Strange! Trailer Trad Halloween at Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery Mausoleums

 Happy Halloween from Trailer Trad. I enjoy walking through the beautiful, historic downtown Richmond cemeteries; especially Hollywood Cemetery. Throughout the city's long history, its most prominent citizens have been laid to rest there. 

This is me feeling an increased sense of apprehension as I headed into the foreboding walls and gate of Hollywood cemetery, the historic resting place for countless great Virginians. Just kidding. Actually, all of my selfies are like this.

A Church with a Cannon: A Richmond Landmark

Next to the grounds of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is a beautiful little gingerbread chapel. Like most church sanctuaries, it contains many stained glass windows. But this chapel has four striking, rare windows that are beautiful in their folk-art, yet modern simplicity. They were crafted and installed in the late 1800s to honor veterans of the Civil War. Timeless and beautiful.

  

The next time you visit the exquisite art museum and civilized grounds, check it out!

An Elegant Weapon from a More Civilized Age: The Head Flexpoint Prestige

As you may know, I am a long-time tennis player and have enjoyed the sport since it was predominately played with wooden frames--though I never used one. My sister did though (Wilson Chris Evert Autograph), to good effect. No, I played with composite frames from day one. For a number of years, I have been playing with the frame pictured below. It is a strikingly handsome frame from nearly fifteen years ago. 

Let me tell a little about it. It is a Head Flexpoint Prestige. They are nearly antiques as modern frames go, with a substantially smaller head size and older generation composite construction. I have tried contemporary frames and I like them. I tried my hitting partner's racquet one day and enjoyed it. The forgiving, large head size and widely spaced string pattern created easy power, even on mishits. And the topspin generated had increased rpms, especially on my topspin backhand.

And yet I don't play with the large head, high powered current frames. But I don't play with an old frame out of nostalgia. As you may know, I collect old sports equipment, photographs and other cool stuff so I get all of that. No, the answer lies in the stiff, firm feel and surprising touch of the Flexpoint frames. Head frames from back then were often made in Austria or other European countries and I can feel the difference in quality of its composite construction. I find that popular contemporary frames (even those for elite level players) often have an unsatisfying 'clanging, vibrating' made-in-China feel that I don't prefer. 

Rarely does a racquet come along that garners as much attention and mystique as the professional players that use it. Before the Roger-Rafa-Djoker reign, It was the go-to choice for that era's legendary swashbucklers. 

While there were numerous other top pros that used the Head frame, Goran Ivanisevic, Gustavo Kuerten, and Marat Safin head the list of players revered as much for their charisma and mystique as their on-court achievements. Each of these players possessed the shot making skills capable of inspiring a standing ovation, and each of these players chose the Prestige racquet during their careers.

The Longleaf Hotel in Raleigh

When traveling to hang out with my daughter in Raleigh, it has long been a frustration that I have not found the perfect accommodation to make my visits great. Now that I've discovered The Longleaf, I'm set. The establishment is retro without being corny. It used to be the moribund Days Inn, a mid-60s motel updated in the mid 1980s. The Longleaf's owners kept the bones of the original motel, gave it a 'hot wash' and updated it with minimalist décor that is cool yet doesn't scream "We are really hip. Really!" It gives it a bracing, clean Western Motel vibe.

There is an inviting, low-key lounge and patio that is quite popular but definately NOT 'Glenwood South' popular. Nice.

Rooms and the lobby have little, low-key luxury details and service at a reasonable price. Rooms are clean and smell nice. In the bathroom, towels and fixtures are no-nonsense but are comparable to what you might find at upper tier hotels. Also, it might not be very manly to say but the baths are stocked with Malin and Goetz products so you might emerge from your shower smelling the best THAT YOU HAVE EVER SMELLED.

Dark Winters Pass

We've been through Dark Winters before.

The Perfect Chambray Work Shirt

For years and years, I searched for the indigo navy surplus work shirts that used to be found in Army Navy surplus stores. I remembered them as a kid. Picture the gentleman architect from Charlottesville who grew up on the family's ancestral farm (but was schooled at Woodberry and finished in Chapel Hill) who wore them while drafting in his study before getting some horticultural chore done in the back fourteen hundred. Like most awesome things, the more used, sun-drenched, and washed it got, the better it became. 

While their civilian life was pastoral and perhaps a little cerebral, the chambray work shirt's naval life was anything but. I found this example of a chambray navy work shirt getting the most out a Douglas Dauntless. 

 

I finally found a very nice reproduction of those old, vintage chambray work shirts. Uniqlo, with their famous denim lab in Los Angeles, developed a number of great vintage work wear items at a cut-rate price. I've purchased a number of their chambray work shirts as well as their 'hickory stripe' work shirts. The hickories are actually like wonderful OCBD--wonderful cotton oxford cloth dirt cheap. I've tried to do the 'Tucker Carlson' stripe OCBD shirt and repp stripe combo but my neck size is a little off. Looks great with a repp bow tie though. What is more Tucker Carlson than that?

 

Trailer Trad Tunes: Best Trad Band Name Ever - Seeking Madras

I learned about a delightful new band out of Wilmington, NC on a recent trip to Pinehurst with Lil' Bean. A great mix of surf with 90's brit mod and shoe gaze (the Stone Roses, The Byrds)

Richmond Pump House

Constructed in 1882, the Richmond pump house was built to pump water uphill from the canals to the Byrd Park Reservoir, the city’s main water supply. 

 

Why was such a utilitarian structure built in such an ornate style? It looks like a medieval monastery with an open air ball room on top. This was built to pump water, for goodness sake! I asked an old veteran builder familiar with Richmond's past and his answer underwhelmed me at first. "Its just the way they did it back then." But, you know, that's true. During Reconstruction, I am convinced that it was decided that no expense would be spared to plant impressive civic structures to salve old wounds. Like Monument Boulevard, but many other parts of the city as well.

For many years, this complex has sat abandoned, taking on undergrowth and adding to its mystery. However, there has been growing interest in preserving and restoring the structure. But I happen to like its disheveled appearance, waiting to be explored (with a hard hat).

Kick the Tragedy - A Song for Friday the 11th of December, 2020

Autumn on Monument

On a beautiful fall day, I snapped a few pics of Richmond's Monument Avenue. Could sleepy ol' Richmond be among the most beautiful cities in the country? I say yes.

Trailer Trad Collecting: Recent Estate Sale Picks

On a recent rainy Saturday morning, I ventured out to a promising estate sale on beautiful Monument Ave. Arriving an hour late, I wasn't expecting much but I think that the wet weather kept people away because I snapped up some pretty hard-to-find items. The estate had some great advertising smalls but I was pleased to find this 1960s Swiss railway poster in great shape, framed.

The man of the house worked for Amtrak and collected some nice transportation items. I picked some nice Pullman Railway china including a sweet 1920's Pullman teapot w. lid. I was walking out the door and noticed a cardboard tube. I bought it for $5. It contained over a dozen of these...

These are from the early 1970s by a pretty collected artist named David Klein. The colors are perfect and there are no creases or holes but, unfortunately, there are water and dirt stains on them. If they were mint, I would be a very happy boy. In addition to the posters, I bought some nice early advertising cafe match strikers, beer steins, etc. right.