Hollywood Cemetery

(Richmond, VA) Hi  91 Lo 64, High humidity -- It was very hot and humid today, but no rain, so Mike and Terri drove us to see the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. Despite the name it's not a cemetery for celebrities, although it has some famous people buried there. It's situated on rolling hills, with the rapids of the James River and the Richmond skyline in the background. It's the final resting place for two U.S. Presidents, James Monroe and John Tyler, and the only president of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis. There are also 22 confederate generals, including George Pickett and J.E.B. Stuart, and thousands of confederate soldiers buried there. It's a beautiful place and was worth the visit. Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge them.



The 90-foot high Confederate Soldiers Monument. Terri and Dee give some perspective of the size.

General George Pickett


There’s a whole section for Confederate soldiers.


It's very moving to see all these names of kids as young as 17 who gave their lives in our bloodiest war.

The James River.


Jim is distantly related to John Tyler, the tenth President of the United States.

James Monroe, fifth President of the United States.


The first burial in this cemetery was a 17-month old baby, in 1849.


Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America from 1861-1865.


I took a lot of pictures of some of the older headstones but I didn’t want to post a whole lot of them on the blog. If you want to see more, I’ve posted many of them on my Facebook page, which is linked on the right side column of the blog.

We had a wonderful time touring the cemetery, and at the end were tired and hungry. We headed back to Ashland and went to Dairy Queen for lunch. On the way home we stopped at a grocery store to get a couple of items for a cookout we're planning for tomorrow night. We also did some geocaching today, and I'll tell more about that in tomorrow's blog.

This evening Jim went by himself to see the local Richmond minor league baseball team, the Flying Squirrels, play (and beat) the Erie Seawolves. While he was gone I watched the Weather Channel coverage of the tornadoes in the midwest. It’s amazing how the technology allows live coverage from storm chasers. I sure hope this cycle of severe weather ends soon. Our hearts go out to all those affected by these storms.