There were a few things I wanted to see around this part of the trip, which we had to sacrifice in order to make hotel bookings that I'd made weeks in advance. We'd been caught up in Massachusetts basically, and fell behind in our schedule. Which is cool with me, I loved Massachusetts, and now I have an excuse to go back to Virginia and it's surrounds. For example, the only thing I saw of Washington D.C. was some DEA agents arresting a guy on the side of the road. I would kind of like to see, you know, that big Abe Lincoln statue for a start. I suppose I wouldn't mind checking out a Smithsonian Museum or two either. So... maybe next time huh?
Two things are going on here. As you might be able to tell. On the left we have Geoffrey, or as C and I like to call him, Geoffrey The Shoe Wizard. If memory serves correctly, he was in Charlottesville, and C's boots that he had purchased mere days earlier, had fallen apart. We had asked Phil, our GPS where we might find a cobbler, and here is where we ended up. Geoffrey was incredibly kind. He took one look at the boots and said he would do what he could, but it was beyond repair, and in reality would only last a couple of weeks at best. (we'd just paid around $70 for these boots in Boston) As we'd been searching for boots since the original pair got snow on them in Montana, and consequently wore through the sole, we were happy to take anything. We sat in Geoffrey's ancient store, where everything was covered in a layer of shoe machine dust, and watched the master work. He paid close attention to every part of the shoe and spent around 45 minutes nailing, gluing and hammering the heel to try and fashion it into something useful.
A couple of other customers came in, an elderly man with his carer. Geoffrey completed the repair on his shoes, and then refused payment as it was a small job and he 'couldn't charge'. The older man and his carer were obviously grateful and thanked him and left. After Geoffrey finally completed his work on C's shoe, he once again warned us that it would not last long, and as he couldn't guarantee his work, there would be no charge. We went back and forth for a little bit, insisting that we pay him, and him insisting that the shoe would fall apart and he couldn't charge us. In the end, we managed to convince him to take $10, which in all honestly, was not enough. The boot, though not worn often, has held together to this day. Shoe Wizard indeed.
That mug on the right is me in a vintage store trying on a marching band hat. Which of course, I bought! I'm glad because I needed it the next day (more on that in part 3). Can you tell how uncomfortable I am with having my picture taken? Thanks blog for helping me get better with this!
We attempted to visit the Edgar Allen Poe Museum in Richmond, but it was closed. We were there during the posted opening hours, and double checked on the internet that we had the right day, time and location. But the door was locked and we couldn't make it budge. After some awkward walking around the perimeter of the building, trying to find a way in, we gave up. Yet another reason to return! We did find some great vintage stores with lovely ladies working inside. And the Byrd theatre. Beautiful. It's too bad I didn't know Natasha back then, it would've been awesome to say hello! Next time, next time...
Love, Kitty
(all photos by C, designated photographer to my designated driver)
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