Adventures in Virginia's Capital

Kent and I had a couple of fun outings down to Richmond in the month of July. 

One of the days we went down to the Science Museum of Virginia to see an exhibit about Leonardo DaVinci. We were surprised to find a line to get into the museum, probably because it was a Saturday.

 One of the cool things about the exhibit was that some of his illustrations had been recreated. 

 This one was his version of a flying machine.

 This was his version of a self-propelled cart.

Another cool feature was a sight and sound show highlighting his works.

One of the exhibits gave information about the Mona Lisa, after it had been analyzed with modern day technology.

After going to the museum we went to see a movie at an old vintage movie theater, called the Byrd.

 It was a grand old movie house built in 1928.

 One of the attractions is that an organist plays a Wurlitzer organ before most of the movies start.

 The chandelier at the theater.

Some of the ornate decorations in the lobby of the theater. I'll have to admit that the seats were a bit run-down and shabby, but it was a fun experience to hear the organ and see the theater.

 On another day I organized a trip with my Bible study group to go to Saint John's Episcopal Church in Richmond to see an re-enactment of Patrick Henry's famous, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech.

 The weather was surprisingly not too hot and humid, considering it was July.

 This is one of the oldest churches in Virginia.

We sat in the balcony of the church to get the best view of the reenactment.  

We weren't allowed to take photos during the performance, but some of the actors came out afterwards and posed for pictures. I didn't know that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were in the church when the speech was given.

Here's a photo of our group.

After the Patrick Henry reenactment Kent and I had signed up for a Segway tour of Richmond. The weather was actually about as perfect as you could hope for in July!

 There were more hills in Richmond than on other Segway tours we've been on.

One time I almost lost control going down a big hill, but managed to stop before I crashed.

 It was interesting learning some of the history of Richmond.

This statue of Washington is near the state capital.

 Here's a picture of us in front of the state capital building, which was designed by Thomas Jefferson.

A side view of the capital building.

 The Governor's mansion is right by the capital building, so we rode past it, too.

The Governor's mansion, which I toured many years ago. We