Maymont - Day 2 (8/10)

Before we went anywhere, Jen trusted me enough to take the Highlander down to Fredericksburg to get the rock chip repaired. That was because it needed to be repaired before it spread and she had her visiting teachers coming over. Fortunately, there was no excitement to or from and I actually got back to her house right as the visiting teachers were showing up.

Like I said earlier, we had to make a second trip down to Maymont in Richmond so we could tour the house. After all the time we spent in the gardens, the house had a lot to live up to, which it did. We found out it belonged to Major James Dooley and his wife Sallie. He was a self-made millionaire who made his money with the railroad. The inside of the home was absolutely incredible, however, we weren't allowed to take pictures and I figure there's probably copyright issues with my posting the postcards, so I suggested visiting the website for this one. Anyway, he actually had a stroke later in life, so they installed an elevator just for him. They were one of the first to do indoor plumbing and electricity. Each of the lights also had candles involved, you've got to figure the electricity was not all that reliable in the beginning. The couple didn't have any children. Upon her death, Sallie left Maymont and all the land (100 acres) to the city of Richmond to be used as public parks. I thought that was very cool. I also wondered if, like it would be today, any of the nieces or nephews tried to fight that. Anyway, this was the Dooley's home from 1895 to 1925. Lamp to light the way. It's pretty neat.

The silo. I don't know what was put in it, but it's a pretty amazing structure.

They have the most amazing trees here. I don't know what happened to them to make them grow like that, but they are wonderful.

We did keep taking turns. It was very easy to climb up and down them, and no one came and stopped us from doing it.

Hinges on the front door.

The front door knob. Just use your imagination on how ornate the inside is with the outside "accessories" look like this.

Isn't that a cool little sitting area? It just looks over the trees. It would be a great conversation area, especially in good weather.

Up close of the topiary in the sitting area.

Again, I have no idea what happened to make the trees grow like this, but they are beautiful.

Climbing in the gazebo.

The first day we were there we couldn't go near the gazebo because a bunch of the home school kids were there and taking up residence.

The river/fountain from the Italian garden.

Fountain from the Italian garden. There really isn't a place on these grounds where you don't find beauty.

The start of the waterfall. So the story behind how that came to be is: when they built the house, they created two stone quarries on the grounds. One is the waterfall, the other is now a bear habitat. We didn't care about seeing the animals.

Back to the Japanese garden. This was definitely my favorite. The stepping stones were close enough that you didn't feel like you were going to have to jump and do a misstep into the water, which was very nice.

Strike a pose.

I went out on the stepping stones for my turn only to discover my photographer (Jen) was distracted by the fish in the water. I have no idea what kind of fish they were, but they were huge and pretty vibrant. That's when I really did not want to be near the water anymore (I didn't like snorkeling for the same reason).

After getting Jen's attention again (and being in the way of one of the groundskeepers), I got my turn.

Such a cool bridge. I was afraid if I put my feet overboard I'd lose my shoes.

I don't know anywhere else you'd find or use a bridge like this, but I absolutely loved it.

It just doesn't get any prettier than this.

The full view of the waterfall.

This rock was just made for sitting.

Or lounging, whatever the case may be.

Another great view of the waterfall.

Of course, Jen had to go into the water. I'm not that adventurous.

I don't know what's up with this formation, but it looked like some kind of ancient tribal council area.

So it was a little bit of a stretch to get my feel on the other rock, but it helped me feel semi-tall for a second.

Some of the rocks you just couldn't help but pose with, like this one.

I look so uncomfortable. I was just trying not to slide down off the rock.

I don't know what the deal was with this tree. I do know that it was a good thing Jen was on the phone because she really wanted to climb inside it. I wandered away while she on the phone, taking her camera with me.

Website: http://www.maymont.org/