Richmond Surprise: Day 2

Richmond Surprise: Day 2
Uh-oh!  Trouble on the morning commute.
Uh-oh! Trouble on the morning commute.

We were late for the second day of camp. We were running just about on time until we hit a traffic situation on I-95. About 15 minutes away from our exit, traffic ground to a halt. We crawled along at 2 miles an hour or less. Traffic condensed from 3 lanes to two lanes and then down to one.

Finally, we hit the source of the problem:

An overturned tractor trailer carrying a load of butter slowed I-95 South to a crawl.
An overturned tractor trailer carrying a load of butter slowed I-95 South to a crawl.
We call this incident the "butter jam" of 2014, referencing my son's name for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
We call this incident the “butter jam” of 2014, referencing my son’s name for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

45 painful minutes later, we finally got to our exit and made it to art camp.

My son and I then drove around looking for something to do. I thought we might take a look at the Virginia Historical Society. This is a wonderful place to spend some time. It has great exhibits, plenty of free parking and even a good spot to eat your lunch.

But it was closed!

The Virginia Historical Society is being renovated and is closed until fall 2015.
The Virginia Historical Society is being renovated and is closed until fall 2015.

So, we drove around, sat in the car and waited until it was time to get the girls. It was kind of a bust of a morning.

That afternoon, it was another scorcher and we needed to do something inside. I settled on touring the most recent exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Posing Beauty: a celebraton of African American portraits from the 1890's to the present.
Posing Beauty: a celebraton of African American portraits from the 1890’s to the present.

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My children love the swivel chairs in the lobby and remembered them from our last visit.
My children love the swivel chairs in the lobby and remembered them from our last visit.
At the entrance to the exhibit.
At the entrance to the exhibit.

The exhibit contained rougly 200 photographs of African Americans from the 1890’s to the present day. There were historical prints, fashion magazines and art photographs. I asked my children to try to pay attention to how the hairstyles and clothes changed throughout each era. I’m not sure they grasped what the exhibit was about but they had two favorite pieces. One was an artistic work of a large close-up photograph of a Barbie doll face photoshopped in a mosaic with African American features. “Barbie!” they called out. They also liked watching an art film where footage from a Texas beauty pageant with the first African American winner was set to the Psycho soundtrack and sped up and slowed-down in certain places. My favorite pieces were the family portraits from the 1890’s with elegantly dressed families in outdoor settings.

My children were most excited to have a snack on the deck.
My children were most excited to have a snack on the deck.

This was one of my fast days but the VMFA desserts did me in. I couldn’t bear to throw my son’s barely touched cinnamon scone away. Then I had to finish off my daughter’s vanilla cupcake (which had the strongest and creamiest vanilla flavor I have ever tasted).

They were equally intrigued to look for koi in the pond.
They were equally intrigued to look for koi in the pond.

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Next, we spent a little while exploring the outdoor gardens.
Next, we spent a little while exploring the outdoor gardens.
Someone just couldn't stay away from the water.
Someone just couldn’t stay away from the water.
In a little boy mystery, I turned around to take a photo of my girls and turned back 10 seconds later to find my son completely drenched!  I am not sure if he fell in the very shallow fountain and climbed out or just managed to splash himself enthusiastically.
In a little boy mystery, I turned around to take a photo of my girls and turned back 10 seconds later to find my son completely drenched! I am not sure if he fell in the very shallow fountain and climbed out or just managed to splash himself enthusiastically.

It was hot and bright and time to get home to rest up for the next day.

Even the parking lot of VMFA is artful.
Even the parking lot of VMFA is artful.

As we drove home, we noticed that I-95 southbound was still butter-jammed! The traffic did not seem any better than it was over 6 hours earlier!

It had been a day with rough patches but we managed to salvage it. I was proud of my kids for rolling with the punches rather than getting upset about all that didn’t go according to plan. It’s one of life’s best organizing lessons.