Wish I was in Richmond, the land I was raised...

So, you may or may not know that I spent the last weekend in and around Richmond Virginia, visiting Kris.  Had a great time.  Made it down there and back safely.  Was great to spend some 45 hours with Kris.  I made some notes of some of the things that occurred.

1) We discovered that a wet willy is not as sexy as actually licking an ear.

2) The soundtrack of our entire weekend is encompassed in four songs we hear nearly continually.

Somebody That I Used To Know

We heard this song almost continuously, so much so that there were times in the hotel room when we sang it to each other.  Also, it is now my current favorite song.

We Are Young

This song was still playing all over the radio, and he and I both know all the words, so we'd sing it together when we heard it.

What Makes You Beautiful

This song was all over the radio there, I had never heard it before, but Kris pointed it out to me.  He also showed me to video the first day.  It's a pop tune, okay, in and of itself. The guys in the band are pretty damn cute though.

Rumor Has It

This was the other song that seemed to be playing the whole weekend for us.

All four of these songs were always there in the background when Kris and I were anywhere music was playing.

3)  We have determined that once we get married, we shall have a house with a large shower installed wherein the shower head is in the ceiling right in the center.  And further, when we adopt a small North Korean boy, we shall name him Bandersnatch Wickersham Shockey-Quick.

4) I realized I can get slightly sunburned by walking around downtown Richmond Virginia on a warm sunny May afternoon for only 50 minutes or so.

5) I found my way from hotel back to where Kris worked after only driving from his work to the hotel once.  Did so by myself.  While ignoring the directions the Magellan GPS was giving me.  At night.  In the rain.  Yay me.

6) Interstate 95 is absolutely in-freakin-SANE!  Three lanes of near constant traffic.  I was going 70 miles per hour, which seemed a little fast for me, but was the speed limit there, and everyone else was flying past me as if I was going in reverse!  And even at about 10 o'clock at night, the roadway was extremely busy.  That whole stretch of highway was just crazy!  I hope I'll never have to go on that highway again...but if I'm gonna visit Kris again....well, that would get me back on the highway.  But that's about it.

7) The stereotype of Southern hospitality is actually true.  I was in line at Wal-Mart and had a very pleasant conversation with a black lady behind me.  Even was introduced to her two pre-teen kids.  I ended up telling her why I was there (visiting a friend), where I was from, what I was doing there (visiting him), and what I thought of Richmond.  I found out she had been in PA several times before, although never to my area, that she was preparing for a cookout the next day, and she offered to give me directions back to my hotel (but I had the GPS to get me there).  Very nice and polite.

8) I found out how much fun it can be to be inside a Barnes & Noble, sitting in a comfy stuffed chair, with your man in a similar chair facing you and a wooden table between you both, texting sexy messages to each other and making googley eyes at one another.

9) I totally blew my diet all weekend.  I ate at an Applebees (fish and chips), Wendy's, a sub and chips from Wal-Mart, some beer and a McDonalds.  Yeah, it was that kinda eats.  And other than a walk around Richmond, and some strolls through Wal-Mart, I got no exercise.  Although there was the wet, messy, decadent, sticky, monkey-sex, bedtimesexxyfun with Kris, so that worked some calories off.

10) While eating at Applebees, I was having trouble with the ketchup bottle (don't ask), and Kris took it to try to help.  And while looking at the opening, I suppose he squeezed the bottle, cause the next thing we knew, he was wearing ketchup on his, luckily red, shirt, his neck, cheek and glasses.  I didn't laugh until he started laughing, but my God it was hilarious!

11) My current car Sebastian is like a box on wheels, and going at high speeds, he doesn't handle the best.  Miss Cleo, my old car, was sleek and streamlined and aerodynamic, and handled like a dream.  I like Sebastian, he's better on gas and a nice little car.  But he's just not built for high speeds on crowded interstates.

12) Richmond radio station Hot 100.9 simply rocks.  I wish there was a comparable station around here.

13) Kris wanted to show me around the University area of Richmond.  We drove down through an upscale part of Richmond, both of us enjoying the architecture and area.  On the way down, Kris told me he'd only been here twice, and that explains why we got lost.  We went through an industrial area, which was deserted cause it was Sunday.  Then we were in a...less savory part of the city.  I wont say it was the slums, but it was barely a step above the slums.  He was trying to use the GPS on his phone, but wasn't having much success (his sense of direction is somewhat lacking).  Finally, I had had enough. I pulled into a church parking lot, got out my iPhone and found out where we were on my GPS there (the Magellan GPS I had, I was less familiar with.  It's great for directions, but for locating oneself, I'm just more used to my iPhone).  It turns our we were just about six blocks west of where we wanted to be.  And once we got there, we realized we had actually been by this same house in the area twice.  *SIGH*  It's a good thing I like him for reasons other than his sense of direction.  And it was a very nice area we were walking around, a lot of interesting stuff.  If he didn't have to get to work later, we would have spent more time walking around there.

14) Gas around here is around 3.60 a gallon.  In and around Richmond, I never saw it that high, and in fact, got it at one point for 3.49 a gallon.

15) We found out that Kris and I don't fit as well in a double bed as we do in my king-sized bed.  I mean, I guess we always knew that, but now we know for sure.  From personal experience.

16) And then there are the few photos I took over the weekend:

A pretty cook looking building in downtown Richmond.

Presumably the headquarters of the Richmond Dairy Company.

Kris and I.

Kris, from behind, walking in Richmond.

Kris in Applebees, wearing the ketchup, which you can't see.  But it's there, trust me.

Kris, with our reflections in the mirror. Oh, yeah, did I mention there was a mirror that ran the length of the wall behind the beds?  Well there was. 

Kris again.

The building at the end of the street is an old police/fire station, converted into something else.  Just a unique looking building.

This is on the outside of the Richmond Police Headquarters building.  It's just there, jutting out into the street from the side of the building.  Again, very unique.  And kinda creepy.

So yeah, that was trip.  I enjoyed it immensely.  I'm looking forward to going again, to see Kris, and to see more of Richmond.  Although honestly, the drive down, yeah, not so much.

POLT