Conquering Belle Isle

Today, on the second day of Autumn, the weather in Richmond was decidedly summery. With weather.com predicting 88 and sunny, I decided that today was the day that I would finally visit Belle Isle. The fact that I hadn't been yet is a bit puzzling; I live less than a mile away and often walk down canal walk from 14th street until just before the Lee Bridge.

It may have taken me a year to get my act together and visit, but seeing Belle Isle reminded me once again how impressed I am with the James River Park System. The James is truly beautiful, and Richmond has taken full advantage of it with their parks and trails. I found Belle Isle particularly interesting because of its history of habitation. As you walk around the island you see reminders of several economies of the Island's past: a mill, an extensive logjam, the skeleton of the ironworks building, remnants of the civil war prison camp. In each case, Belle Isle has won: no one occupies the island. While in most cases, I would be disturbed by a natural resource like Belle Isle having a highway cross over it, somehow the building remnants make it seem natural. Belle Isle is beautiful but it is also unique in that man has not been able to resist or conquer it.

My walking tour of the isle took about an hour, but I could have stayed much longer. For today's trip, I stuck to the main pathways because I have a terrible sense of direction and needed to ensure that I had some time left in my afternoon to work. After taking my first loop around Belle Isle, I know I'll come back when I have more time to explore -- and when I'm wearing shoes instead of flip flops. However, just from walking the main loop I got a beautiful view of the James and some geese who had claimed a rock, saw Hollywood Cemetery across the river, visited the quarry and explored many decrepit buildings. Best of all, I found a new place to escape my everyday: a small, shady stretch of beach with a great breeze.