The Spell of the Poe Garden

The garden at the Poe Museum has been every, very good to me. Make no mistake, I love the museum and its interesting exhibits (here) but I have some downright magical memories from that garden. And tonight I was back.

A few years ago, local band Mermaid Skeletons did a CD-release show there on the hottest, most humid night imaginable. Buzz was huge on the show, so I got there early to ensure getting in. The scores of people who arrived closer to show time were reduced to standing on the other side of the brick wall or, more painfully, scaling the wall to see a performance that took our collective breath away. When I think of that night, it is the beauty of their sound surrounded by the palpable heat that I recall most.

Even more recently, I went to an early fall screening of Hitchcock's Vertigo in the garden. Unfortunately, it had begun to rain about an hour before showtime. The Poe staff cleverly erected a canopy over the garden and the small crowd sat under it, with the rain pouring all round us as the suspense unfolded. It was like being in a suspended universe, away from all reality. There could not have been a cooler or more eerie place to be in Richmond on that dark, wet night.

Tonight was another of the museum's Unhappy Hours, an excuse to mingle in the garden, listen to music (sometimes they have readings too), nibble munchies, check out the museum and partake of the cash bar. The theme for the evening was "The Balloon Hoax" which was the title used in collections of a newspaper article Poe wrote about a supposed balloon trip across the Atlantic, which was later found to be a hoax. To complete the theme, there were even balloon races (you had to be there).

As a tribute to Poe's parents, the music tonight was either English (Poe's mother) or Irish (Poe's father), mainly traditional folk music like "Danny Boy" and "Greensleeves." If you're going to be serenaded with a haunting female voice, the Poe Museum garden is the perfect place to do so. My friend and I planted our seats right beside the fountain, the better to feel the coolness of the moving water and enjoy the co- mingling sounds of water and woman.

The event only runs from 6-9 p.m., so we strolled over to Sumo San afterwards for a light snack (edamame, potstickers and spider roll, oh my) and to chat, since we'd not talked during the music naturally. Victor was not in the house demonstrating sake bombs tonight, but we sat at the bar and watched the nimble fingers of the sushi chef and that was entertainment enough.

Or maybe we'd just been so charmed by the Poe Garden that we didn't require anything further; it's that spell that the place casts on a person. I'm guessing that's why some people tie the knot there.

May as well use the magic to one's own purposes, no?