"I'm going as fast as I can"!

We arrived at Hollywood Cemetery just before closing and spoke to the attendant as he was closing the gates...So we drove a bit farther to a favorite town at which we had stopped several times in the past, Ashland, Va just off of !-295...Lodging and dinner were located and we had a much needed good night's rest... The next morning we were soon back at the cemetery which is located among small, twisting little streets in the run-down older section of Richmond....thanks to the GPS!...It is located right next to the James River as well. At he entrance there was a sign displaying a map of the cemetery and a listing of some of the more important personages who were "resting" there and we met a few people who were particularly excited after finding that some of thier ancestry were located there including several Generals of Civil War vintage..They had travelled to the cemetery from the western part of North Carolina. After purchasing our tickets we proceede on a "walking tour" with the woman who sold us the tickets. We soon learned that the cemetery had about 60,000 graves and comprised some 130 acres. If a cemetery could be beautiful, this one really was!..It had rolling and steep hills along the asphalt roadway and was filled with beautiful trees and shrubbery, particularly the Magnolias which were in blossom and the many Holly trees which not only rimmed the entire cemetery but in fact were sprinkled through-out...Hence the name, "Hollywood Cemetery"! Tombstones, crypts of varying shapes and sizes were scattered in what appeared to be a random fashion were placed up and down the hills on the many roadways beng divided, however into certain groups which were separated by the many secondary roads into circular, triangular and rectangular groups. Evidently this provided more easy identification of specific grave sites and provided an interesting character.
As we walked (hiked?) following the guide, she constantly talked pointing out interesting features on the various tombstones. Many of them were ancient dating to the period of the Civil War and sadly, many were of infants and children buried with their mother in the same compartmented family plots...Each of the chiseled stone ornamentation on each of the tombstones generally attempted to tell a story. For example, if the mother perished during childbirth she was depicted holding an infant..If someone died during a train wreck, or had been a fireman or of course a Confederate soldier that was likewise depicted. If the crossed swords were pointed up or down it denoted both thier rank and if they had been of the infantry or cavalry. There were buried here about 10-12 former Governors of Virginia..and 3 Past Presidents! President, Tyler, President Monroe...and the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis.
As the guide continuing walking...and talking, Daras and I found it more and more difficult to keep up with her, particularly as she was walking UP the hills...and there appeared to be many more of the Up type! As we reached the higher levels we had a fabulous view of the James River and were told that when the British explorers sailed up the river in the quest to find a route to the Pacific and the South Seas, they were stymied by the precipitous change in elevation of the river bed creating a set of falls and rapids..It was due to the shifting of land plates evidently during the ice age...and it was because of this at that location they had to settle...and Richmond resulted!
Near this position we were shown a huge Pyramid composed of large rocks set in solid style one on another designating the location of about 18,000 Confederate soldiers. It was about 40 feet tall and had been built by a Confederate association of women immediately follwing the conclusion of the war...and the final huge stone was placed by hand (since there was not yet any mechanical devices to do so) on the very top by a Prisoner who was promised his freedom if he was successful!...He was obviously a "free man" after the incident. After much more walking ( trudging?) we reached the tombs of both President Tyler and Monroe..They were in close approximation of each other as well as thier wives. The raised crypts were completely surrounded by a wrought iron lattice-like Bird Cage which apparently had been placed to protect the grave sites... It was impressive. Pictures were taken...and then we walked farther.
Despite the fact that I was finding it more and more difficult to continue at her pace, I found it became necessary to help pull and push Daras along! I presume we walked for about 3 hours, up and down the hills (mountains?) and covered about 3 miles. In fact Daras suggested a few times that I abandon her ...try to reach the van...and then try to return and find her!...But, she persisted and we finally struggled back to the welcome sanctuary of the van! When we returned, I questioned our guide as to the fact that we had not been shown Jefferson Davis's grave and she suggested "that it was too far for walking" and gave me directions for driving back to locate it. With further questioning I learned that the cemetery was still being utilized for several burials weekly, and that it was non-sectarian, suggesting the burial of some Jews denoted by the Star of David inscriptions....We then drove back (much easier, than walking) to locate Jeff's grave site and on the way did in fact see a few headstones with thew Mogen David on it with an enclosed Masonic emblem as well...Maybe they really were Jews?...We drove all over...back and forth and in circles to no avail, asking many passersby for directions until I located a woman near her car who provided a huge map with all 60,000 grave sites identified.
She advised us as well that 3 generations of her ancestors were buried here and that she really made use of the "scorecard"! I continued the drive...and finally after crawling up and down some sharp slopes of grass I located it!...It was bronze statue of him, hat in hand, dressed in civilian clothes under a tall flagpole flying the Confederate flag....Mission accomplished and pictures taken, we hastily withdrew and aimed for our next location.

We drove into downtown Richmond and located the " White House of the Confederacy" which was home base to the Confederacy until it had to be evacuated when it was siezed by Union forces and became their own Headquarters. They moved the capitol to Birmingham, Alabama at that time. Pictures were taken...
We then drove to The Berkely Plantation which was the site where Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence lived. It was a Tobacco farm settled in 1619..and the First Thanksgiving was celebrated here! they had about 100 slaves. and in 1690 1800 acres were given in a land grant to Benjamin Harrison who built the Georgian styled , English type house. It is where his son, William Henry Harrison was born. He became President of the USA..and this same estate became the location of the Headquarters of General McClellan during the Civil war. William Henry Harrison's grandson, Benjamin Harrison V , later became President also!
The large red brick home is impressive and as part of the tour we were shown the interior. We were taken first into the basement where we were shown a video depicting thier individual biographies...very interesting...The house had walls of brick 3 feet wide on the outside, and 18 inches more brick on the inside. One of the outside walls still had a cannon-ball imbedded into it, from the war. The house was furnished tastefully, in French style with some of the furniture dating back to the Napoleonic era. When the tour was completed we got back into the van...and once more were on our way!

The next stop was to be at Sherwood Forest which is the home of President James Tyler.
As we drove up the long driveway to the beautiful white home along magnificent lawns with attractive landscaping, adjacent to the the curved drive to the house, we noted a sma;; plot of lawn with tiny white crosses placed in order on it.. As I stopped the car and walked over to the area, I recognized that this was a pet cemetery, identified with single, characteristic names of cats, dogs and horses that the family honored. One particular epitaph written by Tyler of a favorite horse said: " Here lie the bones of my old Horse, "General" who served this owner faithfully for 25 years, and never made a blunder, would that his master could say the same"!
The house was a beautiful sprawling large white colonial with an open porch framed with rectangular white posts....very impressive. Unfortunately, it was not open for inspection due to repairs being made as we noed some scaffolding at one end...
Pictures were taken...and we left.
Recognizing that we were reasonably close to Williamstown we telephoned Peggy Bouffard, our former neighbor and friend from Cherry Hill who lived there and found that she would be pleased to join us for dinner....We arrived there about 6PM and after some hugs and greetings we left for a very pleasnt dinner and conversation.. When we returned her home she extended a gracious invitation to spend the night there...and it took little convincing to have us agree!..we collapsed into bed!