Richmond Va and Jackie's Cousin

We just spent the week at the Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield Va. Jackie's cousin Daphne and her husband Paul live only a couple miles from the park. We had a real nice visit with her cousin. Had dinner with them several times and also went to their friends home Rich and Connie who also were great hosts. Rich tried to get me drunk but my strong will power won out. Thanks for the great meals. We also toured Richmond, went to the state capital and to the Hollywood Cemetery. At the state capital we went on a guided tour. The statue of George Washington is an exact likeness of him. The sculptor met with him and measured him to get exact size of him. He was 6'-2". The sculptor also made a mold of his face to make the statue as close to him as possible At the Hollywood Cemetery (Hollywood name came from the Holly trees). There are 83,000 graves at the cemetery and it includes two of our past Presidents. The cemetery opened in 1847 and the 1st burial was in 1849 an infant. Some of the gravestones date back prior to 1847 because many were relocated to this one due to growth of the town. The picture of the grave site with the iron structure around it is James Monroe and it is called the Birdcage. The other pictures are of John Tyler. There are thousands of Confederate soldiers buried here including 2000 from Gettysburg.

Today we moved about 60 miles north of Richmond to visit with, get ready for this, another cousin of Jackie's. I was asked if Jackie has a cousin in every state and the answer is apparently yes. We then move on Saturday to Damascus Md. It is just east of Washington DC. Going to be there for 2 weeks visiting with a friend of mine. Weather has been a little stormy with some rain. Now it has gotten warm with humidity.