touring...

... Holly Wood Cemetery in Richmond, VA. After arriving from ATL on Tuesday, 9-11, on an uneventful flight. Accidentally making reservations to travel into what is predicted as the worst hurricane of the season. Hopefully I will be safely back home before all flights are cancelled!

We met a family friend this morning at went on a personal guided tour with a guy who is a marvelous store house of trivial information. He is a guide/docent, and has done much reading and research  about the150 acre cemetery that has over 60,000 people resting under the grass or in locked mausoleums. I assume the locks are to keep us who are still wandering around above ground out, rather than to keep those interred securely inside for all eternity.

In Holly Wood (named for the numerous Holly trees found growing on the property, along with many other native trees, some nearly 200 years old), are twenty odd Confederate generals, two U S Presidents, one Supreme Court Justice and thousands of Civil War dead, many moved from Gettysburg to be re-interred in southern soil.We spent several hours driving up and down hills and dales looking at old monuments, statuary, ornate tomb decorations, wrought iron fence enclosures. Many obelisks, plinths, draped urns, grieving angels: made of stone. And a cast iron dog, keeping watch over the resting place of a small child. Some of the earliest monuments are sadly eroded due to being made of soft sandstone, or even cement. Most now are granite or marble that withstand the elements and weathering much better.

There are beautiful views of rapids on the James River from overlooks in parts of the acres of stone. Well tended plots, with grass neatly trimmed. A sign near the entrance indicates that no artificial flowers can be left at grave sites, so some have seasonal flowers planted that appear to be well cared for by surviving family members. A beautiful, quiet peaceful place, it was designed as a destination for early citizens to come and enjoy the bucolic scenery and view of the water.