Weekend in Richmond

Here is the quick update on the weekend's festivities. Jill and I visited Cami and Matt at their new place in Richmond. We enjoyed some great burgers in Carey Town and did a little of browsing in the shops. Next we drove down to the James River waterfront and crossed the suspended foot bridge over to Belle Isle. We did not stay on Belle Isle very long (maybe 5 minutes!) because we actually wanted to find the canal boat tours. The canal boat tour started out very slowly as we pushed off of the dock. We floated basically in the same spot for several minutes as 'Cotton', our boatman, proceeded to tell us the stories of the creation and use of the canal system in Richmond. We proceeded upstream a very short distance then turned around right back to the dock. Several of us later agreed that we thought this was the end of our journey and we were about to be upset that we had wasted our money. But luckily for 'Cotton', he motored the boat farther downstream and continued the journey through Richmond's history as we floated along. One interesting tid-bit was the fact that this is one of only two places that three active train tracks cross over each. (Both, Richmond, VA and Elliston, IN,actually claim to be the ONLY ONE in the WORLD!!) I love Google and Wikipedia. We took the creative way home through some very interesting neighborhoods and saw some areas that not listed in tourist propaganda. We stopped at a small fruit stand and picked out some grapes and a watermelon that I think was called a 'Sugar Baby'. It was appropriately named. Mmmmmm! Saturday night we played Sequence and Nerts with their friends, Davis and Lyndia. The girls stomped the boys in Nerts as they usually seem to do. What is about that game the girls seem to always dominate? Sunday found us at church where I was amazed at how many Utah and Idaho transplants there are in their ward. The 'Alarm Boys' tilted the scales a bit, but most everyone else was either a dental or medical student, young, married, and most have a couple of kids. Speaking of 'Alarm Boys' and 'Bug Boys'... Here is my explanation of the infestation for those of you not on the East Coast. There is a huge influx in population of young males (mostly) during the summer months here. Every Singles ward and many Family wards gain anywhere from a few to a dozen or more people that are here just for the summer. Most of them are recently returned missionaries but I have also seen several young married couples. Every ward that I have attended this summer (3 wards in Northern Virginia, Richmond, DC, Baltimore and Ft Worth) has experienced the infestation. So all these guys are here to sell alarm systems and extermination contracts. They go door to door and try to close as many deals as they can during the few months they are here. Apparently, some them have made some serious money. The other infestation is Capital Hill interns but I have not had much exposure to those folks. Anyway, I digress... We cooked an amazing dinner of chicken cordon blue, played some disc golf, then made the trek home. We had a great time. Thanks Cami and Matt for letting us crash at your pad. Oh yeah, those inflatable beds were awesome. It's now your turn to come up to DC. Here are the rest of the pictures.