Last week we visited the Confederate History Museum in Richmond, VA. The museum includes the Confederate White House. The place that Jefferson Davis lived and worked during his time as a treasonous leader of a treasonous nation.

Just in case you thought I was a Confederate sympathizer or something.

The one thing about the visit that fascinated me the most can be summed up in this picture:

The story is that when Richmond finally fell in April of 1865, President Lincoln took a ride down from Washington and visited the mansion. We did the same thing, only 148 years later.

The house was cool. Very ritzy in a Victorian kinda way. Gaudy by today’s standards, I think, but definitely swanky.

The absolute highlight of the visit came at the start of the tour. Our guide took us to the front entrance way and told us how the street outside was dirt, meaning mud, back in the 1860s. As a result, the entrance way was always dirty. To combat this, they didn’t have tiles on the floor, they had a mat that was painted to look like tiles. It was disposable, so every few weeks it would get dirty enough that they would peel it up and put a new mat down.

The guide then told us that the marble walls were not actually made of marble. They were covered with a wall paper that looked exactly like real marble. You couldn’t tell the difference until you were close enough to touch it.

After sharing these two neat details (as well as a few others) he asked if anyone had any questions. My step son then proved that he is the cleverest human alive. He raised his 10 year old hand, and when called on asked, “Why is everything in here fake?”

Huge laughs. It is possible that the Federals in the room were laughing louder, but that’s okay. Some of our group seemed to be under the impression that the war was still on going. Some seemed to be under the impression that the South won. Those of us who live in an place that did not secede from the Union knew better, and that was our little dig against the rebellion. Whatever your historical political leanings may be, my step son is one damn funny kid.

Cameras were not allowed inside the mansion, which is why you’re only seeing the outside here. The museum was interesting. Again, it sort of glossed over the fact that all of the Confederate triumphs still lead to their defeat. What can you do though, it wasn’t called The Civil War museum, it was the Confederate History museum.

I traveled through Richmond back when I was in High School and I remember not being impressed at all. Last week I thought much more highly of the place. At least the little bit that we explored. There were some great old houses. I’m not sure it’s someplace that I’d like to live, but I would definitely visit again.