Richmond (Virginia) Sights

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• Belle Isle. In the middle of the James River, this island includes a mountain-biking trail. Fans of the movies Cold Mountain, Hannibal, and The Jackal may recognize the area. It offers great views of the falls and the river, but be wary of copperheads, which abound on the island. Also many teenagers enjoy swimming and laying out on the rocks. There are even rope swings set up on the bridges nearby. It is a great hangout for teenagers and young adults.
• The Historic Downtown. The cobblestoned Bottom area is rich in history, and well-worth the trip, if only to see one of the many Edgar Allan Poe houses in the Northeast. Though much of the area was washed out during Hurricane Isabel and Tropical Storm Gaston, the rebuilding continues.
• Maymont Park. A wealthy landowner donated his estate to the city, and Richmond turned it into one of the most beautiful urban parks in the nation. Fountains, Italianate gardens, and a Japanese tea garden are a pleasure to walk through. The nature center here is all-encompassing and free, and its exhibits on Virginia Wildlife include two otters who are glad to show off for visitors. Gray foxes, red-tailed hawks, and other exhibits are located outside. Kids like the farm area, where sheep, lambs, chickens, and other sundry animals are exhibited.

• Monument Avenue This grand avenue stretches from downtown Richmond at Lombardy St out into Henrico's West End at Horsepen Dr. Along the avenue in the city are statues to Confederate heroes J.E.B. Start at Lomabardy St., Robert E. Lee at Allen St., Jefferson Davis at Davis Ave.,and Stonewall Jackson at the Boulevard. Matthew Fountaine Muarry, who served in the Confederate Navy, but who is memorialized for his contributions to oceanic navigation and his invention of the torpedo is located at Belmont St. Tennis star and humanitarian Arther Ashe is located at Roseneath St.

• Byrd Park. There's some fishing lakes, seasonal paddle boats, a fitness trail and the Dogwood Dell ampitheater, home to the Summer Festival of Arts. The park abuts Maymount at the end of the Boulevard.

• Gallery 5. 200 W. Marshall St. This art gallery used to be an old fire station. In addition to art, they have an antique steam engine, a library, and a craft shop, www.gallery5arts.org

• Virginia Fine Arts Museum, 200 North Boulevard, tel: 804-340-1400, www.vmfa.state.va.us.
• Science Museum of Virginia, 2500 West Broad Street, 804-864-1400, www.smv.org.
• The Children's Museum of Richmond, 2626 W Broad Street, 804-474-7000, www.c-mor.org.

Tredegar Iron Works

• The American Civil War Center and Richmond National Battlefield Headquarters at Tredegar, 490 Tredegar Street, 804-788-6480, www.tredegar.org. Daily 9AM-5PM. The site of a Civil War era iron foundery which supplied ordinance to the Confederate Army. The site has long been the NPS headquarters and Museum of the Richmond/Petersburg Battlefield area and just recently ground was broken on the American Civil War Center, which aims to be the definitive museum on interpretation of the conflaguration from all perspectives. Also on the grounds are a statue of Abraham Lincoln and his son Todd.

• Museum of the Confederacy, 1201 E. Clay Street at 12th Street, 804-649-1861, www.moc.org. The Museum is looking to expand into a statewide system of museums,while maintaining its headquarters in Richmond. The museum contains the largest collections of Confederate records, artifacts and other treasures from the period. The Museum also maintains and gives tours of the White House of the Confederacy.

• The White House of the Confederacy, E.Clay and 12th Street, 804-649-1861, www.moc.org. The White House of the Confederacy has been restored reflect its use as the executive mansion of Confederate President Jefferson Davis during the Civil War. Open to the public with regularly scheduled guided tours that are arranged and given by the Museum of the Confederacy.

• Black History Museum, 00 Clay Street, 804-780-9093, www.blackhistorymuseum.org.

• Edgar Allan Poe Museum, 11 North 18th Street, www.poemuseum.org.

• The Landmark Theatre (formerly The Mosque), 6 North Laurel St {at Main St.), 804-646-4213. Regularly features off-Broadway plays in addition to hosting comedians from around the nation.

• State Capitol, Bank St. The structure was designed by Thomas Jefferson and is is the current home of the Virginia General Assembly. From 1861-1865 it also served as the home of the Confederate States Congress.

• Egyptian Building, East Broad Street. This was the first building and home of the Medical College of Virginia, which now surrounds the structure.

• Lucky Strike Factory, "Tobacco Row" in Shockoe Bottom. The Lucky Strike Factory has recently been renovated into stylish loft apartments and condos. A good view of the painted smoke stack can be seen from nearby Libby Hill park, where the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument is located.

• Hollywood Cemetery, 412 S. Cherry Street. Located between the neighborhoods of Oregon Hill and Randolph on a bluff overlooking the James, Presidents Tyler and Monroe have their final resting places here. So does the locally renowned Jefferson Davis, and it's worth the trip through winding roads to see reverent Southerns laying flags on his grave. Also in the cemetery are Confederate Generals George Pickett and J.E.B. Stuart and local authors James Branch Cabell and Ellen Glasgow. The lines of small headstones marking the mass graves of Confederate dead is sobering and gratifying.