On To Richmond!

A cloudy and cool morning launched us on the first leg of our journey. We left Rancho Russo with the usual admonitions to those remaining behind, meaning our expectation was that the place would still be standing when we returned with all alive and well. We hit historic route 1 at Fredericksburg, VA and turned southward. Since Don was a Civil War re-enactor and Eric played travel baseball for a Fredericksburg team, we chose to bypass the historic sites. If you haven’t been to Fredericksburg as a tourist, it is definitely a worthy trip. The battle of Fredericksburg was 5 days of gruelling onslaught that raged through the actual town at times.Walking along the Sunken Road & Marye’s Heights then into the town really imbues a sense of how intimately this war had effected the every day people. My personal favorite site to see is the illumination of the Confederate cemetery on Memorial Day. The local boy scouts put luminaria on every grave at dusk & you can walk through the cemetery and enter and tour one of the original houses on the site that is only open to the public on that night. Pretty cool.

If you have need of anything automotively related including buying, selling or fixing a car then the section of Route 1 between Fredericksburg and Richmond is your destination! This tract is pretty industrial/commercial and there are numerous sections with large retail shopping areas. You know the ones, the same stores are in every one all up and down the eastern seaboard. These are a testament to the population surge that has occurred in the Spotsylvania area. There were a million cars in every one of them. Whoever says the economy is depressed is not shopping in Spotsy.

Upon the approach to Richmond, historic Route 1 takes you through the gritty part of the city. Intrepid Native New Yorkers that we are, we were nonplussed when we thought we were witnessing an episode of “Cops” being filmed. As we’re driving down the road, three cruisers full of Richmond’s Finest intersect the street we are on with lights and sirens a blazing. The doors open and out they come with guns in hand. One cop already has a guy on the ground and the next thing you know there’s another guy on the ground getting the old twist ties applied. The last time we saw something like that happen (to a non-relative) we were driving in NYC showing some friends from VA The Big Apple. As we were driving down the street there’s a guy running like he’s being chased by a guy with a big knife. Turns out he is – about 30 ft behind him is another maniac wielding a huge chef’s knife over his head. Of course in N. Y. everyone else on the street is walking by going about their business not even acknowledging this scene.

Aside from automotive needs, if you’re hankering for a new trailer park to take up residence in Route 1 from Fredericksburg through Richmond is your little slice of heaven. We stopped counting after whizzing by 18 of them.