figure out where I should park in town (knowing where to park is a thing with me). This took longer than I expected. When I travel, scrolling through Google Maps is how I get a sense of where shops, restaurants, and bars are. It’s how I usually try to find a base of operations from which I can walk – I tend to get to know places best by walking them. I suspect I’m going to spend a lot of time trying to figure out where things are and where I want to be/park. Not being able to discern one parking lot from another I set my destination for the middle of town. I parked on Broad St. where there was free three-hour street parking. It was only mildly sketchy. I beeped my car and walked away with visions of coming back to a busted window and all of my stuff gone.
This, too, is part of the journey: restoring my faith in humanity, becoming more accustomed to genuinely awful traffic, and learning to trust my own wits. Living in the bubble that is State College for the past three years has shielded me from crazy city traffic (DC area type of traffic), the confusing roads, and the more chaotic aspects of urban environments. In some respects, I feel like I need to re-learn how to navigate this part of the world. When I found myself frustrated with the volume of traffic (after calling everyone else either an asshole or a maniac), I would remind myself that I better get used to it. Parking on a city street and walking away from my car for a few hours felt like a minor act of faith (granted, my car is not the most desirable target with some clothing, a plant, a plastic dog, and a box of books visible).
I spent Friday afternoon walking around downtown Richmond. I saw the capitol building, the Velveeta Rabbit, and spent time in a few neighborhoods.
At night took the easy way out and went to a sports bar around the corner from where I’m staying. Once again, while trying to figure out dinner, I was frozen by indecision. I didn’t know if I wanted to walk, drive, or uber or how far I’d want to go. I wasn’t hungry because I had a late and heavy lunch (brisket sandwich). I couldn’t decide if I wanted to see live music or not. There was a blues band playing, but the website said sold out, but I was tempted to stop by as a walk-in anyway. But I was also tired and wanted something low key. And it was raining. In some respects I missed the comfort of my regular Friday night at Otto’s with my friends.
Today it rained. And rained. And rained. And rained. Tropical storm Ophelia made landfall this morning in North Carolina and has made a beeline up the coast towards Richmond.
I was lucky enough to get out for a morning walk to breakfast at a B-52s “Love Shack” themed restaurant before the heavy rains hit (more are scheduled for around dinner-time tonight). At breakfast, the waiter suggested their version of biscuits and gravy. Despite appearances (two squares of Texas Toast smothered in a heap of sausage-laden brown gravy) it was good but arguably one of the heaviest things I’ve ever eaten. Thankfully, I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon on my feet walking through the fine arts museum.
Every time I visit an art museum, I tell myself I need to visit more museums. I love the visual stimulation of paintings and sculptures and objects of art. Even walking around before breakfast, I couldn’t help but notice all of the murals painted on the sides of building in this part of the city. This is what you don’t get in the suburbs – art on random corners, easy access to museums, funky little breakfast nooks.
I’m still processing the trip to the museum. There were a lot of pieces to take in. What I think I paid attention to most as I practiced my art museum stroll was the amount of detail, symbolism, and storytelling in many of the pieces – which had the effect of smacking me in the face with how little I know of history, myths, culture, and art – and also how impatient I am with my own art. I couldn’t imagine the amount of time spent creating some of these pieces.
I’m currently waiting out some of the heavy rains before hitting a different sports bar where I hope to catch some of the Penn State game. I need to download some hikes and make a shopping list tonight. Tomorrow I head north towards Shenandoah (and a Walmart outside of Shenandoah). The plan is to camp and hike for day or two and then on Tuesday hit the road again.
All in all, it’s been a good start. I like Richmond. It’s small enough to navigate easily and still has a city feel. I love the art in the alleyways and I’m pleasantly surprised by how open and accepting it seems. I guess I was expecting the capitol of the Confederacy to still be bigoted and hateful and holding on to its Confederate roots. That’s not to say the city is free from this history (until as recently as 2020 and 2021, several statues still stood along Monument Avenue). That said, what I’ve witnessed as I’ve walked around was a small march for trans rights, and what seems to be a thriving gay culture.
Generally speaking, I think it’ll take some time to adjust my pace. Right now, I want to spend all of my time walking around and doing and seeing things. This means that aside from taking the time to write this, I’m not really doing some other things I expected to do or need to (like writing poetry, reading, or looking for jobs/apartments).