Petersburg: The gentrification of a historic district

On our way to Williamsburg from Durham we really needed to eat. We found a yelp review for a restaurant in Petersburg that seemed like it was a good bet. We had no idea what to expect of Petersburg when we rolled in. We discovered that at one time this now run down town had been a major hub of the tobacco industry. We passed by the Kool factory and other industrial looking places before finally landing in the historic downtown district. A lot of the towns we have been visiting have fully developed tourist trades going on. Petersburg is an example of the historic sites all over the country that have fallen into disuse. Most of the viable restaurants and businesses in the district have appeared in the last couple of years. Many parts of the historical walk we were given a map of at the local visitors center are either only just being rebuilt, have empty or junk strewn store front windows, or house older businesses that service the neighborhood locals who include all of the very friendly very poor old man and women who were sitting out on the sidewalks in the hot evening and greeted us with joy as the kids walked by. One house on the end of a street, near the restaurant we were there to visit, was a tidy and beautifully restored building. It turned out that its a movie star, having been used in the recent Spielberg film about Abraham Lincoln. Looking around again Petersburg is a great location for a film. You could probably get the place for a good price, but there's a lot of restoration that would need to be done. I will be interested to see if they succeed at transforming the place. Perhaps we will visit again in ten years and see how they are doing.

The Brickhouse Restaurant that was the reason for our visit. It was very good and incredibly friendly.

This is a press from inside the bank where they used to print money. Every bank had one. The building is now the local visitor center. I was told I wasn't allowed to take this picture. Too late!

This was once a large tobacco processing house. It is now clearly affordable housing apartments. Just next door is a park that is bordered by Appomattox river. There are signs and plaques everywhere describing the power that Petersburg held in the tobacco trade as a major hub.

This house has been in four movies in the last two years.

Political Theater and the Democratic National Convention

In the midst of our journey through the south, and while deep in conversations about civil rights and the lack of resolution from the Civil War, we rolled into Charlotte, NC during the Democratic National Convention. It was on our way to Durham where we were going to hang out for a few days, visit Elijah's cousin Owen and give Elijah a chance to check in at the RTP Cisco campus. But we chose to stop because my God-Sib Jonas, Jed's older brother, was touring with a group of actors doing guerilla productions of a play that he co-wrote. The play is called Mr. Satan Goes to Wall St. They had already performed the play in New York City, in places like Zuccotti Park, and in Tampa during the Republican Nation Convention. Now they were in Charlotte for the DNC. Jonas' plays are always entertaining and we wanted to show the kids what political street theater is all about. They ended up performing the play at around 8:30 pm in a suburban shopping center next to a 24 hour cafe on the outskirts of Charlotte, so we didn't get to witness the DNC circus. Elijah and I were both a little relieved to not have to struggle through crowds of police and political types with three kids in tow. Our kids were very excited to have a bunch of actors to hang out with, adults they could play with who were not their parents but were still fun.

Hannah watching the play begin from Elijah's lap.

The kids got a front row seat.

Hannah got up several times and walked towards the play. I couldn't tell if it was because she wanted to see better, wanted to be in the play, or because she had made friends with the cast and wanted to go back to getting attention from them.

Eli got so excited by one of the songs his new friend was singing that he had to jump up and down in his seat.

It was a really fun play. I imagine it went over really well with the Occupy people in NYC. Our kids enjoyed it too, but I think more for the music and the really nice cast then for the political discourse. Elijah and I liked the political discourse. Elijah especially liked the Noam Chomsky joke.

By the time the play ended and we packed the kids back into the car to head for Durham it was after 10 pm at night. The kids really enjoyed the play, and so did the grown ups, thank you Jonas! The next few nights we watched the DNC speeches in our hotel in Durham. There is a lot to be discussed in this country, so much unresolved work going back to the beginning of the country, intensified by the Civil War and not fully resolved during the Civil Rights Movement. At the same time I sat watching an African-American president give a speech in a room full of people of every color and many lifestyles. We have already come very far since the time of the colonies, slowly but surely the enlightenment is doing its work, sinking rule of law into every nook and cranny. For every defeat or set back progressive thought makes the larger concepts of justice continue to move it forward baby step by baby step. As a parent of three small children its comforting to see the changes over the span of American history. Driving across the country makes these things more clear. The poverty is extreme at the moment, many places in the U. S. are in all truth third world. The bigotry and intolerance, objectification of women, and greed are all still there. But we are so much freer, more integrated, more equal, more open minded then we once were, its a little bit exciting.

An Ode To the Durability of Children

My cameras all ran out of batteries today and so I ended up using Elijah's phone to take some pictures. When I went to download my pictures this evening I found a whole bunch of pictures Elijah had taken over the span of our journey. It was fascinating to see the kids in all these different moments along the way. They have grown so much in the last month, and suffered their parents' whims so often. I wanted to post this series of pictures together as a reflection of the many moments throughout this journey in which our kids have shown strength and patience as well as humor.

