Dear Brenda, You're a lucky girl! At the risk of offending the sensibilities of those who know an hundred times more than I about 'The Old Dominion', please permit an Englishman to advise you on what to see and where to see it on your planned trip in October - a wonderful time of the year to visit Virginia! My fond memories of touring 'over there' extend to all of the places that you mention, but my knowledge of Richmond is less than the others. However, you must see the Virginia State Capitol (designed by Thomas Jefferson and containing the fine sculpture of George Washington by Houdon); the Museum of the Confederacy; and Monument Avenue, particularly the statues of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and J.E.B. Stuart, which are wonderful to behold. At Chancellorsville, you could see the monument marking where 'Stonewall' Jackson fell; and nearby, at Guiney's Station, the cabin in which he died; you could also see the remains of the foundation of the old Chancellor Inn (where, I think, 'Fighting' Joe Hooker was headquartered); and, of course, there is the vast battlefield site (A relation by marriage of my wife, Lt. Col. Charles Edward Hapgood, of the 5th New Hampshire Volunteers, played a part there). You might also go a little ways along Highway 3 towards Fredericksburg and find - if it is still there - one of the very best Civil War relic stores that I know of. It is/was called 'Stars & Bars' and the owner is/was Craig Carroll, a first-class and honest dealer and a very knowledgeable gentleman. (Fredericksburg itself is well worth a visit: despite the Federal depredations, the centre of the town is utterly charming and the famous [or infamous] Marye's Heights, where thousands were slaughtered in one of the bravest attacks in of all the Federal campaigns, is close by). Lexington is magnificent: it is still an old-fashioned Shenandoah Valley town, and contains the Virginia Military Institute, where 'Stonewall' Jackson was a professor, and whose Confederate cadets fought an heroic action against the Federals at a little town further up the Valley by the name of New Market (the action was re-enacted, not entirely factually, in that wonderful Jimmy Stewart movie, 'Shenandoah'). On the adjoining (to VMI) campus is Washington and Lee University, and the Chapel there contains the tomb of Robert E. Lee. On the road south out of town is the Cemetery in which 'Stonewall' Jackson was buried and which now contains a remarkable statue of him. (At the foot of the statue are tablets commemorating other members of the Jackson family, including Lt. Col. Thomas Jonathan Jackson, Jr. [the general's great grandson], who was the first commanding officer of the 361st Fighter Group of the United States Eighth Army Air Force that was stationed at Bottisham, Cambridgeshire, England, near where I was born and lived most of my life: my parents knew Col. Christian and I met his daughter, whom he, alas, never knew. Col. Christian was killed over France in August 1944). Other suggestions for your trip would be: Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home at Charlottesville; the University of Virginia, designed by Mr Jefferson, also at Charlottesvile; the battlefield of Manassas (or Bull Run); the town of Winchester, which changed hands many times in the War; Appommatox Court House, where Lee surrendered to Grant and where the Civil War effectively ended; and the city of Danville which contains the 'Last White House of the Confederacy' from which several of Jefferson Davis's Cabinet members finally dispersed, etc., etc. I could wax lyrical about many areas of the United States, but Virginia will always be at or near the top of my personal 'love list': have a great time! Yours, etc. Geoffrey Woollard in Cambridgeshire, England.