Abraham Lincoln

Like Abraham Lincoln in 1865, why not take a walking tour of the former capital of the Confederacy?

"Very few people know that Lincoln visited Richmond with his son near the end of the Civil War," said Mike Andrus of the Richmond National Battlefield Park in Virginia.

Map this trip and three others

Richmond remains a very walkable city in this area, from the James River to the Confederate White House to Capitol Square.

...the niche [Howard Finster] created and its influence now on two generations of artists means that the gardens really are a part of art history.
--Tommy Littleton, Paradise Gardens

Civilwartraveler.com offers free downloadable podcasts to guide you on a 90-minute walk in Lincoln's footsteps.

Near the square is St. Paul's Episcopal Church, where Confederate President Jefferson Davis in 1865 learned the troubling news that his troops were no longer able to defend the city.

During your walk, stop for lunch at one of the many restaurants in Shockoe Bottom, which once served as a market for slave traders. Near there, see Richmond's Slavery Reconciliation Statue, a 15-foot, half-ton sculpture unveiled in 2007 that remembers and offers regret for Virginia's role in the African slave trade.

Looking for a special breakfast or lunch? Try the internationally recognized Perly's, where you can enjoy homemade biscuits, made with what longtime owner Gray Wyatt calls his secret ingredient.

Located in the city's Monroe Ward district in a 1930s-era building, Perly's has a "real retro feel to it," said Wyatt. In addition to traditional breakfast fare, the lunch menu offers Brunswick stew, chicken salad and signature sandwiches.

Customers include Gov. Tim Kaine, a former Richmond mayor who's quoted as saying more business gets conducted at Perly's than in most of the offices downtown.