Their last night in their room before we moved out. Sleeping on the floor in an otherwise empty bedroom.

We've had a lot of moments of waiting with the piles of luggage. This was in Sacramento at our second hotel.

Waiting for food in a weird little town in Nevada. The food took one and a half hours and when it finally came it was inedible. But the kids had fun with the anti-aircraft gun display near by. They had already been on the road for seven hours at this point.

Playing in the park in Santa Fe in the rain. Hannah's leggings are totally wet but the air is so warm she refused to wear her sweater.

They ran around in this park until after dark. Eli made friends with some kids in a nice family that were also there to hear the music.

Izzy was having a hard time that day. He kept getting really angry with Eli. But he and I were the members of the family the most interested in the music. He told me that the singer was very good.

One of the many hikes that started out with a lot of complaining and ended up with happy tired children. This one is in the hills above Santa Fe.

Izzy quietly reading to Hannah on the floor in Texas.

Hannah found a stage for her dramatic presence while waiting in the rain for our table to be ready. The kids have gotten really good at waiting for a table at restaurants.

Everywhere we go our friends and family are doing interesting things the kids get to learn about. This is Mary on her donkey Brownie.

Many of the places we go Eli introduces himself to children around us and strikes up friendships.

Here he is making friends with some kids who just moved to Texas from Louisiana.

There's been a lot of waiting, and a lot of telling the kids to behave and be quiet. This was a precious moment when they all followed that instruction. Waiting in the rain for the trailer to get hitched onto the minivan so that we can get ready to drive to New Orleans.

Some days we took too long to get to dinner.

Even the silly displays in hotels are interesting when they have guns or authentic costumes. This was a Civil War canon in the lobby of a Hilton just north of Atlanta. The kids have learned a lot about history in the last month.

Swimming pools have been one of the greatest treats of our road trip. The kids love to get to a place and find there is a pool. Hannah is already starting to swim as a result of all the practice.

No matter where we go Hannah likes to charm the people around her. Those feet belong to a guy who was sitting next to us in a coffee house. She went right up to him and started to ask him about his work. We are starting to work on boundaries a bit more.

It's a good thing the boys like each other so much. They have spent so much time together lately they sometimes forget anyone else is there. The imagination game is in constant full swing. Here I believe they were developing plans for piracy.

The best stuff is not always the stuff we expect. It's been amazing to look at the country with children as our companions. Everything looks different when you have to take them into consideration.

The boys got to talk on the phone with their friends during this meal. They were in high spirits. It's been a long haul and they have had to spend most of the time with just their family. These kids are social and not used to being trapped with just us. An interesting side effect to the road trip is that they are mostly in the adult world much of the time.

Hannah gets pretty tired during our adventures, and we have had some struggles with tantrums, but when it really counts she's a hardy little girl and a real sport about it all.

Blue Ridge Mountain Kind of Day

We had been told by a good friend that the Blue Ridge Parkway was an incredibly beautiful drive, but we wanted to get to Charlotte in time to see Jed's older brother Jonas, one of my other God-sibs, so we thought we were going to have to skip the experience. Then it turned out that Jonas' theater group wasn't going to perform in Charlotte until 7 pm so we decided to hang out around Asheville on Wednesday until after lunch. I had been interested in going to the Folk Arts Center and it just happened to be about 15 minutes from Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway. What a beautiful road! I'm so glad we got to drive on it just a little bit. I could easily see spending a day or two driving farther down the parkway all the way to Boone. As it was we had a really great time taking the kids to the Folk Arts Center and then walking a short trail in the woods next to the center.

Running up the hill on the way to the Folk Art Center

The center had beautiful rock walls all around it.

The boys were mesmerized by the wood turner. They couldn't stop watching him.

All the traditional Appalachian arts and crafts were represented. I was especially excited about the quilts.

The upstairs gallery included newer works like this sculpture with ravens. Izzy loves ravens.

The little trail near the center had signs that explained all about the different trees in the area.

The woods of the Smokey Mountains are truly beautiful.

I kept seeing mushrooms I've never seen before.

After the Folk Center we went back into Asheville for lunch. We ended up eating at a really great restaurant called Tupelo Honey Cafe, it's what they are calling "new southern" cuisine. In this case it's cuisine that's also ex-dead head cuisine, so the vegetables are all fresh and the meat is organic and local. I had greens, beets, and cauliflower all wonderfully and interestingly cooked without being over cooked, and the biscuits were perfect. Asheville turned out to be a very nice town, there's a lot of culture, music and interesting people there. I think it's likely a better place to live than to visit.

Walking downtown towards the restaurant, we had to avoid the stinky ginko berries on the ground.

Climbing public art.

We had to wait for our table so we went to the little park across the street.

The kids decided to become part of the parks fountain. They blend right in.