Brick’s Blog

     Whatever I did in a past life, it must have been bad. Really bad. For 9 months a year, I must begin every workday morning enduring the carpool line at the middle school for Collegiate. This is NASCAR pit stop gone bad. Instead of being surrounded by highly skilled drivers who can stop and place their vehicle on a dime, I am cast into a sea of SUVs piloted by Moms chattering on cell phones.

     This ordeal would not be so bad if the other parents used the entire circle in front of the middle school and Hershey Center. Unfortunately, they don’t and what happens is 3 lines of traffic attempt to merge into 1/2 of the circle. Pure disaster. Of course, Muffy, Buffy and Jodie couldn’t possibly be expected to walk an additional 50 yards to school.

     Not only is this a stressful time for me, it is particularly stressful for my thirteen year old daughter who knows 50 year old plus father will say whatever is on his mind. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Fortunately, I only have 2 more years of this sentence and only 3 until she can drive herself to school. Now that’s a truly scary propostion.

    TGIF, so it’s Friday Trivia. Name this Richmond landmark, the date of its most significant event, and a few of the participants that day. Be the first to correctly post and I’ll send you either a Blockbuster or Starbucks gift card.

      Been to the Canal Walk? So what does the James River Canal, a president of the U.S. and certain Virginia school once known as Augusta Academy have in common?

     Be the first to post the correct answer and I’ll send you either a Blockbuster or Starbucks gift card.  

     Did you know that Richmond once had its own U.C.L.A? That’s it in the picture left. Yes, it was an institution of higher learning. It didn’t have great basketball teams, but I’d wager a virtual who’s who of Richmond attended this intitution. 

     Think you know what it is? Be the first to correctly post your answer and I’ll send you a Blockbuster or Starbucks gift card. It’s my son’s 17th birthday and I’m feeling generous.

     Well,  hush my mouth. Yesterday’s post concerning Joe’s Inn winning 2 categories in Richmond magazine’s Best and Worst edition requires an edification on my part.

FYI: Readers — not Richmond magazine staff — vote on the Best and Worst winners by ballot. No one here is related to or paid by Joe’s Inn, and finally, the Bon Air location also has an active takeout and breakfast business.

Thanks,
Kate Andrews
Richmond magazine associate editor

    I appreciate the correction, Kate, but I do believe the lady does protest too much. I demand a recount. I think the hanging chad ballots weren’t counted. As I stated yesterday, I am never amazed, aghast, yes; by what Richmonders (your readers) consider good cuisine. And Joe’s Out, it’s in Dogtown. Need I say more. Joe’s did open an oulet in the West End near Innsbrook. It closed.

FYI - The great restaurant that was adjacent to Joe’s on Shields was the The Fan Grill. Their specialty was a 5 oz. club steak cut by the butchers at the old Stanley’s market on Belmont.

     Richmond magazine is out with its annual Best and Worst edition. Someone at Richmond magazine must get fed free, be related to management or ownership, or live on Shields Avenue without transportation or the energy to walk a few blocks for Joe’s Inn to receive not one but two best wins - Best Neighborhood Takeout Joint and Best Place for Weekday Breakfast.  Now I could understand if Joe’s won for Surliest Wait Staff, Most Mediocre Food, or Succeeding for No Explanation. Well, maybe not in that last category, because there’s plenty of other competition (think Crazy Greek, McLean’s, Robin Inn, ad nauseam) in Richmond to make that category a real toss-up, but I am never amazed by what Richmonders considers a good restaurant.

     Does anyone remember what really great restaurant was adjacent to Joe’s on Shields Avenue? Even better do you remember what their "special" was?

     This Sunday, August 13th, will be the 23rd Ukrop’s Carytown Watermelon Festival. The Watermelon Festival is largest one day musical event in Richmond with over a 100 performances by local groups and musicians. Here’s what Sunday’s music schedule is for the 10 stages that will be aligned along West Cary Street. 

     But music isn’t the only thing the Watermelon Festival offers. Originally conceived to be a sidewalk sale during  the slow retail days of August, the festival has grown to such an extent that West Cary Street is now closed from Thompson Street to the Boulevard during the festival hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. In addition to the normal eclectic shops found in Carytown, numerous street vendors are added. Watermelon is sold for a $1 a serving with all watermelon sales going to charity. And since the dog days of August are typically in force during the festival, the watermelon is a perfect respite from the heat. Parking is available along the side streets leading into Carytown and also at the 2 municipal lots at Crenshaw and Colonial Avenues. 

     Here’s one I bet you didn’t know. That’s the Robert E. Lee Monument at Lee Circle on historic Monument Avenue in dear old Richmond, Virginia.  The Lee Monument, as well as monuments to J.E.B. Stuart, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson, are located along Monument Avenue (therefore, the name) in a neighborhood presently known as the Fan. The Fan derives it name from the shape of the area. The boundaries for the Fan are Grace Street on the north, Cary Street on the south, Belvidere (or Munroe Park) on the east, and the Boulevard on the west. Beginning at Belvidere, about every 4th block of western progression, another east-west street is added until we reach the Boulevard. 

     The development of this area began in the last 1800’s and in response to the public’s desire for fashionable "West End" addresses. (Ever thought why West Avenue is called West Avenue?) When Lee’s statute was unveiled in 1890, it  was still surrounded by tobacco fields awaiting development. By the 1930’s, this area to the Boulevard had been developed.

     As development westward progressed through the remainder of the 20th Century, (yeah, we, Richmonders, have an insatiable desire to be in the West End), this area on the eastern edge of the "West End" was in need of a new identity. About mid century, the area began to be referred to as "the Fan." And I bet you thought it had always been the Fan?

    Welcome to Richmond, the City with a propensity for shooting itself in the foot; and doing so on a regular basis. See, we built this major toll road from Downtown out to the farthest reaches of Chesterfield County, gave it a name, let 10-15 years go by with everyone using one of these pronunciation as the accepted one, and then suddenly decide we need to practice a little revisionism and endorse the other pronunciation. As John Stossel would say, "Gimme a break."  

     Being the politically correct ultra sensitive real estate broker that I am, I have never had any difficulty with answering this question. Here’s how I handle it. If you live north of the James, then this is the Po’white Parkway. I normally impart this tidbit with as much West End condescension as I can muster and punctuate it with some snide aside like "you know it’s where all those kind of folks live." If you live south of the James, then it is the Pow’hite Parkway. I say this with all the POW I can and with indisputable conviction, while citing no less than Pocahontas’ father, Powhatan, as the justification.

     Hey, genius what do you do when you have a relocation client who is uncertain which side of the river he will call home. Well, just like that ole tar baby who ain’t sayin’ nothin’, I dodge the question as long as possible. But if pressed for an answer, I claim both are wrong. See, there is a 1864 ‘Map of Richmond, VA and Surrounding Country’, which shows a cluster of buildings near the village of Bon Air, which are labeled as the "Pawhite Stop" for trains. Maybe, this was old man White’s place who everyone just called Pa.