![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Maymont and Gingerbread Cookies
OMGWTFBIGFATCAT
Today my mom and I got a slightly earlier start and went back to Richmond. This time we went straight to Maymont Park, and spent an hour or two wandering around the gardens and zoo-like areas. We saw their Italian garden, which was small, and their Japanese garden, which was larger but not even all that great compared to most Japanese gardens in the US, while it had some nice touches and plenty of big fish in a pond with lanterns and all, there were a lot of details they could have paid more attention to. We walked down the road from there to where they had a black bear, but we didn't see him. I think I saw him as a big black lump up against a rock taking a nap in the corner, but who knows. We did see the gravestone of the two black bears that were killed due to an idiotic child several months ago. Now that I've seen the place, I gotta say -- that kid had to be an absolute fucking idiot, as did their parent. There's no reason anyone should have been within biting reach of the bears, given the way the place is set up, unless they completely ignored all the warning signs AND pretty much climbed over more than one fence. Anyway, we also saw a grey fox, some cows, some birds of prey (owls and hawks mostly), and then we climbed back up the hill to the mansion.
It turned out that getting there at 3:30 meant we got the very last two spots for the very last tour of the day at 4:30pm. My mom wanted to see the victorian style Christmas decorations, and I just came along for the ride I guess. We spent an hour going through the basement areas of the house, the servants quarters and kitchen and laundry, where they had a ton of comparisons of how much time tasks took in 1893 (when the house opened) vs. later intervals. Things like: "Washing and ironing 8 shirts used to take 11 hours. Now it takes 2."
The house itself reminded me of the Winchester House out in San Jose, which makes sense because they were both built around the same time (Maymont was built 1890-1893, and if you average out the Winchester House's 1884-1922 that's about the same), and they're both Victorian style houses, and employ a lot of the same features -- the only difference is, in Maymont they make sense. You know, like staircases actually go somewhere, gallant stained glass windows actually face south AND FACE OUTDOORS, every door and window has an actual purpose and each floor maintains the same footprint as the one below it. I thought it was a pretty house, and they still have all the original furnishings from the original owners, which included crazy things like a swan-shaped bed, but it was sort of annoying that they wouldn't let us take pictures inside.
We went shopping after that, sort of. My mom wanted to try to find me a new Ballparks calendar, but alas, we couldn't. On the other hand we ended up at a mall and I got to eat Chick-Fil-A food for dinner, so I'm not all that sad about it.
When we came home, we baked gingerbread cookies while watching the movie "Never Been Kissed" on TV. Two sheets of cookies turned out well and the rest turned out burnt. Doh! I'll probably take a few with me when I leave tomorrow.
I ended up spending a few hours just chilling in my stepfather's office in the evening, even actually getting a little bit of real work done. I know it's not the greatest way to spend my last night at the house, but I was pretty exhausted after hanging out with my mom all day.
And yeah, tomorrow I go to Philly, whoosh.
Today my mom and I got a slightly earlier start and went back to Richmond. This time we went straight to Maymont Park, and spent an hour or two wandering around the gardens and zoo-like areas. We saw their Italian garden, which was small, and their Japanese garden, which was larger but not even all that great compared to most Japanese gardens in the US, while it had some nice touches and plenty of big fish in a pond with lanterns and all, there were a lot of details they could have paid more attention to. We walked down the road from there to where they had a black bear, but we didn't see him. I think I saw him as a big black lump up against a rock taking a nap in the corner, but who knows. We did see the gravestone of the two black bears that were killed due to an idiotic child several months ago. Now that I've seen the place, I gotta say -- that kid had to be an absolute fucking idiot, as did their parent. There's no reason anyone should have been within biting reach of the bears, given the way the place is set up, unless they completely ignored all the warning signs AND pretty much climbed over more than one fence. Anyway, we also saw a grey fox, some cows, some birds of prey (owls and hawks mostly), and then we climbed back up the hill to the mansion.
It turned out that getting there at 3:30 meant we got the very last two spots for the very last tour of the day at 4:30pm. My mom wanted to see the victorian style Christmas decorations, and I just came along for the ride I guess. We spent an hour going through the basement areas of the house, the servants quarters and kitchen and laundry, where they had a ton of comparisons of how much time tasks took in 1893 (when the house opened) vs. later intervals. Things like: "Washing and ironing 8 shirts used to take 11 hours. Now it takes 2."
The house itself reminded me of the Winchester House out in San Jose, which makes sense because they were both built around the same time (Maymont was built 1890-1893, and if you average out the Winchester House's 1884-1922 that's about the same), and they're both Victorian style houses, and employ a lot of the same features -- the only difference is, in Maymont they make sense. You know, like staircases actually go somewhere, gallant stained glass windows actually face south AND FACE OUTDOORS, every door and window has an actual purpose and each floor maintains the same footprint as the one below it. I thought it was a pretty house, and they still have all the original furnishings from the original owners, which included crazy things like a swan-shaped bed, but it was sort of annoying that they wouldn't let us take pictures inside.
We went shopping after that, sort of. My mom wanted to try to find me a new Ballparks calendar, but alas, we couldn't. On the other hand we ended up at a mall and I got to eat Chick-Fil-A food for dinner, so I'm not all that sad about it.
When we came home, we baked gingerbread cookies while watching the movie "Never Been Kissed" on TV. Two sheets of cookies turned out well and the rest turned out burnt. Doh! I'll probably take a few with me when I leave tomorrow.
I ended up spending a few hours just chilling in my stepfather's office in the evening, even actually getting a little bit of real work done. I know it's not the greatest way to spend my last night at the house, but I was pretty exhausted after hanging out with my mom all day.
And yeah, tomorrow I go to Philly, whoosh.
no subject
I think that child's mother is more of a danger than those bears, can we euthanize her?
no subject