Street

The Washington National Cathedral.

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   Kathleen came up to visit as an early birthday celebration. We hadn't seen each other since the end of June, and going to Mason, we'd been to D.C. quite a bit as students. There are few attractions that we have yet to see, but we found one!

   This is the Washington National Cathedral. It's a beautiful church used for official ceremonies like senator funerals and the like.  They've updated the outside on occasion and added some interesting gargoyles to the sides. Apparently Darth Vader resides somewhere on the facade, but we didn't find him.

The Lyric.

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   The Lyric Theatre has been around for a long time. It's one of those staples of a town that is taken for granted until it's gone. But the Lyric isn't gone.

   Rumors surround it's construction in the early 20th century. As a child, I routinely heard stories of a ghost in the balcony that could be seen late at night in the darkness. That ghost is supposedly from one of the builders that died when he fell from the rafters during construction. 

   Built at the start of the Great Depression, it was designed by an architect in Roanoke, Virginia. It originally had the recognizable theatre masks on the front, but have since been taken down and mysteriously disappeared. The Lyric began in a different location down the street and moved twice more before finally making its way into the current building. And it was one of the first theaters in Virginia to show "talkies."

   Now it relies solely on donations to keep it alive.

Price's Fork Elementary: Ragged in Old Age.

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   Price's Fork Elementary used to be one of the smallest schools in the Blacksburg area. It had way too many students for its size, and the building desperately needed to be updated. Instead of updating it, they just built a new one.

   This is the old one. It's been run ragged with the little feet of youngsters roaming its halls.  Paint is peeling, garbage is still in the back, and the baseball field looks like it needs tumbleweeds rolling through it. It all seems hauntingly empty. This building is now for sale, and will cease to exist as a former school.