Poe Museum ~ Richmond, Virgina
I married an obsessive Poe fan…
My husband is a ginormous fan of Edgar Allan Poe. We’re not just talking about collecting Poe books, either. Nor am I just talking about acquiring Poe memorabilia and cute raven statues. We have all of those things, but I’m talking about tattoos! Beautiful, artistic tattoos of Poe’s stories; The Raven, Annabelle Lee, The Black Cat, The Tell Tale Heart, Masque of the Red Death, The Oval Portrait….forgive me if I’ve missed one! He’s an artist and named his studio after Poe, it’s called Poe Soul Studio. Check it out, he does amazing work; oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and photography. My husband is also a poet. You can find his poetry on his website. You will likely notice an influence of Poe in his writings. He recently completed an oil painting of some of his Poe books titled, Forgotten Lore. My husband previously painted a raven titled, If I’d Only Known. A visitor to his studio bought it before it was finished, but you can still see it on his website. So, when planning the route for our trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, we realized we could drive through Richmond, Virginia and visit the Poe Museum. Talk about excited!
The Poe Museum
The Poe Museum is located in downtown Richmond. It’s easy to access from the highway and they have a convenient, small parking lot for guests. They have a lot of Poe treasures to view. The rooms are divided into different time periods of Poe’s life. The tour began with his early years and contained his childhood bed. There are photos and paintings of significant people in Poe’s life. There are letters, his desk, chair, and even the staircase from his childhood residence. There are several historical homes/buildings that make up the structure of the museum.
A dreamy courtyard…
Once inside, there’s a beautiful courtyard where we got to visit with one of the cats. I’m not sure if the one pictured is Edgar or Pluto. The tour ends at the Poe memorial. It’s a beautiful structure with a bust of Poe. It’s neat to see how people who have come before us have paid their respects to the master storyteller. It was a beautiful, sunny day for our visit. So peaceful in the courtyard, surrounded by items that remind me Poe was a real person. He struggled throughout his life; orphaned young, separated from his siblings, and constantly seeking approval from his adoptive parents. As an adult, he experienced a lot of loss in his relationships and missed opportunities at happiness. All the while, persevering to share with the world his amazing literary talents.
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