A Yankee in Richmond?

Who would have ever thought that this damn Yankee would like the confederate capital of the south so much? After visiting Richmond last weekend, the first time in over 20 years, I have to say I was pretty impressed with it. Well, it's not like I have a choice since my daughter has decided that's where she wants to continue her education...at VCU.

VCU held an open house last Saturday at 7:30 in the morning. We booked a hotel room the night before and had a little time to explore the city. By the time we got there it was pretty dark so I didn't see as much as I liked, but saw enough to realize Richmond has a happening scene. Frankly, if someone held a gun to my head and said you simply must get a college degree somewhere in Virginia I probably would pick VCU as well.

Just as my daughter does, I like the urban setting much better than any of the other campuses we have visited in the past. The Mass Communications program is very good and with Richmond being the 58th market, as well as its proximity to other top 10 major markets such as DC & NYC, more opportunities will be available to her in her field especially for interning. I'll never forget the student at JMU who gave us a tour, and majored in Mass Comm, said he was interning at a wheelchair company. Ummm, yeah, no.

Since she'll be entering the school with an AS degree as a transfer student, she will not be able to get on-campus freshman housing. However, her friend is also transferring so they plan to room together. They're excited and I'm nervous. Ideally, I'd like to see them as close to VCU as possible. Like any big city, Richmond has its sketchy parts and I'm not familiar at all with it, so don't know where to avoid. The girl said Olive Garden will transfer her so she'll have a job. I hope so because from what I've seen, rents are not cheap!

It was very unlike me to not take any photos, but I did take a photo this morning of the one souvenir I found at the local Kroger near the campus.